ABSTRACT
Dense arrays of accelerometers were used to record the dynamic response of stepped soil slopes in an equivalent shear beam container at the Center for Geotechnical Modeling at the Univ. of California, Davis. Data from these arrays was utilized in performing time and time-frequency domain analysis. The propagation and interaction of seismic waves with the soil slopes was interpreted using a new parameter, deemed the Stockwell mean square frequency. The Stockwell mean square frequency consists of calculating the mean square frequency of the S transform at each time step for a ground motion time history. Dominant frequencies of the ground motion were tracked in time, allowing frequencies amplified by the presence of the slope to be identified.
