An automated workflow for adjoint tomography applied to the North Island, New Zealand

Bryant H. Chow, Yoshihiro Kaneko, Carl Tape, Ryan Modrak, & John Townend

Published August 12, 2020, SCEC Contribution #10449, 2020 SCEC Annual Meeting Poster #174 (PDF)

We have developed an automated, open-source workflow for full-waveform inversion using spectral-element and adjoint methods (Chow et al., 2020). Our main objective is to attain high-resolution images of crustal structure and complex tectonic features in seismically active regions. We choose the eastern North Island of New Zealand as a study area, as it offers a unique opportunity for imaging material properties near an active subduction zone due to the availability of well-recorded earthquakes in close proximity to the plate interface. To verify the inversion framework, we have performed a realistic synthetic inversion for 3D checkerboard structure and analyzed model recovery, misfit reduction, and waveform improvement. We present ongoing efforts towards an accurate, high-resolution tomographic model of the North Island of New Zealand, which will be used to further understanding of enigmatic tectonic processes and seismic hazard. Success of a New Zealand inversion will lead to a set of open-source tools for full-waveform inversion which can be applied to similarly sized domains like California, and are therefore relevant to on-going SCEC CVM efforts.

Citation
Chow, B. H., Kaneko, Y., Tape, C., Modrak, R., & Townend, J. (2020, 08). An automated workflow for adjoint tomography applied to the North Island, New Zealand. Poster Presentation at 2020 SCEC Annual Meeting.

Related Projects & Working Groups
SCEC Community Models (CXM)