Seismic noise characterisation at a potential gravitational wave detector site in Australia

Abstract

A critical consideration in the design of next-generation gravitational wave detectors is the understanding of the seismic environment that can introduce coherent and incoherent noise of seismic origin at different frequencies. We present detailed low-frequency ambient seismic noise characterisation (0.1-10 Hz) at the Gingin site in Western Australia. Unlike the microseism band (0.06-1 Hz) for which the power shows strong correlations with nearby buoy measurements in the Indian Ocean, the seismic spectrum above 1 Hz is a complex superposition of wind induced seismic noise and anthropogenic seismic noise which can be characterised using beamforming to distinguish between the effects of cohere..