Noise reduction and detection of weak, coherent signals through phase-weighted stacks

We present a new tool for efficient incoherent noise reduction for array data employing complex trace analysis. An amplitude-unbiased coherency measure is designed based on the instantaneous phase, which is used to weight the samples of an ordinary, linear stack. The result is called the phase-weighted stack (PWS) and is cleaned from incoherent noise. PWS thus permits detection of weak but coherent arrivals. The method presented can easily be extended to phase-weighted cross-correlations or be applied in the τp domain. We illustrate and discuss the advantages and disadvantages of PWS in comparison with other coherency measures and present examples. We further show that our non-linear stacking technique enables us to detect a weak lower-mantle P-to-S conversion from a depth of approximately 840 km on array data. Hints of an 840 km discontinuity have been reported; however, such a discontinuity is not yet established due to the lack of further evidence.