The aim of this study is to understand the attenuation properties of seismic waves by calculating the backscattering coefficient, g-values, and the attenuation factor in the area under study. The backscattering coefficient is a factor, which indicates the loss of the wave energy by scattering per unit travel distance. The g-value factor is used to monitor the seismic active area. Coda waves quality factor is used to determine these factors and the attenuation properties caused by scattering processes of the short period seismic waves in the area under study.
For calculating the backscattering coefficient, g-values and to estimate the Coda waves quality factor around the Gulf of Suez area, a group of earthquakes in digital form recorded in seismic stations around the study area are utilized. The amplitude of the Coda waves at the central frequencies 1, 3, 6, 12 and 20 Hz is measured. The measured amplitude is used for the estimation of Q-1 values, backscattering coefficient and g-value.
From the analysis, the Q-1 value is low at high frequency and vice versa. The estimated Q-1 values range from 0.0006 to 0.0014 at 20 Hz and from .016 to .054 at 1 Hz.
The calculated backscattering coefficient at 20 Hz ranges between 0.04 and 0.9 and between 0.05 and 0.22 at 1 Hz. Physically, this means that Coda waves lose from 4 to 22 percent of their original energy by scattering for every kilometer traveled.
The calculated g-value at 20 Hz ranges between 0.9 and 1.28 and between 0.73 and 1.60 at 1 Hz. It has higher values in the seismically active localities in the area.