Shear wave quality factor Qs profiling using seismic noise data from microarrays

The assessment of the shear wave velocity (Vs) and quality factor (Qs) profiles below a site is necessary to characterize its site response. Recently, methods based on the analysis of seismic noise have proved to be very efficient for providing a sufficiently accurate estimation of the Vs versus depth at reasonable costs for engineering seismology purposes. In this study, it is investigated if the same methods can also provide, with just a few additional and successive calculation steps, realistic Qs versus depth estimations. A data set of seismic noise collected at the Tito test site in southern Italy by a microarray of seismological stations was used, and the obtained Qs results are compared with those estimated by independent geophysical investigations. It is shown that the values are consistent and that the seismic noise analysis has the potential to also provide a more comprehensive (Vs and Qs) description of the geological structure below a site.