Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America, Vol. 83, No. 1, pp.

180-189, February 1993

AN AUTOMATIC S-PHASE PICKER

B Y ARTUR CICHOWICZ

ABSTRACT
An algorithm has been developed for the automatic picking of the S phase
from three-component seismic data, Three parameters of the signal are calculated in the program: deflection angle, degree of polarization, and the ratio
between transverse energy and total energy. The S phase is declared when
the product of the three parameters increases above the reference level. Most
parameters are computed automatically and modified if necessary. The S-phase
picker is used to analyze data from a local underground mine seismic network.
INTRODUCTION

Event detection algorithms (P-wave detectors) are now commonly used with
digital seismic networks. Most of these networks use short-term and long-term
average ratio algorithms (Allen, 1978). To fully identify changes in signal phase
and amplitude, algorithms based on a linear prediction filter (e.g., Cichowicz
and Leliwa-Kopstynski, 1975; Granet, 1983) were proposed. The linear prediction filter improves the signal-to-noise ratio significantly.
Three-component data gives the possibility of detecting the S arrival on the
basis of physical differences between the P wave and S wave. There are a
relatively large number of papers dealing with the polarization properties of the
seismic signal, with detailed analysis of the S wave (e.g., Roberts et al., 1989).
The objective of this paper is to present in detail an algorithm for automatic
detection of the S phase, even in the presence of a strong P-coda signal. The
algorithm exploits three-component data. It is assumed that the first P-wave
arrival can be obtained by any other algorithm. We prefer the very reliable
algorithm of Baer and Kradolfer (1987).
BASIC PICKING ROUTINE
The proposed S-phase picker is based on the combination of time-domain
polarization and energy ratio filters calculated over a filter time window. The
computer method involves four steps: preliminary calculation, ground-motion
rotation into the wave system, P-coda signal processing, and declaration of S
arrival.

Preliminary Calculation
Almost all filters that analyze seismic signal calculate values over a specified
time window. The window's length is a filter p a r a m e t e r that has to be chosen
arbitrarily after gaining some experience from real data. In the case of a small
underground seismic network, this approach is rather difficult because events
recorded daily have large variations in frequency. Therefore, we proposed to
compute the time window of the filter, NFILTER, on the basis of the predominant frequency, f0:

NFILTER = 1 / ( fo" A t),

180

(1)

AN A U T O M A T I C S - P H A S E P I C K E R

181

where At is the sampling interval in time units and NFILTER is the averaging
window length in samples. Predominant frequency, fo, can be calculated in
terms of the integrals that are moments of the ground spectrum (Boore, 1983;
Andrews, 1986):
1

fo =

mo//m2) 1/2,

where

m o = 2 f D 2 ( f ) df,
m 2 = 2 f V 2 ( f ) df,
D2(f) is the displacement power spectrum, and V2(f) is the velocity power
spectrum. Numerical values of these integrals are affected by truncation of the
interval of integration. The low limit is equal to l / T , and the upper limit is the
Nyquist frequency, 1//2 At, where T is the length of signal used to calculate the
integrals.

Ground Motion Rotation into the Wave System

A three-component station monitors ground motion along the north (X), east
(Y), and vertical (Z) directions. The first P-arrival pulse is used to compute the
covariance matrix in order to obtain the polarization direction of the initial
compressional particle motion. Ground motion is rotated into the longitudinal
and two perpendicular components (Kanasewich, 1981). The covariance matrix
for a set of NFILTER points taken over each of the three orthogonal components of ground motion is computed as follows:

-COV(X,X)
COY(Y, X)
COY(Z, X)

COV(X,Y)
COV(Y, Y)
COY(Z, Y)

COV(X,Z)I
COV(Y, Z) .
COY(Z, Z)

(3)

The covariance between NFILTER observation of two variables X and Y is

given by
NFIL TER

COY(X, Y) = 1/NFILTER

(x~ - ~)(Yi - Y),

(4)

where x, y are the average values. The diagonalization of the covariance matrix
gives the principle axis of this matrix. The direction of polarization may be
measured by considering the eigenvector of the largest principal axis.
The X, Y, Z components are rotated into L, Q, T components, where L coincides with the principle direction of the P-wave particle motion
Ull
U21
U31

U12
U22
U32

u13
U23
u33

X
y
Z

where Ui,y j = 1, 2, 3 are the direction cosines of the ith principle direction.

(5)

182

A. C I C H O W I C Z

P-Coda Signal Processing

The polarization filter of Kanasewich (1981) is used to analyze the P-coda
signal. Eigenvalues and eigenvectors are computed for each time point t. The
window time At . N F I L T E R is moving by one time point through the entire
coda. In the window time, the following three parameters of the three-component seismic signal, F1, F2, F 3 are calculated.
The deflection angle, Fl(t), is defined as the angle between the longitudinal
components and the direction of the eigenvector associated with the largest
eigenvalue
COS-I[Ull

Fl(t )

v/2

(6)

where ull is the direction cosines in the L, Q, T coordinate (not the same as
defined in equation 5). Fl(t) is normalized to 1.
The second parameter is the degree of polarization, F2(t) (Samson, 1977):
(Vl - v2) 2 + (Vl - v3) 2 + (v2 - v3) 2

F2(t ) =

2-(v l+v2+v3)

(7)

where vl, v2, v 3 are eigenvalues of the covariance matrix at time t.

Both compressional and shear waves exhibit a high degree of linear polarization. The P-wave coda manifests a generally elliptical polarization with a
significantly lower value of F2(t). More information about the behavior of the
degree of polarization in real data can be found in Cichowicz et al. (1988).
The third parameter, F3(t) , is the ratio between transversal and total energy,
where transversal refers to transversal to the direction of P-wave particle
motion

~(Qi2+Ti

2)

F3(t ) = ~_,(qi 2 + T~2 + Li2).

(8)

This parameter is not very sensitive to noise in a signal; therefore it can

significantly improve the performance of the S-phase picker.
Table 1 summarizes features of the chosen parameters by displaying the
expected values of F 1, F2, F 3 for different parts of a seismic signal. It is difficult
to predict the values of the parameters in the P-coda region where microseismic
noise as well as reflected P and P-to-S converted waves are superimposed on
the signal. The first S arrival for real data should be associated with a far

TABLE 1
THE EXPECTED VALUES OF F1, F 2 , AND F 3
First P arrival

P Coda

First S Arrival

F1 = 0

0 < F1< 1
0<F2 < 1
0<F3<l

F1 = 1
F2~ 1

F2 = 1
F3=O

F3=l

AN

AUTOMATIC

S-PHASE

183

PICKER

larger value of the parameters than in the P coda, but not necessarily reach a
value of 1.
The product of the three squared parameters is called the characteristic
function of the seismic signal:
F(t)

= F 1 2 ( t ) F22(t) F32(t).

(9)

The characteristic function is used to enhance the motion that exhibits a linear
polarization in a direction perpendicular to the L components and with a
motion that is stronger on Q and T components than on the L component
(S-wave signal). To achieve a more distinct signal, we squared each element of
the F ( t ) . The S arrival causes an abrupt increase in the value of the characteristic function. In real records, a sudden increase in values of the parameters is
observed when the S phase appears in the P coda.

o.

F~

o-o
6

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i,,r mmm,iHmmrm,lmmmm,m,jm
m H,Imjd m
I
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T I H E

sec

F
3

Q
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lJII~l~tll[
l~IIlllll,UIIllllllll"I.lll,llll IIIIFIIIIr
l IIIIll{~lli t, Ifi.ll IIllrlOlllI(lilllll~ fII~.l
1.2

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2

o.o

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i,,.,,.,[,,,,.,,j,,.,,,,i,,,,,,,]..,,,,r~,, ,i,.,,,~,r,,,.,,,l~,,,r.,,j,,,,,,,,i,,,,,,.,i,,,,,,,,i,,,,,,,i,,,,,,,,j
o.o

12

T IM E

2.4

sec

FIG. 1. An example of processing three-component data with the S-phase picker (a) Recorded
data after rotation to longitudinal, L, and two transverse directions, Q, T. Longitudinal and
t r a n s v e r s e m e a n s parallel and perpendicular to the estimated direction of P-wave particle motion.
(b) Time variation of deflection angle, Fl(t); degree of polarization, F2(t); ratio of t r a n s v e r s a l energy
to total energy, F3(t); a n d t h e characteristic function, F(t). The arrow and vertical line indicate the
h a n d pick. Note the increase of the Fl(t) a n d F3(t) p a r a m e t e r s at the arrival of the S phase. A
horizontal line on the upper diagram from Figure 1A indicates the length of the filter NFILTER. At.
On the lowest diagram of Figure 1B the S arrival times picked by the two technique are shown. The
arrow on the r i g h t indicate the S arrival declared w h e n F(t) exceeds the threshold level A, and a
horizontal line indicates the time window for calculation the A value. The S arrival defined by the
time of the first m i n i m u m before tm~ ~ is m a r k e d with arrow labeled Smi n. The p r e d o m i n a n t
frequency is 7.2 Hz.

184

A. C I C H O W I C Z

Declaration

of S-arrival

Two different techniques for picking the S-wave arrival are discussed: first,
technique based on the calculation of a threshold level in the P coda, and
second, a technique based on the calculation of the m a x i m u m value of a
characteristic function.
The most time-consuming calculations are associated with F ( t ) . Therefore, in
order to speed up the S-picker, the characteristic function is calculated only in a
time window t h a t starts at t 1 and ends at t2:

(10)

t I = tparrival + ( t S m a x -- t p a r r i v a l ) / 2 ,
t2 = t l + t s max - N F I L T E R "

At,

where t s max is the time related to the m a x i m u m amplitude in S-wave group

and t p a r r i v a l is the time related to the first P-wave arrival. It is unlikely t h a t
the first S-wave arrival wilt fall outside this window. For a situation where a
low-frequency signal is recorded close to a seismic station and the N F I L T E R .
h t
can be larger t h a n the proposed window t 2 - tl, t h e n the calculation of the

q
0

__

........
i..llll[i.llllllll...i.i...IE~jI~IIII.
T.... rI...JjIHI.I,W....i,.i..i~,...[llr.~.Tl,~.lll

1 I ME

sec

Lu

~m

o~
o,"
........~'"'`''''I'"''''T'"''"1"'"''''~"'''''"~''''""'r'"~"~'i"''"''?''"''T"''""~'~'''''T'"'"~'~'''''''~
o.o

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~._

8o.o

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o.o

12

T I ME

2.4

sec
2

FIG. 2. Note the significant increase of the degree of polarization F2(t) a t the arrival of the S
phase. Poor definition of the first P-wave arrival causes the deflection angle, Fl(t) and energy ratio,
Fs(t) to increase before the S-phase arrival. The p r e d o m i n a n t frequency is 5.2 Hz. See caption of
Figure 1 for f u r t h e r explanations.

185

AN AUTOMATIC S-PHASE PICKER

characteristic function starts after the P-wave arrival to t - S~a x (see, for
example, Figs. 3 and 4).
In the first technique, for each record the initial value of the threshold is
defined as A = F + 3 a , where F is the average value of the characteristic
function, F ( t ) , for t 1 < t < (t s ~ax - N F I L T E R . A t ) / 4 , and G is the variation
of F ( t ) . During the processing of the P-coda signal, the following rule is used to
detect the S phase:
IF F ( t ) > A for the consecutive k At time points,
THEN S arrival is declared.
The S phase is declared when the characteristic function increases above the
threshold for a time period equal to a few At. If this value of the threshold fails
to detect the S phase, then the P coda is processed once again with a new value
of A that is larger by 3 a . This algorithm is slow and therefore seldom used,
because sometimes the calculation has to be repeated across the entire signal.
On the other hand, however, it is very safe, because the number of false alarms
is low. Examples of the values of A and F ( t ) at the time of declaration of the S
arrival are presented in Figures 1 to 6.
In the second technique, the time, tmax, associated with the maximum of the
characteristic function F ( t ) is obtained. Time around the tma x is associated
with a pulse of the direct S wave (see Table 1). The S arrival is defined as the

......... I'"'""T"'""'I""'""I'""""I'"'""T'"""'I"
o.o

dm

'"'''I'''''''''I''''''"I'''''''''I''''''''I''''''''T'''''"I
1.2

ME

2.1

s~c

d-

....... ``''''''T''''`''''''`''1'''''''''```''`1'''''`'''r'''`''T'''''''`'''''''T'''''T''`'"T'''''''T'''`'''

oo

d--

..... i'"'""?""""i""""'l'""'"'I'"""T'""'"J""'""i'

"''"''I''''"T''''"''L
''~""'i

~_F
~ F

' -

......... I'" '"'"I'"'" "I' "'""'I'" "'"

0,0

I"'"'"'I'"'"'"

r'"'""
1.2

I"" "" I"'"'"'I'"""'

A = 0 031
= 0 061

i!':''''"'r'''','''''"''l'''"''''l'''''"''l''''''''l""'":!,

.....

I'"'""'I "'" "'T'"'"' 'I

2,4

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eec

FIG. 3. Note the consistent increase of all three parameters of the characteristic function. The
predominant frequency is 8.5 Hz. See caption of Figure 1 for further explanations.

186

A. CICHOWICZ

6(5--

~-

..........
-I'"'"'"I'"'""T""""I~'"'""I"'"'"'I'"'""'I'''"''''j'''~'~'''l'''''''''l'''''''''}'4'''''''l
'''''''''l'''r~
o.o

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T I H E

2.t

sec

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c~

Illlllll

Ilillltll

,I/~L.

~ ~

IJH II

c;

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0,0

1.2

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T I H E

2,

-:ec
4

Fro. 4. Note the interference of the S-wave arrival with the P-wave coda, thus causing a decrease
in the degree of polarization at the arrical of the S phase, F2(t). The two other parameters work
well. The predominant frequency is 5.6 Hz. See caption of Figure 1 for further explanations.

time of the first minimum before tma x. Examples of picking the S arrival with
this algorithm are presented in Figures 1 to 6 (see arrow with description of

Stain).

Sensitivity analysis was performed by applying the following smoothing

operator to the characteristic function
F ( t ) := (1 - 1 / 5 ) F ( t

- 1) + 1 / 5 F ( t ) .

(11)

No significant changes in picking the S-wave arrival were detected.

RESULTS

Six examples of the application of this technique to real records are presented
in Figures 1 to 6. These examples are records from a local underground mine
network, equipped with 4.5-Hz geophones at a depth of about 2500 m. The
S-picker parameters are set to process seismic events in a magnitude range
varying from - 1.0 to 3.0.
The sampling period, At, of records is 0.002 sec, and the interval of integration (see equation 2) varies from 0.97 to 80 Hz. This means that high-frequency

187

AN A U T O M A T I C S - P H A S E P I C K E R

~--

F1

o -o
,~

~1
1,linT!IT~T

,j r ,,x ~

........I'""L'"I ''''''"l""''"'l'''''""Fr~l '"''''''j""'''''l'''''''''l ~''''''~'1''~''''''l'''"''''l'"''''''l"""'''l

T Z M E

s~s

c:--

F
o

-5
N

S
o,0

1.2

2.4

0.c,

12
T ]~ H E

2~
s~c
5

FIG. 5. Note the consistent increase of all t h r e e p a r a m e t e r s of the characteristic function. In this
case, the h a n d pick was probably too early. The p r e d o m i n a n t frequency is 10.8 Hz. See caption of
Figure 1 for f u r t h e r explanations.

signal is excluded from the analysis of the dominant frequency. This interval
was chosen experimentally. It was found that including more high-frequency
signal causes instability. To estimate the dominant frequency, T must be equal
to at least one full cycle of the longest period expected by the network. For this
calculation, the fact that the predominant frequency is associated with the pure
P-wave corner frequency is not of crucial importance. The difference between
the P-wave and S-wave corner frequencies is much smaller than the difference
between the predominant frequencies of small and large seismic events. A much
more dangerous situation can occur when the integrals in equation (2) are
obtained only from an interval of time that contains only a part of the direct
P-wave pulse.
The examples are chosen to cover a wide range of possible types of possible
seismic signals with the predominant frequency varying from 10.8 to 5.2 Hz.
Figures 3 and 4 show examples in which the direct P-wave pulse probably
overlaps with the S-wave first arrival. Records presented in Figures 1, 3, 4, and
5 have well-defined first P-wave arrivals, while on Figures 2 and 6 the first P
wave is not as clear.
During the process of developing the algorithm to calculate the characteristic
function, we tried using the ratio of the amplitude of the direct P wave to the

188

A. CICHOWICZ

c~

,,,,,,:?.,.,,,,1~,,,,,,,i,,,,,,,,,[,,.,~,,,,i,,,,,,,,,i,,~,,,,,r,,,,,,,,i,
,.,,,,i,,,,,%,,,,,,,,I,,,,,,Hl,,,,~rm~

V
.........~`''~'~H'~'~''~''~'~'~'"'~'~'~'~'`'r~"~"T'~"~'"~"~'~`~'''~'`'~'~''"''''''1
i""'"'~
o.o
~.2
2.~

~ d
~ '~

r"~'
iI

o--

"1"

.........~'~'~'~""~I~'~`~'"~`'''''i~"""'~'~'~'"r~`'~`"~"'~''"~"~i'''''~i
''''''''t
o.a
1.2
2.4

0.0

12

2.4

Fro. 6. Note t h e very s t r o n g P-coda signal on t h e L component, w h i c h causes b a d p e r f o r m a n c e of

t h e e n e r g y ratio p a r a m e t e r , F3(t). However, t h e first arrival of t h e S - w a v e p h a s e is still associated
w i t h t h e l a r g e s t increase in t h e characteristic function. The p r e d o m i n a n t frequency is 7.8 Hz. See
caption of Figure 1 for f u r t h e r explanations.

transverse components. No advantage was gained, and we dropped this parameter to reduce computation time.
Figures i to 6 also show the parameters of the characteristic function separately, which do not always reliably declare the S phase. It can be seen t h a t the
individual parameters of the characteristic function have a larger number of the
false alarms t h a n does the characteristic function. The last graph on the figures
shows t h a t the characteristic function, F(t), has better signal-to-noise behavior
t h a n the separate parameters. A sudden increase in F(t) is observed when the
S-phase appears in the P coda. Those graphs show the real strength of the
product defined by equation (9).
CONCLUSIONS

Due to the n a t u r e of noise in a real seismic signal, an S-picker works well if

the algorithm exploits a few parameters of the seismic signal t h a t are distinctly
different for the P wave and S wave. An algorithm t h a t exploits only one
feature of the seismic signal can fail. The advantage of the characteristic
function, F(t), is t h a t it includes several attributes of the S phase. Therefore,

AN AUTOMATIC S-PHASE PICKER

189

even small simultaneous increases of each parameter cause a significant increase of the characteristic function.
This algorithm can serve local seismic networks as it provides flexibility for
different signal-and-noise conditions. A high degree of control of the software
parameters obviates the time-consuming adjustment of constants at a new site.
For good performance of the S-phase picker, the pulse of the first-arrival
P-wave m u s t be well defined. The algorithm works well for 65 to 70% of data
with a range of magnitude from - 1 to 3. For a FORTRAN implementation of
the algorithm, send a request to author.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I am grateful to the anonymous reviewer whose critical remarks improve considerably the text of
the paper.
REFERENCES
Allen R. V. (1978). Automatic earthquake recognition and timing from single trace, Bull. Seism.
Soc. Am. 68, 1521-1532.
Andrews, D. J. (1986). Objective determination of source parameters and similarity of earthquakes
of different size, Maurice Ewing Symposium on Earthquake Source Mechanics, American
Geophysical Union; Washington, D.C., 20-23 May.
Baer, M. and U. Kradolfer (1987). An automatic phase picker for local and teleseismic events, Bull.
Seism. Soc. Am. 77, 1437-1445.
Boore, D. M. (1983). Stochastic simulation of high-frequency ground motion, Bull. Seism. Soc. Am.
73, 1865-1894.
Cichowicz, A., R. W. E. Green, and A. van Zyl Brink (1988). Coda polarization properties of
high-frequency microseismic events, Bull. Seism. Soc. Am. 78, 1297-1318.
Cichowicz, A. and J. Leliwa-Kopystynski (1975). Algorithm for the determination of the first
approach of P-wave, Publs. Inst. Geoph. Pol. Ac. Sci. 96, 121-130.
Granet, M. (1983). An automatic seismic signal detection based on linear prediction filter theory,
Ann. Geophys. 1, 109-114.
Kanasewich, E. R. (1981). Time Sequence Analysis in Geophysics, The University of Alberta Press,
334-354.
Roberts, R. G., A. Christoffersson, and F. Cassidy (1989). Real-time event detection, phase identification and source location estimation using single station three-component seismic data,
Geophys. J. 97, 471-480.
Samson, J. C. (1977). Matrix and Stokes vector representations of detectors for polarized waveforms:
theory, with some applications to teleseismic waves, Geophys. J. R. Astr. Soc. 51,583-603.
UNIVERSITYOF THE WITWATERSRAND
BERNARDPRICE INSTITUTEOF GEOPHYSICRESEARCH
PRIVATEBAG 3
WITS 2050
JOHANNESBURG,SOUTHAFRICA
Manuscript received 18 November 1991