Signal processing in ocean bottom seismographs for refraction seismology

This paper presents some experimental results on the application of signal processing techniques to underwater seismic signals. The novelty of this paper stems from the fact that it is the first paper, to the best of the authors´ knowledge, dealing with a comprehensive processing of signals obtained from active refraction seismology. In particular, this paper has adapted known signal processing techniques to problems such as time of arrival detection (TOA), compression, and representation through conventional images (hodocrones) used in underwater seismology. This work is part of a wider project aimed at the design of a small ocean bottom seismometer (OBS) undertaken by several research and development groups in Spain. This sophisticated easy to handle equipment allows recording useful active and passive seismicity information.