Love wave analysis for the dynamic characterisation of sites

Love waves are surface waves whose dispersive properties can be used to characterise the near surface, for instance for seismic site response assessment. The approach can be very similar to the surface wave method with Rayleigh waves. The general features of the Love Wave Method are described, and the comparison with Rayleigh wave testing is provided. The Love Wave Method can be applied on purposely acquired data, or it can be used to analyse the Love waves in shear wave reflection and refraction data. Some examples are shown to discuss the robustness of the methods, and to show the benefit of a full wave approach in shallow seismic characterisation techniques in order to increase the information extracted from seismograms and the reliability of the results.