Quantifying Rotation-Induced Errors in Near-Field Seismic Recordings

Understanding the full wave field is imperative for seismic data analysis, as the different components induce errors in the sensors. Recent development of rotational seismometers allows for detailed measurements of the wave field gradients. Providing additional information that was previously unattained. However, it is well-known from navigation solutions that rotational data requires proper processing to be physically meaningful. In this study, we focus on investigating and quantifying two errors affecting recording of rotations: 1) misorientation of sensor to local system called misorientation of rotations and 2) changing projection of the Earth’s spin in the recordings - Earth spin leakage. Using 6-component datasets, including 3C translation and 3C rotation, from near-field events at the Kīlauea Caldera in Hawai‘i and the Mw 7.4 Hualien event on 2024-04-02, we find that the Earth spin leakage is negligible, while the misorientation of the rotations increases with ground motion amplitude, potentially becoming significant for large earthquakes in the near-field. While these errors do not significantly affect acceleration corrections in our dataset, they may be relevant for high-amplitudes or in highly sensitive applications. This work offers the first quantification of these errors in seismology and provides guidance for assessing the need for corrections in future studies.