Physics-Informed Deep Learning for Estimating the Spatial Distribution
of Frictional Parameters in Slow Slip Regions
Abstract
Slow slip events (SSEs) have been observed in many subduction zones and
are understood to result from frictional unstable slip on the plate
interface. The diversity of their characteristics and the fact that
interplate slip can also be seismic suggest that frictional properties
are heterogeneous. We are however lacking methods to constrain spatial
distribution of frictional properties. In this paper, we employ
Physics-Informed Neural Networks (PINNs) to achieve this goal using a
synthetic model inspired by the long-term SSEs observed in the Bungo
channel. PINN is a deep learning technique which can be used to solve
the physics-based differential equations and determine the model
parameters from observations. To examine the potential of our proposed
method, we execute a series of numerical experiments. We start with an
idealized case where it is assumed that fault slip is directly observed.
We next move to a more realistic case where the synthetic surface
displacement velocity data are observed by virtual GNSS stations. The
geometry and friction properties of the velocity weakening region, where
the slip instability develops, are well estimated, especially if surface
displacement velocities above the velocity weakening region are
observed. Our PINN-based method can be seen as an inversion technique
with the regularization constraint that fault slip obeys a particular
friction law. This approach remediates the issue that standard
regularization techniques are based on non-physical constraints. These
results of numerical experiments reveal that the PINN-based method is a
promising approach for estimating the spatial distribution of friction
parameters from GNSS observation.