Blind wave separation using vector-sensors

The problem of separation of instantaneous mixtures of narrowband signals impinging on sensors often arises in signal processing. In geophysics, the aims of signal processing are the separation and the identification of waves or sources to get a better understanding of the onshore. For a couple of years, multicomponent sensors are used in acquisition and allow one access to a physical property: the polarization. This paper shows that, taking the advantages from the multicomponent sensors, it is possible to have complete wavefield separation without a priori information. We propose to perform the estimation of wave's polarization using an algorithm derived from the Jointly Approximated Diagonalization of Eigen-elements (JADE) technique, which is based on the properties of the 4th order cumulants. From a real seismic acquisition, we present results where Rayleigh wave separation is performed. We also present the analysis of physical properties of the surface waves.