We propose a workflow for the recognition of the hierarchical segmentation of faults through earthquake hypocenter clustering without prior information. Our approach combines density-based clustering algorithms (DBSCAN and OPTICS), and principal component analysis (PCA). Given a spatial distribution of earthquake hypocenters, DBSCAN identifies first-order clusters, representing regions with the highest density of connected seismic events. Within each first-order cluster, OPTICS further identifies nested higher-order clusters, providing information on their number and size. PCA analysis is applied to first- and higher-order clusters to evaluate eigenvalues, allowing discrimination between seismicity associated with planar features and distributed seismicity that remains uncategorized. The identified planes are then geometrically characterized in terms of their location and orientation in the space, length, and height. This automated procedure operates within two spatial scales: the largest scale corresponds to the longest pattern of approximately equally dense earthquake clouds, while the smallest scale relates to earthquake location errors. By applying PCA analysis, a planar feature outputted from a first-order cluster can be interpreted as a fault surface while planes outputted after OPTICS can be interpreted as fault segments comprised within the fault surface. The evenness between the orientation of illuminated fault surfaces and fault segments, and that of the nodal planes of earthquake focal mechanisms calculated along the same faults, corroborates this interpretation. Our workflow has been successfully applied to earthquake hypocenter distributions from various seismically active areas (Italy, Taiwan, and California) associated with faults exhibiting diverse kinematics.
{"title":"Illuminating the Hierarchical Segmentation of Faults Through an Unsupervised Learning Approach Applied to Clouds of Earthquake Hypocenters","authors":"E. Piegari, G. Camanni, M. Mercurio, W. Marzocchi","doi":"10.1029/2023EA003267","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1029/2023EA003267","url":null,"abstract":"<p>We propose a workflow for the recognition of the hierarchical segmentation of faults through earthquake hypocenter clustering without prior information. Our approach combines density-based clustering algorithms (DBSCAN and OPTICS), and principal component analysis (PCA). Given a spatial distribution of earthquake hypocenters, DBSCAN identifies first-order clusters, representing regions with the highest density of connected seismic events. Within each first-order cluster, OPTICS further identifies nested higher-order clusters, providing information on their number and size. PCA analysis is applied to first- and higher-order clusters to evaluate eigenvalues, allowing discrimination between seismicity associated with planar features and distributed seismicity that remains uncategorized. The identified planes are then geometrically characterized in terms of their location and orientation in the space, length, and height. This automated procedure operates within two spatial scales: the largest scale corresponds to the longest pattern of approximately equally dense earthquake clouds, while the smallest scale relates to earthquake location errors. By applying PCA analysis, a planar feature outputted from a first-order cluster can be interpreted as a fault surface while planes outputted after OPTICS can be interpreted as fault segments comprised within the fault surface. The evenness between the orientation of illuminated fault surfaces and fault segments, and that of the nodal planes of earthquake focal mechanisms calculated along the same faults, corroborates this interpretation. Our workflow has been successfully applied to earthquake hypocenter distributions from various seismically active areas (Italy, Taiwan, and California) associated with faults exhibiting diverse kinematics.</p>","PeriodicalId":54286,"journal":{"name":"Earth and Space Science","volume":"11 10","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.9,"publicationDate":"2024-10-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1029/2023EA003267","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142525124","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
CryoSat-2 has been successful in observing sea ice thickness from space by providing ice freeboard information. The initial estimate of the ice freeboard, called radar freeboard, is obtained by analyzing the observed waveform using a retracker. A series of corrections are needed to convert the radar freeboard to the ice freeboard. Those are the physical effects (e.g., changes in wave propagation speed and the distribution of scattering at snow and ice surfaces, etc.) and the bias of the retracker; however, traditionally, only the wave speed correction has been applied due to lack of enough information to perform the complete correction. Here, an alternative correction method for the CryoSat-2 radar freeboard derived using the Threshold First-Maximum Retracker Algorithm with a 50% threshold (TFMRA50) is proposed. Snow depth was used as a predictor for the correction, similar to the traditional wave speed correction, but the coefficients were empirically determined by performing a direct comparison of the radar freeboard from CryoSat-2 and the ice freeboard from airborne observations. Consequently, this new empirical correction treats the physical effects and the retracker bias as a whole, which have been difficult to separate in the retrieval process. In this paper, we demonstrate that the retrieval accuracy of snow and ice variables and the consistency of the two independent retrieval methods are improved when the new correction is applied. The result of this study emphasizes the importance of compatibility between the retracker and the freeboard correction method.
{"title":"A Simple and Robust CryoSat-2 Radar Freeboard Correction Method Dedicated to TFMRA50 for the Arctic Winter Snow Depth and Sea Ice Thickness Retrieval","authors":"Hoyeon Shi, Rasmus Tonboe, Sang-Moo Lee, Gorm Dybkjær, Byung-Ju Sohn, Suman Singha, Fabrizio Baordo","doi":"10.1029/2024EA003715","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1029/2024EA003715","url":null,"abstract":"<p>CryoSat-2 has been successful in observing sea ice thickness from space by providing ice freeboard information. The initial estimate of the ice freeboard, called radar freeboard, is obtained by analyzing the observed waveform using a retracker. A series of corrections are needed to convert the radar freeboard to the ice freeboard. Those are the physical effects (e.g., changes in wave propagation speed and the distribution of scattering at snow and ice surfaces, etc.) and the bias of the retracker; however, traditionally, only the wave speed correction has been applied due to lack of enough information to perform the complete correction. Here, an alternative correction method for the CryoSat-2 radar freeboard derived using the Threshold First-Maximum Retracker Algorithm with a 50% threshold (TFMRA50) is proposed. Snow depth was used as a predictor for the correction, similar to the traditional wave speed correction, but the coefficients were empirically determined by performing a direct comparison of the radar freeboard from CryoSat-2 and the ice freeboard from airborne observations. Consequently, this new empirical correction treats the physical effects and the retracker bias as a whole, which have been difficult to separate in the retrieval process. In this paper, we demonstrate that the retrieval accuracy of snow and ice variables and the consistency of the two independent retrieval methods are improved when the new correction is applied. The result of this study emphasizes the importance of compatibility between the retracker and the freeboard correction method.</p>","PeriodicalId":54286,"journal":{"name":"Earth and Space Science","volume":"11 10","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.9,"publicationDate":"2024-10-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1029/2024EA003715","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142525130","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}