Receiver function
Encyclopedia
A receiver function technique is a way to model the structure of the Earth
by using the information from teleseismic earthquakes recorded at a three component seismograph.
A teleseismic P-wave
will generate P to S conversions at crustal boundaries beneath the seismograph. The difference in travel time between the generated S-wave
and P-wave contains information about the distance to the boundary and if further reverberations are included more detailed structure can be resolved. This is done by deconvolution
of the incoming vertical and longitudinal components of the seismogram which removed the common part of the components - namely the source and travel path information. The resulting waveform is the receiver function.
Structure of the Earth
The interior structure of the Earth, similar to the outer, is layered. These layers can be defined by either their chemical or their rheological properties. The Earth has an outer silicate solid crust, a highly viscous mantle, a liquid outer core that is much less viscous than the mantle, and a...
by using the information from teleseismic earthquakes recorded at a three component seismograph.
A teleseismic P-wave
P-wave
P-waves are a type of elastic wave, also called seismic waves, that can travel through gases , solids and liquids, including the Earth. P-waves are produced by earthquakes and recorded by seismographs...
will generate P to S conversions at crustal boundaries beneath the seismograph. The difference in travel time between the generated S-wave
S-wave
A type of seismic wave, the S-wave, secondary wave, or shear wave is one of the two main types of elastic body waves, so named because they move through the body of an object, unlike surface waves....
and P-wave contains information about the distance to the boundary and if further reverberations are included more detailed structure can be resolved. This is done by deconvolution
Deconvolution
In mathematics, deconvolution is an algorithm-based process used to reverse the effects of convolution on recorded data. The concept of deconvolution is widely used in the techniques of signal processing and image processing...
of the incoming vertical and longitudinal components of the seismogram which removed the common part of the components - namely the source and travel path information. The resulting waveform is the receiver function.