Systems and methods for in-situ characterization of permafrost sites

A system for quantifying a plurality of parameters of a subsurface structure comprising a region of interest, the system comprising:

• at least one vibratory source to emit an input wave signal into the subsurface structure to cause generation of seismic wave signals in the subsurface structure;
• at least one receiver to acquiring and measure surface wave signals from the subsurface structure, wherein the seismic wave signals comprise at least one first Rayleigh wave (R1) signal and at least one second Rayleigh wave (R2) signal associated with the region of interest;
• a data processing apparatus comprising a processor, a non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions which, when executed, cause the processor to perform operations comprising to at least:
• generate seismic data associated with measurements of surface wave signals;
• determine from the seismic data a relationship between the at least one first Rayleigh wave (R1) signal and the at least one second Rayleigh wave (R2) signal;
• wherein the at least one first Rayleigh wave (R1) signal is dependent on at least one of the plurality of parameters of the region of interest and the at least second Rayleigh wave (R2) signal is dependent on at least another of the plurality of parameters of the region of interest;
• and
• wherein the at least one vibratory source is positioned on a surface of the subsurface structure.

A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions which, when executed by a processor, cause a computing device to perform operations comprising:

• with at least one vibratory source, emitting an input wave signal into the subsurface structure to cause generation of seismic wave signals in the subsurface structure;
• acquiring seismic wave signals from a subsurface structure, wherein surface wave signals comprise at least one first Rayleigh wave (R1) signal and at least one second Rayleigh wave (R2) signal associated with the region of interest;
• converting the seismic wave signals into seismic data;
• determining from the seismic data a relationship between the at least one first Rayleigh wave (R1) signal and the at least one second Rayleigh wave (R2) signal;
• wherein the at least one first Rayleigh wave (R1) signal is dependent on at least one of the plurality of parameters of the region of interest and the at least second Rayleigh wave (R2) signal is dependent on at least another of the plurality of parameters of the region of interest;
• and
• wherein the instructions comprise a poromechanical dispersion prediction model associated with the plurality of parameters solves a parameter optimization problem to compute a predicted dispersion relation of the second Raleigh wave (R2) signal using an iterative process, wherein the iterative process comprises minimization of a model objective function.