Horizontal-to-Vertical Spectral Ratio (HVSR) Passive-seismic Data Collected in the Des Moines River Floodplain, Des Moines, Iowa, 2018

In summer 2018, a total of 43 passive seismic surveys were conducted in the Des Moines River floodplain. The horizontal-to-vertical spectral ratio (HVSR) method is a passive seismic technique that uses a three-component seismometer to measure the vertical and horizontal components of ambient seismic noise. A resonance frequency (f0) is induced in the unconsolidated deposits when there is a substantial contrast (greater than 2:1) in shear-wave acoustic impedance between the overburden and the bedrock. The f0 is determined from the analysis of the spectral ratio of the horizontal and vertical components of the seismic data. The thickness of the overburden can be related to the f0. In general, lower f0 relates to thicker sediments, and higher f0 relates to relatively thinner overburden. This data release contains a text file (Readme_HVSR.txt) that explains data files and processing references, 6 .zip folders 5 related to survey line(s) on a given date and one for individual measurements not related to survey lines with each zip folder containing measurement site folders and original data files and resultant measurement report (.trc, .saf or .dat, and .doc) , a notes file for archiving surface-geophysical data (HVSR_Archive_Notes_DesMoinesIA.csv), and another comma-separated values file (HVSR_Index_DesMoinesIA.csv) that can be used to help navigate the data files. Field notes taken at the time of data collection are not included in this data release but are available upon request.

Data and Resources

Field Value
accessLevel public
bureauCode {010:12}
catalog_@context https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema/catalog.jsonld
catalog_@id https://ddi.doi.gov/usgs-data.json
catalog_conformsTo https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema
catalog_describedBy https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema/catalog.json
identifier http://datainventory.doi.gov/id/dataset/usgs-616db967d34e653770013040
metadata_type geospatial
modified 2021-12-07T00:00:00Z
old-spatial -93.68454, 41.59799, -93.60798, 41.69189
publisher U.S. Geological Survey
resource-type Dataset
source_datajson_identifier true
source_hash b08b59f952d123e35dc1d7551661abfbbd05bd34ace12b56a9e76be03eb7452a
source_schema_version 1.1
spatial {"type": "Polygon", "coordinates": [[[-93.68454, 41.59799], [-93.68454, 41.69189], [ -93.60798, 41.69189], [ -93.60798, 41.59799], [-93.68454, 41.59799]]]}
theme {geospatial}
Groups
  • AmeriGEOSS
  • National Provider
  • North America
Tags
  • AmeriGEO
  • AmeriGEOSS
  • CKAN
  • GEO
  • GEOSS
  • National
  • North America
  • United States
  • aquifer-characterization
  • biota
  • des-moines
  • geophysics
  • horizontal-to-vertical-spectral-ratio
  • hydrogeology
  • iowa
  • polk-county
  • usgs-616db967d34e653770013040
isopen False
license_id notspecified
license_title License not specified
maintainer Emilia L Bristow
maintainer_email ebristow@usgs.gov
metadata_created 2025-09-25T16:01:20.305118
metadata_modified 2025-09-25T16:01:20.305129
notes In summer 2018, a total of 43 passive seismic surveys were conducted in the Des Moines River floodplain. The horizontal-to-vertical spectral ratio (HVSR) method is a passive seismic technique that uses a three-component seismometer to measure the vertical and horizontal components of ambient seismic noise. A resonance frequency (f0) is induced in the unconsolidated deposits when there is a substantial contrast (greater than 2:1) in shear-wave acoustic impedance between the overburden and the bedrock. The f0 is determined from the analysis of the spectral ratio of the horizontal and vertical components of the seismic data. The thickness of the overburden can be related to the f0. In general, lower f0 relates to thicker sediments, and higher f0 relates to relatively thinner overburden. This data release contains a text file (Readme_HVSR.txt) that explains data files and processing references, 6 .zip folders 5 related to survey line(s) on a given date and one for individual measurements not related to survey lines with each zip folder containing measurement site folders and original data files and resultant measurement report (.trc, .saf or .dat, and .doc) , a notes file for archiving surface-geophysical data (HVSR_Archive_Notes_DesMoinesIA.csv), and another comma-separated values file (HVSR_Index_DesMoinesIA.csv) that can be used to help navigate the data files. Field notes taken at the time of data collection are not included in this data release but are available upon request.
num_resources 1
num_tags 17
title Horizontal-to-Vertical Spectral Ratio (HVSR) Passive-seismic Data Collected in the Des Moines River Floodplain, Des Moines, Iowa, 2018