Filter grammar

SeisComP3 supports string based filter definitions. This section covers available filters and their parameters.

The filter definition supports building filter chains (operator >> or ->) as well as combining them with basic mathematical operators like +, -, *, /, ^ (power) and | | (absolute value).

Example

A(1,2)>>(B(3,4)*2+C(5,6,7))>>D(8)

where A, B, C and D are different filters configured with different parameters. If a sample is filtered it passes the following stages:

s = a sample

1. filter s with A: sa = A(1,2)(s)
2. filter sa with B: sb = B(3,4)(sa)
3. sb = sb * 2
4. filter sa with C: sc = C(5,6,7)(sa)
5. add sb and sc: sbc = sb + sc
6. filter sbc with D: sf = D(8)(sbc)

sf = final sample

The default filter applied by scautopick is

RMHP(10) >> ITAPER(30) >> BW(4,0.7,2) >> STALTA(2,80)

It first removes the offset. Then an ITAPER of 30 seconds is applied before the data is filtered with a 4th order butterworth bandpass with corner frequencies of 0.7 Hz and 2 Hz. Finally an STA/LTA filter with a short-time time window of 2 seconds and a long-term time window of 80 seconds is applied.

Filters

The following filter functions are available. If a filter function has no parameters it can be given either with parentheses (eg DIFF()) or without (eg DIFF).

AVG(timespan)

Calculates the average of preceding samples.

Parameters:timespan -- Time span in seconds

BW(order, lo-freq, hi-freq)

Butterworth Bandpass filter (BW) realized as a causal recursive IIR (infinite impulse response) filter. An arbitrary bandpass filter can be created for given order and corner frequencies.

Parameters:

• order -- The filter order
• lo-freq -- The lower corner frequency
• hi-freq -- The upper corner frequency

BW_LP(order, hi-freq)

Butterworth lowpass filter realized as a causal recursive IIR (infinite impulse response) filter.

Parameters:

• order -- The filter order
• hi-freq -- The corner frequency

BW_HP(order, lo-freq)

Butterworth highpass filter realized as a causal recursive IIR (infinite impulse response) filter.

Parameters:

• order -- The filter order
• lo-freq -- The corner frequency

BW_HLP(order, lo-freq, hi-freq)

Butterworth high-low-pass filter realized as a combination of BW_HP() and BW_LP().

Parameters:

• order -- The filter order
• lo-freq -- The lower corner frequency
• hi-freq -- The upper corner frequency

DIFF()

Differentiation filter realized as a recursive IIR (infinite impulse response) differentiation filter.

The differentiation loop calculates for each input sample s the output sample s':

s' = (s-v1) * dt
v1 = s;

INT([a = 0])

Integration filter realized as a recursive IIR (infinite impulse response) integration filter. The weights are calculated according to parameter a in the following way:

a0 = ((3-a)/6) * dt
a1 = (2*(3+a)/6) * dt
a2 = ((3-a)/6) * dt

b0 = 1
b1 = 0
b2 = -1

The integration loop calculates for each input sample s the integrated output sample s':

v0 = b0*s - b1*v1 - b2*v2
s' = a0*v0 + a1*v1 + a2*v2
v2 = v1
v1 = v0

Parameters:a -- Coefficient a

ITAPER(timespan)

A one-sided cosine taper.

Parameters:timespan -- The timespan in seconds.

RMHP(timespan)

A highpass filter realized as running mean highpass filter. For a given time window in seconds the running mean is subtracted from the single amplitude values. This is equivalent to highpass filtering the data.

Running mean highpass of eg 10 seconds calculates the difference to the running mean of 10 seconds.

Parameters:timespan -- The timespan in seconds

SM5([type = 1])

A simulation of a 5-second seismometer.

Parameters:type -- The data type: 0 (displacement), 1 (velocity) and 2 (acceleration)

STALTA(sta, lta)

A STA/LTA filter is the ratio of a short-time average to a long-time average calculated continuously in two consecutive time windows. This method is the basis for many trigger algorithm. The short-time window is for detection of transient signal onsets whereas the long-time window provides information about the actual seismic noise at the station.

Parameters:

• sta -- Short-term time window
• lta -- Long-term time window

WA([type = 1])

The simulation filter of a Wood-Anderson seismometer. The data format of the waveforms has to be given for applying the simulation filter (displacement = 0, velocity = 1, acceleration = 2), e.g. WA(1) is the simulation on velocity data.

Parameters:type -- The data type: 0 (displacement), 1 (velocity) and 2 (acceleration)

WWSSN_LP([type = 1])

The instrument simulation filter of a World-Wide Standard Seismograph Network (WWSSN) long-period seismometer.

Parameters:type -- The data type: 0 (displacement), 1 (velocity) and 2 (acceleration)

WWSSN_SP([type = 1])

Analog to the WWSSN_LP, the simulation filter of the short-period seismometer of the WWSSN.

Parameters:type -- The data type: 0 (displacement), 1 (velocity) and 2 (acceleration)