Earthquake time-frequency analysis using a new compatible wavelet function family
Amir Bazrafshan Moghaddam, Mohammad Hossein Bagheripour · Earthquakes and Structures · 2012
Earthquake records are often analyzed in various earthquake engineering problems, making time-frequency analysis for such records of primary concern. The best tool for such analysis appears to be based on wavelet functions; selection of which is not an easy task and is commonly carried through trial and error process. Furthermore, often a particular wavelet is adopted for analysis of various earthquakes irrespective of record's prime characteristics, e.g. wave's magnitude. A wavelet constructed based on records' characteristics may yield a more accurate solution and more efficient solution procedure in time-frequency analysis. In this study, a low-pass reconstruction filter is obtained for each earthquake record based on multi-resolution decomposition technique; the filter is then assigned to be the normalized version of the last approximation component with respect to its magnitude. The scaling and wavelet functions are computed using two-scale relations. The calculated wavelets are highly efficient in decomposing the original records as compared to other commonly used wavelets such as Daubechies2 wavelet. The method is further advantageous since it enables one to decompose the original record in such a way that a clear time-frequency resolution is obtained.