Dr Babak Hejrani

PhD
Visiting Research Fellow

Professional Positions:

  • 2022:         Geoscience Australia
  • 2020:         Research fellow, RSES, ANU
  • 2015:          PostDoc fellow, RSES, ANU
  • 2014:          Visiting researcher at ETH, Zurich
  • 2014:          PostDoc fellow, Aarhus University

Educations: 

  • 2014:          Ph.D., Geophysics, Aarhus University, Denmark
  • 2010:          M.S.   Geophysics, University of Tehran, Iran
  • 2007:          B.S.,   Pure Mathematics, University of Kurdistan, Kurdistan

Research interests

    3D Earth imaging

    • Uppermantle tomography using teleseimsic earthquakes
    • Regional and local earthquake tomography (LET)

    Earthquakes and volcanos:

    • Probabilistic Bayesian Inversion to constrain earthquake source complexity.
    • Effect of 3D heterogeneity on Centroid Moment Tensor catalogues.
    • Directivity and rupture propagation of shallow and deep large earthquakes.
    • Simulation of complex earthquakes, caldera collapses and volcanic eruptions.

    Seismicity and structural tectonics:

    • Architecture of Megathrusts and the rupture processes of large earthquakes. 
    • Earth structure and deep eaerthquakes (>300 km).

    New developing areas of research: 

    Machine Learning in seismology

    • Using Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) to classify seismic arrivals. 

    Beyond point source:

    • Sparsity-promoting schemes for simulation of large ruptures and complex sources. 

    Beyond Ray theory:

    • Seismic wave propagation in 3D media and finite frequency effects in local and regional earthquake tomography.

    Groups

    Journals:

    15. Hejrani, B., Balling, N., Jacobsen, B. H., Nielsen, S. B. (2020), Is high topography around North Atlantic supported from the uppermantle?, Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth, 125, e2020JB019808. Click here to see the paper.

    14. S Donner, M Mustać, B Hejrani, H Tkalčić, H Igel, (2020), Seismic moment tensors from synthetic rotational and translational ground motion: Green’s functions in 1-D versus 3-D, Geophysical Journal International, Volume 223, Issue 1, October 2020, Pages 161–179. Click here to see the paper

    13. Hejrani, B., and Tkalčić, H., (2020), Resolvability of the centroid‐moment‐tensors for shallow seismic sources and improvements from modelling high‐frequency waveforms, Journal of Geophysical Research - Solid Earth, 125. Click to see the paper

    12. Mustac, M., Hejrani, B. et al. (2020), Large isotropic component in the source mechanism of the 2013 Democratic People’s Republic of Korea nuclear test revealed via a hierarchical Bayesian inversion, Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America, 110 (1): 166–177. Click to see the paper.

    11. White, L., Rawlinson, N., Lister, G., Waldhauser, F., Hejrani, B. et al. (2019), Earth's deepest earthquake swarms track fluid ascent beneath nascent arc volcanoes, Earth and Planetary Science Letters, Volume 521, 25-36. Click to see the paper

    10. Fontaine, F. R., Roult, G., Hejrani, B. et al., (2019), Very- and ultra-long-period seismic signals prior to and during caldera formation on La Réunion Island, Scientific Reports, 9, 8068. Click to see the paper

    09. Hejrani, B. and H. Tkalčić, (2019), The centroid location, magnitude and the mechanism of 20 May 2016 Petermann Ranges earthquake, Austral. J. Earth. Sci., 66, 37-45. Click to see the paper.

    08. Lister, G., Forster, M.A., Muston, J.E., Mousavi, S. and B. Hejrani, (2018), Structural geology and the seismotectonics of the 2004 Great Sumatran Earthquake, Tectonics, 37. Click to see the paper. 

    07. Lister, G., Tkalčić, H., Hejrani, B., Koulali, A., Rohling, Eelco., Forster, M. and S. McClusky, (2018), Lineaments and earthquake ruptures on the East Japan megathrust, Lithosphere, 10 (4): 512-522.
    Click to see the paper.

    06. Hejrani, B., H. Tkalčić, and Fichtner, A., (2017), Centroid moment tensor catalogue using a 3-D continental scale Earth model: Application to earthquakes in Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands, J. Geophys. Res. Solid Earth, 122 (7): 5517-5543,  Click to see the paper.

    05. Mousavi, S., Haberland, C., Bauer, K., Hejrani, B., Korn, M., (2017), Attenuation tomography in West Bohemia/Vogtland, Tectonophysics, 695: 64-75.
    Click to see the paper.

    04. Hejrani, B., Balling, N., Jacobsen, B.H., England. R. (2017), Upper-mantle velocities below the Scandinavian Mountains from P- and S-wave traveltime tomography, Geophysical Journal International, 208 (1): 177–192.
    Click to see the paper. 

    03. Mousavi, S., K. Bauer, M. Korn., B. Hejrani (2015), Seismic tomography reveals a mid-crustal intrusive body, fluid pathways and their relation to the earthquake swarms in West Bohemia/Vogtland, Geophysical Journal International, 203 (2): 1113–1127.
    Click to see the paper.

    02. Hejrani, B., N. Balling., B.H. Jacobsen., F. Tillmann (2015), Upper-mantle P- and S-wave velocities across the Northern Tornquist Zone from traveltime tomography, Geophysical Journal International, 203 (1): 437–458.
    Click to see the paper

    01. Hejrani, B., B.H. Jacobsen, and N. Balling (2014), Teleseismic tomography when stations follow profiles: pitfalls and remedies, Seismological Research Letters, 85, 997-1003.
    Click to see the paper.

    Extended abstracts: 

    Hejrani, B., Hassan, R., Gorbatov, A., Sambridge, M., Hawkins, R., Valentine, A., Czarnota, K., Zhao, J. (2020), Ambient noise tomography of Australia: application to AusArray deployment, in: Exploring for the Future: extended abstracts, edited by: Czarnota, K., Roach, I. C., Abbott, S. T., Haynes, M. W., Kositcin, N., Ray, A., and Slatter, E., Geoscience Australia, Canberra, 1–6. http://dx.doi.org/10.11636/135130.

    Hassan, R., Hejrani, B., Medlin, A., Gorbatov, A., Zhang, F. (2020). High-Performance Seismological Tools (HiPerSeis), in: Exploring for the Future: extended abstracts, edited by: Czarnota, K., Roach, I. C., Abbott, S. T., Haynes, M. W., Kositcin, N., Ray, A., and Slatter, E., Geoscience Australia, Canberra. http://dx.doi.org/10.11636/135095.

    Gorbatov, A., Czarnota, K, Hejrani, B., Haynes, M.W., Hassan, R., Medlin, A., Zhao, J., Zhang, F., Salmon, M., Tkalcic, H., Yuan, H., Dentith, M., Rawlinson, N., Reading, A.M., Kennett, B.L.N., Bugden, C. (2020). AusArray: quality passive seismic data to underpin updatable national velocity models of the lithosphere, in: Exploring for the Future: extended abstracts, edited by: Czarnota, K., Roach, I. C., Abbott, S. T., Haynes, M. W., Kositcin, N., Ray, A., and Slatter, E., Geoscience Australia, Canberra, 1–6. http://dx.doi.org/10.11636/135284.

    Haynes, M.W., Gorbatov, A., Hejrani, B., Hassan, R., Zhao, J., Zhang, F., Reading, A.M. (2020), AusArray: Imaging the lithospheric mantle using body-wave tomography, in: Exploring for the Future: extended abstracts, edited by: Czarnota, K., Roach, I. C., Abbott, S. T., Haynes, M. W., Kositcin, N., Ray, A., and Slatter, E., Geoscience Australia, Canberra, 1–6. http://dx.doi.org/10.11636/134501.

    Alexei Gorbatov, Karol Czarnota, Marcus Haynes, Rakib Hassan, Babak Hejrani, Jason Zhao, Michelle Salmon, Malcolm Sambridge, Hrvoje Tkalčić, Huaiyu Yuan, Nicholas Rawlinson, Anya M Reading, Brian LN Kennett, (2019),  AusArray: Toward updatable, high-resolution seismic velocity models of the Australian lithosphere, Pages 1-4, Published online: 11 Nov 2019,, Click here to see the abstract

    Conferences:

    Hejrani, B., AGU ANT

    Mousavi, S., AGU CMT

    Hejrani, B., Valentine, A., Sambridge, M. (2019), Seismicity in The Solomon Islands: Seismic Gaps Explain the Location of Large Earthquakes, IUGG 2019, Montreal, Canada. 

    Hejrani, B., Valentine, A., Sambridge, M. (2019), Relaxing the Point Source Constraint: Seismic Analysis Using Sparse Wavefield Expansions, IUGG 2019, Montreal, Canada. 

    Hejrani, B., Rakib, H., Gorbatov, A. (2019), High-Performance Seismological Tools (HiPerSeis): Application to 40 Years of Seismic Data within the Australasian Regions, IUGG 2019, Montreal, Canada.

    Hassan, R., Hejrani, H., Gorbatov, A., Zhang, Fei. (2019), HiPerSeis: Supercharging the Seismic Workflows on High Performance Computing Platforms, C3DIS 2019, Canberra, Australia. Click here to see the poster.

    Haynes, M., Gorbatov, A., Hejrani, B., Hassan, R., Zhang, F. (2019): Resolving the seismic velocity structure of the Australian lithosphere, C3DIS 2019, Canberra, Australia. Click here to see the poster.

    Donner, S., Bernauer, M., Reinwald, M., Hadziioannou C., Hejrani, B. (2019), Seismic point and kinematic source solutions from rotational ground motion, EGU 2019 General Assembly in Vienna, Austria. Click here to see the abstract.

    Donner, S., Hejrani, B. (2019), Inversion for moment tensors including rotational ground motion: 1D vs 3D structure, DGG 2019 Meeting Germany. 

    Hejrani, B. and H. Tkalčić, (2018), Resolving the source parameters of shallow crustal earthquakes in Australia: examples from three earthquakes in the Musgrave Province, AGCC 2018 Meeting in Adelaide, Australia.

    Hejrani, B. and H. Tkalčić, (2018), Multiple point source simulation for large earthquakes within the Australasian region, AGCC 2018 Meeting in Adelaide, Australia.

    Hejrani, B. Tkalčić, H. and A. Fichtner, (2017), Centroid moment tensor solution using 3D heterogeneous anisotropic Earth: application to Papua New Guinea and Solomon Islands, IASPEI 2017 Kobe, Japan.

    Hejrani, B. and H. Tkalčić, (2017), Source properties of large earthquakes in subduction zones using 3D heterogeneous Earth: application to the Australasian region, IASPEI 2017 Kobe, Japan.

    Hejrani, B., H. Tkalcic and A. Fichtner (2015), Centroid Moment Tensor Inversion in a 3D heterogeneous Earth: Application to the Australasian region, AGU Fall Meeting 2015, San Francisco, United States.  http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2015AGUFM.S23C2729H

    Hejrani, B., B.H. Jacobsen, N. Balling, R. Kind, F. Tilmann, R. England and S.B. Nielsen (2014), P-wave and S-wave traveltime residuals in Caledonian and adjacent units of Northern Europe and Greenland, Geophysical Research Abstracts, EGU2014-10014, Vienna, Austria. http://meetingorganizer.copernicus.org/EGU2014/EGU2014-10014.pdf

    Schiffer, C., N. Balling, B.H. Jacobsen, B. Hejrani., S.B. Nielsen (2013), Upper mantle and crustal structure of the East Greenland Caledonides: New geophysical evidence and geodynamic implications, Abstract from 2013 AGU fall meeting, San Francisco, United states. http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2013AGUFM.T11E..06S

    Hejrani, B., B.H. Jacobsen, N. Balling, F. Tilmann, R. Kind. (2013), Upper-mantle velocity structure beneath Jutland, Denmark and northern Germany: Preliminary results, IASPEI meeting, Abstract from Knowledge for the future, Guthenburg, Sweden. http://www.forskningsdatabasen.dk/catalog/2185909654

    Hejrani, B., B.H. Jacobsen, N. Balling and R. England (2012), A seismic tomography study of lithospheric structure under the Norwegian Caledonides, Geophysical Research Abstracts, EGU2012-4334. Vienna, Austria. http://meetingorganizer.copernicus.org/EGU2012/EGU2012-4334.pdf

    Hejrani, B., B.H. Jacobsen, A.B. Medhus and N. Balling (2011), Resolving a deep lithosphere transition between Southern Norway and Southern Sweden, Geophysical Research Abstracts, EGU2011-3144. http://meetingorganizer.copernicus.org/EGU2011/EGU2011-3144.pdf