Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America, Vol. 88, No. 2, pp.

503-511, April t998

Determination of the Characteristic Frequency of Two Dams

Located in the Region of Calabria, Italy
by Ra61 R. Castro, M. Mucciarelli, F. Pacor, P. Federici, and A. Zaninetti

Abstract We estimated the characteristic frequency of vibration of two dams

located in southern Italy using spectral amplitudes of 13 local earthquakes recorded
by three-component digital stations installed on top of the structures and on the free
field. One of the dams (ARV), located in Arvo lake, is an earth dam, and the other
(TRP) is an arch dam located in the lake Ampollino. We separated the source and
path effects from the records on the dams by using spectral ratios between the hor-
izontal and the vertical components of motion ( H / V ratios). We also calculated si-
multaneous inversions for source, site, and path effects using different site con-
straints. In general, the characteristic frequencies (fn) retrived from both approaches
are consistent with the expected natural frequency of resonance of the structures. For
ARV, we estimated from the spectral records anfn = 2.5 Hz and a value of 2.0 Hz
when we calculated the one-dimensional response using the SHAKE code (Schnabel
et al., 1972). For TRP, the results of the inversion and the spectral ratio between the
free-field site give f~ = 8.0 Hz. We concluded that the inversion technique gives
reliable estimates o f f , for the sites analyzed.

Introduction

The main purpose of the different techniques commonly
used to estimate seismic amplification is to either eliminate
or separate the effect of attenuation along the path and the
source effect from the seismic records. One of the most use-
ful methods to estimate site responses consists in using a
reference site, with known site response, to evaluate the seis-
mic amplifications at other sites. It is assumed that the re-
cords from the reference site contain the same source and
attenuation effects as the target sites, so that the possible
differences observed with respect to the reference site are
mainly due to site effects. Several studies of site effects show
that the site response is influenced by several factors such
as the velocity of propagation near the surface (e.g., Taka-
hashi and Hirano, 1941), topographic irregularities near the
recording station (e.g., Bard and Tucker, 1985), and other
factors (Aki, 1988). When the recording instrument is lo-
cated on a building or any other structure, the site response
will contain also the effect of the soil-structure interaction.
These effects have been documented by Jennings and Ku-
rolwa (1968) and Luco et al. (1987) among others.
The seismic response of dams have been the subject of
many numerical and theoretical studies (Gazetas, 1987).
Several of them have analyzed the effects of the dam ge-
ometries, the inhomogeneity of the dam material, and the
base flexibility and the spatial variability of the ground mo-
tion (e.g., Abouseeda and Dakoulas, 1996). The effects in
frequency response of dams due to foundation-structure in-
teractions have also been studied using analytical procedures
(Tan and Chopra, 1995). However, the dynamic properties
of the dams can also be determined from earthquake records
using discrete-time filters (Safak, 1991) and system identi-
fication techniques (Ljung, 1987).
In this article, we explore three techniques to separate
the different factors controlling the motion recorded on en-
gineering structures. In particular, we used a generalized in-
version technique (e.g., Andrews, 1986; Castro et al., 1990,
1997; Boatwright et al., 1991) to infer the characteristic fre-
quency of vibration, of two dams, induced by earthquakes
of small magnitude. The dams selected (Arvo and Trepid6)
are located in the region of Calabria, Italy. These structures
were instrumented with two seismographs, one on top of the
dam and another installed nearby on free field. The reference
stations selected (free-field sites) are on the same geologic
conditions as the structures analyzed. Thus, once the site
response of the reference site is determined, the seismic re-
sponse of the structure can be estimated by subtracting the
site effect of the station used as reference. We made these
estimates using three techniques: first, we calculated the ratio
between the horizontal and the vertical components of mo-
tion (H/V ratios); second, we calculated spectral ratios be-
tween structure and free-field sites, using records of common
events and same component of motion; and third, we used
a spectral inversion technique.

503
504 R.R. Castro, M. Mucciarelli, F. Pacor, P. Federici, and A. Zaninetti

Table 1
Events Recorded

Date Time Depth

Event (Y M D) (Hr:M:S) Lat N Long E (kin) M Stations

1 96 04 19 18:25:17 38.940 16.570 5.0 2.2 arvl, arv2, trpl, trp2

2 96 04 26 17:49:17 39.060 16.440 5.0 2.3 arvl, arv2, trpl, trp2
3 96 04 26 17:52:02 39.090 16.440 5.0 1.3 arvl, arv2, trpl, trp2
4 96 04 28 03:19:40 39.547 16.455 4.7 1.7 arvl, arv2, trp2
5 96 05 03 05:29:23 39.000 16.550 5.0 2.2 arvl, arv2, trpl
6 96 05 04 19:20:18 38.781 16.972 5.0 2.3 arvl, arv2, trpl
7 96 07 23 07:14:04 39.343 16.109 5.0 2.3 arvl, arv2, trpl
8 96 07 25 13:13:05 38.578 16.015 6.8 3.0 arvl, arv2, trpl
9 96 08 04 01:23:21 39.496 16.459 5.0 2.2 arvl, arv2, trpl
10 96 08 05 20:24:13 39.507 15.926 5.0 2.5 arvl, arv2, trpl, trp2
11 95 11 29 21:34:46 39.040 16.520 5.0 1.3 arvl, arv2, trpl
12 95 11 26 20:13:25 39.133 16.462 5.0 2.0 arvl, trpl
13 95 11 24 15:55:24 39.120 16.400 5.0 1.5 arvl, trpl

Data

W e analyzed seismic records from 13 events recorded

by four three-component digital stations. Table 1 lists the
dates of the events and the stations that recorded them. The
magnitudes of the earthquakes vary between 1.7 and 3.0,
and their focal depths, between 4.7 and 6.8 km. Figure 1
shows the distribution of the epicenters and the location of
the seismic stations used. Stations ARV1 and ARV2 are lo-
cated at A r v o Lake, and stations TRPI and TRP2, at A m -
pollino lake. ARV1 and TRP1 were installed on top of the
dams, and ARV2 and TRP2, on free field. The sites on free
field were located near the structures, on similar geologic
conditions as the dams.
The dam in A r v o Lake, built in the period 1927 to 1931,
is an earth-fill structure with a central core o f clay. The
height of the dam is 35 m, the width is 305 m, and it has ARV2 :
340,000 m 3 of volume. The reservoir fills a valley composed
mainly b y granitic rocks, and the storage capacity of the dam : : TRP2
is 70 106 m 3. The dam in Ampollino Lake was built in CLago Savuto
the same period, but consists of a circular structure of con-
crete with 144 m of width and 39 m of height, and the res- 12
i3 Q
ervoir has a capacity o f about 65 106 m 3 o f water. : ~. Lago de| P~sante
Figure 2 displays a sample of the three-component ve- 3 s~ :
locity records of the stations used. The records were baseline !-- ~Asl! ~--[
corrected by subtracting the mean to remove long-period
: ~1t
biases. Then, we calculated the acceleration spectrum of the
three components of motion selecting time windows manu- 5
ally, starting before the first S-wave arrival and ending be-
fore the arrival of the surface waves. The lengths of the
i ~ Epieeltter
windows selected vary between 1 and 10 sec. The beginning
and end of the windows were tapered with a 5% cosine taper,
and the spectral amplitudes were smoothed using a variable
frequency band of + 25% o f the central frequency. W e used Figure 1. Distribution of earthquakes used. The
15 frequencies between 1.0 and 25 Hz for the analysis (in triangles indicate the location of the stations that re-
this frequency band, the instrument response of the seis- corded the events shown.
Determination of the Characteristic Frequency of Two Dams Located in the Region of Calabria, Italy 505

7-ARVl .N
.004 t
000 I~
-.o04 t ,
10 20 30 40 50
2-ARV2.N

t~ .008
.oo4 I:
ooo I:
-.O04 IE
5 10 15 20
9-TRP1 .N

.002
.000 I~
.,,,,-[,,,I,~,,,,m,k.'~Ll~,.,,,,,I . . . . . ,.....,~. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
......... ~n~re.~'m~n',,.,,'--'."-' . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
-.002 Ii r ,n-l~..r--v
i i i - - I, i i i i
D 5 10 15 20 25 30 ,.35
2-TRP2.N

.010 I
000

-.0101- i I i i i i i i i

0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 18 18
t (see)

7-ARVI .E
004
.000
-.004 t r
10 20 30 40 50
2-ARV2.E
004 ~_
.000 I~
-.004 ~
5 10 15 20
9-TRP1 .E
/

.004 I
.000~ ,,, , ,,, J . . . . . . . ri~" "~,~,~:-:~';~-:~:;~.. - ~ ..... : ~ :. . . .
.... "" . . . .
-.004 I" i i
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35
2-TRP2.E
.o2o I:
.010~ ....,,.tall. . . . . . ~dllll/IL IILahu__..._~_.~_~. . . . . .
000
-.0101~
-.020 I- I I I I I I I 118
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16
t (sec)

Figure 2. A sample of seismograms recorded at the four sites. The first four traces
correspond to the north component and the next four to the east component. The number
on the labels indicates the event recorded.

mographs is flat). For each spectral record, we selected a the source and attenuation along the source-station path.
frequency band in which the spectral amplitudes were above Thus, by taking the ratio between the horizontal and the
the noise level. In the low-frequency end, we rejected am- vertical component of motion (H/V ratios), the effects of
plitudes that tend to increase with decreasing frequency. At attenuation and source are eliminated from the horizontal
the high-frequency end, the frequency at which the spectra components. This idea was introduced by Langston (1977)
became flat was chosen as the end of the window. to determine the crustal structure using teleseismic record-
ings. The H/V ratios have also been used by Nogoshi and
Spectral Ratios Igarashi (1970) and Nakamura (1989) to evaluate sediment-
induced amplifications using microtremors. Although this
The use of spectral ratios between the horizontal and method was originally used to infer site effects from micro-
the vertical component of motion to estimate the site re- tremors, it has been successfully used to evaluate the site
sponse is based on the assumption that the spectral ampli- response to S-wave incidence (e.g., Lermo and Chavez-
tudes of the vertical component of motion are relatively in- Garcfa, 1993; Field and Jacob, 1995; Castro et al., 1996;
sensitive to site effects and that contain mainly the effect of among others).
506 R.R. Castro, M. Mucciarelli, F. Pacor, P. Federici, and A. Zaninetti

ARV1 TRP1
10
3.5 iIlil S- - \
jf I

3.0
t ~ I t

2.5
~t/3. 6
",1
2.0 I

"' 4

2
''"",'"';';: '\ ~~,,'~ ', . .- s -' , , , , " ,. ".- .. .. ..
1.5

1.0

,5
/
I

I I I I I I III I .0 I I I I I I I I I
10 0 101 10 0 101
ARV2 TRP2

iI
11 3.0 ii
t
/
i II
i l
2,5
5 iI 11 111

s I l t i i
2.0
04 .,/ 1
t
t I
I
t
f t
I111 I

z~ 1.5
I II / ~" I i t ~ I I -

2
1.0

I I I I I I III t I I I I I T I II I
10 0 10 t 10 0 101
f (Hz) f (Hz)

Figure 3. Average H/V spectral ratios, one frame per site. The standard deviation is
delimited with the dotted lines.

In order to have an estimate of the site response of the imum amplitudes, possibly related to higher modes of
four sites analyzed, we first calculated an average H/V ratio vibration at 6.3, 10.0, and 16 Hz. For the dam at Ampollino
for each site as follows: Lake, the spectral records on the structure (as observed at
TRP1) show the first maximum at 1.6 Hz and subsequent
Z(f) = - ~ [N(f) E(f)]]/2
o
peaks at 4.0, 6.3, and 16 Hz, while the response of the free-
n ~=1 [V(f)]~ (1) field site (TRP2) shows a characteristic frequency of vibra-
tion (fn) at 2.0 Hz and higher modes at 4.0 and 16 Hz.
where Z(f) represents the site response at frequency f" n is Another approach to estimate the response of the struc-
the number of earthquakes recorded by the three compo- tures is by assuming that the free-field sites have the same
nents; and N(f), E(f), and V(f) are the spectral amplitudes geologic conditions present under the dam. Thus, we can
of the north, east, and vertical components, respectively. Fig- isolate the response of the structure by dividing the spectral
ure 3 shows the site response estimated using H/V ratios for records on the dam by the spectral records of the reference
each site and the standard error of the estimates (dotted site (free field) for the same event and component of ground
lines). The sites located at Arvo Lake (ARV1 and ARV2) motion. Figure 4 shows the average ratio of each component
show the first maximum amplitude, which defines the char- for both structures (Arvo on the left and Trepid6 on the
acteristic frequency of the sites, at 2.5 Hz for ARV1 and at right). For ARVI,f, = 2.5 Hz for both components, and for
3.16 Hz for ARV2. It is interesting to note that the maximum TRPI,fn = 8.0 Hz. Note that the characteristic frequency of
amplification of the dam, observed at ARV1, occurs at a the structure at Trepid6 changes when the site effect is re-
lower frequency than the characteristic frequency of the free- moved, while for Arvo, where the reference site has a similar
field site (ARV2), which contains only the effect of the geo- characteristic frequency than the structure, f , remains the
logic conditions. The site response of ARV1 also shows max- same (at 2.5 Hz).
Determination of the Characteristic Frequency of Two Dams Located in the Region of Calabria, Italy 507

North North

4
~3
k,-

~2
ii i//
E
(3 zzxx Il k_~
,<

/
II ....I I I I I Ill I } ,I I I I t I II i
10 0 10 ~ 10 o 101

Eost Eost
4.0

)
//
3.5 10 t ~'
I t

3.0 / t~q
> II /11 ii o_
2.5 I t"
I iI ! lit .11 I--
I I 4 ~x ] i,
~ 2.0 II t, I~ ~ I /
I I /
ill Itll E
~ 1.5
/ I-- , x I
_ /
1.0 _r I ,-I / '~x ! 0
lI ~, 1% x /
.5
-2 /
II I I i I I I II I
I ~ [ I I I fill r

10 o 101 10 0 101
f (Hz) f (Hz)

Figure 4. Average spectral ratio between records on top of structure and those re-
corded on free field. The frames on the left correspond to the sites in Arvo Lake, and
the frames on the right, to the sites in Trepido Lake. The ratios were calculated sepa-
rately for each component, frames on the top correspond to the north component, and
those below, to the east component. The dashed lines are the average __+1 standard
deviation.

Spectral Inversion where r' = 100 km is the distance above which surface
waves predominate.
The different factors affecting the spectral amplitudes
By taking logarithms of both sides of equation (2), a
observed at the recording sites can be described by the fol-
system of linear equation can be formed for each of the fre-
lowing relation:
quencies considered. In matrix form, this can be written as
Uij ~, r) = Si(f) .Zj(f). G(r) exp( - nfr/Qfl), (2)
A . x = b. (4)
where Si(f) is the source function of earthquake i; Zj(f) is
the site response of station j," G(r) is the geometrical spread-
In this system of equations, the unknowns, Si(f), Q, and the
ing function, which depends on the hypocentral distance r,
site responses Zj(f), are the elements of the solution vector
and the last term accounts for the attenuation along the
x, and the observed spectral amplitudes are the elements of
source-station path. Q is the quality factor of the medium
the data vector b. Because there is a linear dependence be-
where the seismic waves propagate, and for t, the average
tween the source and the site functions in equation (2), it is
shear-wave velocity, we used an average of 3.5 km/sec.
necessary to constrain the possible solutions of the model by
The geometrical spreading can be approximated as
using stations with known site response as reference sites or
by imposing the following condition:

G(r) =
I(r,i)l/2
r
for r < r',
(3) N
1 for r => r', Log = o. (5)
k=l
508 R.R. Castro, M. MucciareUi, F. Pacor, P. Federici, and A. Zaninetti

ARV1 TRP1
1.4
,,',, .,.,,
1.2 ,,',V,, .4
i \'~,
1.0 .... i r)?.,,\
/ v,, .2
.8
"'" \ "// ",,V""-..
N
.6 / ,,",.. .0
,,\;! "-
...l

.4
-.2
.2

.0

I I I I I I I III I I I I i i i i ill I

10 0 10 i 10 0 10 ~
ARV2 TRP2

1.0 i
,a"l,
.,,,, /\
//\t ,,,-....... / ',--.:. /.\
.8

.6
y"/ \t
iF"
.2

.1
./"\/" \

N i 7t "/
.4 .0
._1

.2

-.2
.0

-.2!
-.4
-,4 I t t I t i r i ii i
I I I I I I I t~i i
10 0 101 10 o 101
f (Hz) f (Hz)

Figure 5. Site functions resulting from the spectral inversion. The solid lines are
the functions obtained conditioning the inversion with equation (5). The dashed lines
are the estimates obtained when the site responses of both ARV2 and TRP2 are pre-
scribed. The dotted lines are the functions resulting when only the site response of
TRP2 is specified.

This condition was applied to the free-field stations (ARV2 obtained when the solution is conditioned with equation (5),
and TRP2) where small near-site amplifications are expected; the dashed lines are the site responses obtained when the site
thus, N = 2 in equation (5). Because the matrix A is sparse responses of both ARV2 and TRP2 are specified, and the
(contains only three nonzero elements per row), a singular- dotted lines are obtained when only the response of TRP2 is
value decomposition provides a stable solution (Press et al., prescribed.
1988). This technique has been previously used by Andrews Although the amplification levels are different due to
(1986) to estimate source parameters and by Castro et al. the different references used, fn remains the same. For one
(1990) and Boatwright et al. (1991), among others, to study case, we are using the average response of the free-field sites
source, site, and propagation characteristics of earthquakes. as reference (solid lines), and in the other cases, we used the
Since we have estimated the site response of ARV2 and specific site responses of the flee-field sites. It is interesting
TRP2 using H / V ratios, we can also solve equation (2) by to notice that at high frequencies (f > 5.0 Hz), the amplifi-
prescribing these site responses in the inversion scheme. cation levels are similar for the three solutions. Note also
Note that although these two stations are both free-field sites, that station TRP2 shows very small amplification factors,
their site response is different (see Fig. 3). Thus, we can test indicating that it is a good reference site. In Table 2, we list
the effect of the reference site in the determination of the the results of these inversions. The last three columns show
characteristic frequency of the structures. Figure 5 shows the the standard errors obtained using the different constraints.
site responses, of the four stations analyzed, resulting from Note that the error is the same by either constraining the
the spectral inversions. The solid lines are the site functions inversion using equation (5) or by specifying the site func-
Determination of the Characteristic Frequency of Two Dams Located in the Region of Calabria, Italy
ARVl
i
4
3
--- \l \
I I I I I I I t I I
100 101
f (Hz)
Figure 6. Comparison between site responses ob-
tained for ARV1 using different methods. The solid
line is the one-dimensional response calculated with
SHAKE (Schnabel et al., 1972). The dashed line is the
average spectral ratio between ARV1 and ARV2 (east
component). The dotted line is the site function re-
sulting from the spectral inversion (when equation 5
is used).
tion of TRP2. When the site function of both ARV2 and TRP2
are prescribed, the standard error decreases but insignifi-
cantly.
Results
A common feature of the site functions obtained with
the spectral inversion (Fig. 5) is that the three solutions show
the same natural frequency of vibration for the sites in Arvo
Lake, namely, 2.5 Hz for ARV1 and 3.2 Hz for ARV2. For
the sites in Ampollino Lake, we observed a shift offn toward
a lower frequency when the site response of only one site
(TRP2) is prescribed in the inversion. This result remarks the
importance of including the appropriate reference sites in the
inversion.
The characteristic frequency of ARV was also verified
by calculating the one-dimensional response of the structure
using the SHAKE code (Schnabel et aL, 1972). Ciurnelli et
aL (1996) determined the velocity structure of the dam using
sonic measurements. Table 3 lists the values of shear-wave
velocity, damping, and density determined at different
depths of the dam in their study. We used the parameters
listed in Table 3 to model the response of the dam. In Figure
6, we compare the resulting response (solid line) with the
site function obtained with the spectral inversion using as
constraint equation (5) (dotted line) and the response of the
structure determined using the average spectral ratio be-
509
TRP1
4.5 A
4.0
3.5
3.0
,E
N
2.5
2.0
1.5
/ "\',,. '(\//\
1.0
, ......... ,,'/ \
\~J \
I
.5 I I I I I I I I I I
10 0 101
f (Hz)
Figure 7. Comparison between site responses ob-
tained for TRP1. The solid line was obtained using
H/Vratios, the dashed line is the average spectral ratio
between TRP1 and TRP2 (east component), and the
dotted line was obtained from the spectral inversion
(prescribing the site response of both ARV2 and
TRP2).
tween common events at the top of the dam (ARV1) and at
the reference site (ARV2) for the east component. It is in-
teresting to note that although the one-dimensional model
gives anfn = 2.0 Hz, in contrast withfn = 2.5 Hz observed
from the records, the one-dimensional model also predicts
higher modes at similar frequencies than the observations,
namely, near 6 and 10 Hz. In addition, the amplitude level
predicted by SHAKE forfn is the same as the amplitude es-
timated with the inversion.
In Figure 7, we compare the site response obtained for
TRP1 using H/V ratios (solid lines), using the spectral in-
version prescribing the site response of both ARV2 and TRP2
(dotted line), and using average spectral ratios between TRP1
and TRP2 (dashed line). While the H/V ratios give an fn =
6.3 Hz, the other two methods indicate that the characteristic
frequency of the structure is near 8 Hz. This discrepancy is
possibly due to the effects of geology and topography that
are not eliminated from the response of the structure when
the H/V ratios are calculated. If we again assume that the
site functions of the reference sites ARV2 and TRP2 contain
the characteristic effects of the geology surrounding the
dams and that the site functions obtained for ARV1 and TRP1
contain the effects of both structure and geologic conditions
of the dam, then the dynamic response of the structures can
be separated from the effects of the geology by dividing the
H/V ratios obtained for ARV1 and TRP1 by the H/V ratios
of the respective reference sites. Figure 8 shows the ratios
510 R.R. Castro, M. Mucciarelli, F. Pacor, P. Federici, and A. Zaninetti

Table 2
Results of Inversions

f (Hz) ARV1 ARV2 TRP1 TRP2 Q at a2 aa

1.000 1.4808 1.2896 0.9583 0.7754 243 0.2143 0.2131 0.2143
1,260 1.7062 1.2943 0.9080 0.7726 85 0.1682 0.1672 0.1682
1,580 1.9549 1.2495 0.8578 0.8003 76 0.1589 0.1579 0.1589
2,000 4.4842 1.6587 0.6803 0.6029 770 0.1526 0.1521 0.1526
2.510 6.7448 1.8420 0.5115 0.5429 2434 0.1468 0.1467 0.1468
3.160 1.9980 2.6659 0.3329 0.3751 0 0.1570 0.1581 0.1570
3,980 1.1406 1.8692 0.3446 0.5350 0 0.1571 0.1585 0.1571
5.010 1.4187 1.1353 0.6080 0.8808 517 0.1774 0.1770 0.1774
6,310 1.4406 0.9925 1.6542 1.0075 193 0.1804 0.1809 0.1804
7.940 0.7567 0.7622 2.1482 1.3121 154 0.1913 0.1911 0.1913
10.000 1.1155 0.7150 1.8580 1.3985 3937 0.1589 0.1591 0.2584
12.590 0.9049 0.7801 1.2338 1.2818 1771 0.1356 0.1374 0.1356
15.850 0.8867 0.5402 1.4582 1.8510 1086 0.1557 0.1561 0.1557
19.950 1.0761 0.6417 1.9872 1.5583 771 0.1748 0.1755 0.1748
25.120 1.0439 0.6391 1.4726 1.5648 1344 0.2150 0.2146 0.2150

We listed z:(f), Q00, and the standard error (or1)obtainedwhen the inversionwas constrainedusing equation (5). (r2 is the error estimated when the site
functionsof ARV2and TRP2 are specified, and a3 is the standard error obtained when TRP2 is used as reference.

Table 3 ARV1

S-Wave Velocity Structure of Arvo Dam

2.0

H p B 1.8
Layer (m) (gm/crn3) ~ (m/sec)
1.6
1 6 1.9 0.01 200
2 28 1.9 0.005 300 1.4
3 7.5 2.1 0.0025 575
, ~ 1.2
4 4 2.3 0.0016 875 :3:
5 2 2.3 0.0025 575 1.0
6 0 2.7 0.0005 1500
.8

.6!
.4
ARV1/ARV2 on top and TRP1/TRP2 below. For ARV1, the
I I i I I i ii
natural frequency of vibration of the structure is at 2.5 Hz, 00 101
as estimated previously, and for TRP1, f , is now at 8 Hz,
consistent with the results of the inversion and the spectral
ratios shown in Figure 4. TRP1
2.4
Conclusions 2.2

We have inferred the dynamic response of two dams 2.0

located in the region of Calabria, Italy, using seismic records
1.8
from local earthquakes. W e analyzed the strong-motion sec-
tion of the records, which consists of S-wave arrivals. The "--,'
-r-
1.5
estimates of the site responses obtained were made using
1.4 I
three techniques: first, we inferred site responses using HIV
ratios, second, we calculated spectral ratios with respect to 1.2
free-field sites, and third, we used a generalized inversion
1.0
technique. The H/V ratios calculated using spectral records
from the instruments installed on top of the dams (ARV 1 and .8
i i i i i i i

10 0 I0 ~
TRP1) contain the effects of both soil and structure. How-
f (Hz)
ever, the site functions resulting from the spectral inversion
for these sites give the expected value o f f , of the structures Figure 8. Site response ratios (ARV1/ARV2 and
when the inversion is constrained by either specifying the TRPI/TRP2) calculated using the site functions ob-
site response of both reference sites (ARV2 and TRP2) or by tained with H/V ratios (Fig. 3). Top frame for Arvo,
applying equation (5). These results are consistent with the bottom frame for Trepido.
Determination of the Characteristic Frequency of Two Dams Located in the Region of Calabria, Italy
one-dimensional response of the structure computed with
SHAKE for ARV1 and with the spectral ratios ARV1/ARV2
and TRP1/TRP2. In order to isolate the response of the struc-
ture from the geologic characteristics of the sites, we as-
sumed that the site functions of the free-field sites contain
the same effect of the geology as the sites where the struc-
tures are located. Thus, when we subtract the effect of the
geology from the site functions, the response of the structure
at Arvo Lake (ARVI) shows a maximum response at 2.5 Hz,
the likely natural frequency of the dam, and higher modes
of vibration at 6.3 and 10 Hz (see Fig. 6). For the dam lo-
cated in Ampollino Lake (TRP1), the characteristic fre-
quency occurs at 8.0 Hz and a higher mode at 20 Hz. We
conclude that the spectral inversion and the average spectral
ratios give a reliable estimate of the characteristic frequency.
The spectral inversion technique is useful when the number
of events recorded simultaneously in the structure and the
free field are limited. However, in both cases, the determi-
nation of the characteristic frequency of the structures de-
pends on the adequate selection of the reference sites.
Acknowledgments
We thank Aids Tselentis and the anonymous reviewer for their comments
and suggestions.
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Manuscript received 5 June 1997.