Application of a small-aperture seismic aerial in monitoring continuous man-made vibrations in heterogeneous loose soils

<jats:p>This paper addresses the problem of monitoring continuous man-made vibrations from mining operations in heterogeneous loose soils. It is shown that the conventional risk assessment method based on peak particle velocity (PPV) does not account for fatigue effects and resonance arising from long-term low-frequency exposure. The need for spatial source selection is justified due to the complex waveguide propagation of the surface waves in the upper part of the cross-section. It is proposed to use of a small-aperture seismic aerial (SAS) with a radius of 3 m, placed immediately at the protected facility. Based on numerical simulations with a real blast record and random variations in the medium parameters (velocity 100–300 m/s, attenuation 0.3–0.6 dB/(km·Hz)), an algorithm was developed to classify sources by their range (Q parameter) and determine their azimuth using the amplitude method for the near sources (5–50 m) and the phase method (broadband beamforming) for the distant sources (500–2000 m). It is shown that the Q parameter does not overlap between the two classes; the average azimuth determination error is 2.6° (near) and 1.9° (distant). This method is suitable for continuous automatic monitoring.</jats:p>