Application of particle swarm optimization to interpret Rayleigh wave dispersion curves

Rayleigh waves have been used increasingly as an appealing tool to obtain near-surface shear (S)-wave velocity profiles. However, inversion of Rayleigh wave dispersion curves is challenging for most local-search methods due to its high nonlinearity and to its multimodality. In this study, we proposed and tested a new Rayleigh wave dispersion curve inversion scheme based on particle swarm optimization (PSO). PSO is a global optimization strategy that simulates the social behavior observed in a flock (swarm) of birds searching for food. A simple search strategy in PSO guides the algorithm toward the best solution through constant updating of the cognitive knowledge and social behavior of the particles in the swarm.To evaluate calculation efficiency and stability of PSO to inversion of surface wave data, we first inverted three noise-free and three noise-corrupted synthetic data sets. Then, we made a comparative analysis with genetic algorithms (GA) and a Monte Carlo (MC) sampler and reconstructed a histogram of model parameters sampled on a low-misfit region less than 15% relative error to further investigate the performance of the proposed inverse procedure. Finally, we inverted a real-world example from a waste disposal site in NE Italy to examine the applicability of PSO on Rayleigh wave dispersion curves. Results from both synthetic and field data demonstrate that particle swarm optimization can be used for quantitative interpretation of Rayleigh wave dispersion curves. PSO seems superior to GA and MC in terms of both reliability and computational efforts. The great advantages of PSO are fast in locating the low misfit region and easy to implement. Also there are only three parameters to tune (inertia weight or constriction factor, local and global acceleration constants). Theoretical results exist to explain how to tune these parameters.

► We proposed and tested a new Rayleigh wave dispersion curve inversion scheme.
► The proposed strategy is called particle swarm optimization (PSO) approach.
► The performance of PSO is tested on noise-free, noise-corrupted and field data.
► Comparisons with genetic algorithms and a Monte Carlo sampler are made.
► Results show that PSO can be used for nonlinear inversion of surface wave data.