Application of inverse ray-tracing seismic modelling techniques
in the Ikaria airport site

V. K. Karastathis1, J. F. Louis2, M. Arvanitis2 and P. Karmis3

1 National Observatory of Athens, Institute of Geodynamics, P.O. Box. 20048, 118 10 Athens, Greece

2 University of Athens, Panepistimioupolis, 157 84 Athens, Greece

3 Institute of Geology and Mineral Exploration, Mesogeion 70, 115 27 Athens, Greece

(Received 9 January 2002; accepted 3 June 2002)

Abstract : The implementation of the seismic refraction method in the Ikaria Island Airport site, Greece, in 1995, was a characteristic case of detection degraded areas by geophysical prospecting, in a zone where the Airport’s runway had been planned for expansion. The degradation was mainly presumed by the low values of the measured seismic wave velocity and the estimated dynamic modulus of elasticity. The processing of the data had been based on ray-tracing inverse modelling techniques. The geophysical survey had assisted to the proper design of the runway expansion.

Six years later, we reprocessed the data with modern inverse modelling techniques in order to assess the validity of the older refraction modelling results and to make a general assessment about the degree that the new techniques could additionally assist the quantification of the dynamic properties of the rocks in engineering applications.

Key Words: Ray-tracing, Inverse Modelling, Seismic Refraction, Geotechnical Applications.