AxiSEM: broadband 3-D seismic wavefields in axisymmetric media

Nissen-Meyer, T., M. van Driel, S. C. Stähler, K. Hosseini, S. Hempel, L. Auer, and A. Fournier (2014), AxiSEM: broadband 3-D seismic wavefields in axisymmetric media, Solid Earth Discussions, 6(1), 265–319, doi:10.5194/sed-6-265-2014.

Abstract

We present a methodology to compute 3-D global seismic wavefields for realistic earthquake sources in visco-elastic anisotropic media, covering applications across the observable seismic frequency band with moderate computational resources. This is accommodated by mandating axisymmetric background models which allow for a multipole expansion such that only a 2-D computational domain is needed, whereas the azimuthal third dimension is computed analytically on-the-fly. This dimensional collapse opens doors for storing space-time wavefields on disk which can be used to compute Fréchet sensitivity kernels for waveform tomography. We use the corresponding publicly available open-source spectral-element code AxiSEM (http://www.axisem.info), demonstrate its excellent scalability on supercomputers, a diverse range of applications ranging from normal modes to small-scale lowermost mantle structures, tomographic models, comparison to observed data, and discuss further avenues to pursue with this methodology.

Further information

• http://www.solid-earth-discuss.net/6/265/2014/
• http://www.axisem.info

BibTeX

@article{id1950,
  author = {T. Nissen-Meyer and M. van Driel and S. C. St{\"a}hler and K. Hosseini and S. Hempel and L. Auer and A. Fournier},
  journal = {Solid Earth Discussions},
  number = {1},
  pages = {265{--}319},
  title = {{AxiSEM: broadband 3-D seismic wavefields in axisymmetric media}},
  volume = {6},
  year = {2014},
  url = {http://www.solid-earth-discuss.net/6/265/2014/},
  doi = {10.5194/sed-6-265-2014},
}

EndNote

%0 Journal Article
%A Nissen-Meyer, T.
%A van Driel, M.
%A Stähler, S. C.
%A Hosseini, K.
%A Hempel, S.
%A Auer, L.
%A Fournier, A.
%D 2014
%N 1
%V 6
%J Solid Earth Discussions
%P 265–319
%T AxiSEM: broadband 3-D seismic wavefields in axisymmetric media
%U http://www.solid-earth-discuss.net/6/265/2014/
%U http://www.axisem.info