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Abstract It is now established that the primary microseism, the secondary microseisms, and the hum are the three main components of seismic noise in the frequency band from about 0.003 Hz to 1.0 Hz. Monthly averages of seismic noise are dominated by these signals in seismic noise. There are, however, some temporary additional signals in the same frequency band, such as signals from tropical cyclones (hurricanes and typhoons) in the ocean and on land, stormquakes, weather bombs, tornadoes, and wind-related atmospheric pressure loading. We review these effects, lasting only from a few hours to a week but are significant signals. We also attempt to classify all seismic noise. We point out that there are two broad types of seismic noise, the propagating seismic waves and the quasi-static deformations. The latter type is observed only for surface pressure changes at close distances. It has been known since about 1970 but has not been emphasized in recent literature. Recent data based on co-located pressure and seismic instruments clearly show its existence. Because the number of phenomena in the first type is large, we propose to classify all seismic noise into three categories: (1) propagating seismic waves from ocean sources, (2) propagating seismic waves from on-land sources, and (3) quasi-static deformation at ocean bottom and on land. The microseisms and the hum are in the first category although there are differences in the detailed processes of their excitation mechanisms. We will also classify temporary signals by these categories.

Abstract Although microseisms have been observed for more than 100 years, the precise locations of their excitation sources in the oceans are still elusive. Underwater Distributed Acoustic Sensing (DAS) brings new opportunities to study microseism generation mechanisms. Using DAS data off the coast of Valencia, Spain, and applying a cross‐correlation approach, we show that the sources of high‐frequency microseisms (0.5–2 Hz) are confined between 7 and 27 km from the shore, where the water depth varies from 25 to 100 m. Over time, we observe that these sources move quickly along narrow areas, sometimes within a few kilometers. Our methodology applied to DAS data allows us to characterize microseisms with a high spatiotemporal resolution, providing a new way of understanding these global and complex seismic phenomena happening in the oceans.

Linear scattering of ocean wave energy at the ocean-continent transition structure causes the primary microseism at a period of 14 s. Subsequent nonlinear wave-wave interactions produce the secondary microseism signal at half the primary microseism period (Longuet-Higgins, 1950; Haubrich et al., 1963). We use three years (2018-2022) of seismic data from an ongoing microarray deployment in the UC Santa Barbara Sedgwick Reserve, situated in the Santa Ynez Valley, to constrain seasonal and long-term microseismic noise characteristics for this portion of California's central coast. Ancillary buoy data (spectral data, wave height, wind speed and direction) from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration are used to explore the causal relationship between ocean swell and the generation of microseisms. This region is found to exhibit strong seasonality in the primary and secondary microseism bands (0.05-0.1 and 0.1-0.3 Hz, respectively), with much higher noise levels in the winter compared with the summer, especially for the secondary microseism (15.4 dB). We also observe a systematic shift in the peak frequency of the secondary microseism between the winter (~0.14 Hz) and summer (~0.20 Hz) months, which may reflect a difference in sources of secondary microseisms between the two seasons. Local buoy wave height and spectral data are well correlated with seismic power spectra during times of incoming storm swell in winter, indicating locally generated microseisms along the central coast during this season. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An increase in seismic stations also having microbarographs has led to increased interest in the field of seismoacoustics. A review of the recent advances in this field can be found in Dannemann Dugick et al. (2023). The goal of this note is to draw the attention of the readers of Dannemann Dugick et al. (2023) to several additional interactions between the solid Earth and atmosphere that have not been classically considered in the field of seismoacoustics. The 15 January 2022 Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'api eruption produced acoustic gravity waves that were recorded globally. For example, the Lamb wave from this eruption produced early-arriving and long-lasting tsunami waves. This eruption also provided globally recorded coupling of atmospheric modes with solid Earth modes, providing another example of the complex interactions that can occur at the boundary between the atmosphere and the solid Earth. Even in the absence of large atmospheric signals, collocated pressure sensors at seismic stations can be a useful tool for estimating the local substructure, such at VS30 the average shear velocity of the upper 30 m. Finally, at low frequencies, it is possible to use pressure records to correct out atmospheric disturbances recorded on seismometers. We briefly review the aforementioned, nontraditional seismoacoustic topics that we feel are important to consider as part of the full suite of interactions occurring between the solid Earth and atmosphere. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]