Yan Yang

Yan Yang

Ph.D. in Geophysics

About

I am currently a Scripps Postdoc Scholar at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UCSD. I earned my Ph.D. in geophysics (2019-2024) at Caltech Seismolab working under the advisement of Zhongwen Zhan, Rob Clayton, and Zach Ross. I earned B.S. (2016, School of the Gifted Young) and M.S. (2019) in Geophysics at USTC under the advisement of Huajian Yao.

My research interests are primarily centered on imaging the near surface and studying environmental processes through seismology, with a particular emphasis on leveraging big seismic data with cutting-edge observation and processing technologies including fiber-optic sensing and machine learning.

Publications

Google Scholar † equal contribution, * corresponding author

  1. Bird, E., Atterholt, J., Li, J., Biondi, E., Zhai, Q., Li, L., Yang, Y., Fang, J., Wei, X., Hjörleifsdóttir, V., Klesh, A., Kamalov, V., Gunnarsson, T., & Zhan, Z. (2025). Constraining Dike Opening Models With Seismic Velocity Changes Associated With the 2023-2024 Eruption Sequence on the Reykjanes Peninsula. AGU Advances, 6(1), e2024AV001516. https://doi.org/10.1029/2024AV001516 [PDF]

  2. Shen, Z.†, Yang, Y.†, Fu, X., Adams, K. H., Biondi, E., Zhan, Z. (2024). Fiber Seismic Sensing of Vadose Zone Soil Moisture. Nature Communications https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-50690-6 [PDF] Caltech News

  3. Yang, Y.*, Clayton, R. W. (2024). Mapping Los Angeles Basin depth with Sp converted phases. Geophysical Research Letters, 51, e2024GL111135. https://doi.org/10.1029/2024GL111135 [PDF]

  4. Yang, Y.*, Zhan, Z., Karrenbach, M., Reid-McLaughlin A., Biondi, E., Wiens, D. A., Aster, R. C. (2024). Characterizing South Pole Firn Structure with Fiber Optic Sensing. Geophysical Research Letters, 51, e2024GL109183. https://doi.org/10.1029/2024GL109183 [PDF]

  5. Lai, V. H., Miller, M. S., Jiang, C., Yang, Y., Magrini, F., Zhan, Z., & McQueen, H. (2024). Passive Seismic Imaging of Urban Environments Using Distributed Acoustic Sensing: A Case Study from Melbourne, Australia. The Seismic Record, 4(4), 308-317. https://doi.org/10.1785/0320240031 [PDF]

  6. Atterholt, J., Zhan, Z., Yang, Y., & Zhu, W. (2024). Imaging the Garlock Fault Zone with a fiber: A limited damage zone and hidden bimaterial contrast. Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth, 129, e2024JB028900. https://doi.org/10.1029/2024JB028900 [PDF]

  7. Yang, Y.*, Gao, A. F, Azizzadenesheli, K., Clayton, R. W., Ross, Z. E. (2023). Rapid Seismic Waveform Modeling and Inversion with Universal Neural Operators. IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing, 61, Art no. 5906712. http://doi.org/10.1109/TGRS.2023.3264210 [PDF]

  8. Yang, Y.*, Clayton, R. W. (2023). Shallow Seismicity in the Long Beach - Seal Beach, California Area. Seismological Research Letters https://doi.org/10.1785/0220220358 [PDF] SSA News

  9. Fang, J., Yang, Y., Shen, Z., Biondi, E., Wang, X., Williams, E. F., et al. (2022). Directional Sensitivity of DAS and Its Effect on Rayleigh‐Wave Tomography: A Case Study in Oxnard, California. Seismological Research Letters, 94(2A), 887–897. https://doi.org/10.1785/0220220235 [PDF]

  10. Atterholt, J., Zhan, Z., & Yang, Y. (2022). Fault Zone Imaging With Distributed Acoustic Sensing: Body-To-Surface Wave Scattering. Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth, 127(11), e2022JB025052. https://doi.org/10.1029/2022JB025052 [PDF]

  11. Yang, Y.*, Zhan, Z., Shen, Z., & Atterholt, J. (2022). Fault Zone Imaging With Distributed Acoustic Sensing: Surface-To-Surface Wave Scattering. Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth, 127(6), e2022JB024329. https://doi.org/10.1029/2022JB024329 [PDF]

  12. Yang, Y.*, Atterholt, J. W., Shen, Z., Muir, J. B., Williams, E. F., & Zhan, Z. (2022). Sub-Kilometer Correlation Between Near-Surface Structure and Ground Motion Measured With Distributed Acoustic Sensing. Geophysical Research Letters, 49(1), e2021GL096503. https://doi.org/10.1029/2021GL096503 [PDF] EOS Research Highlight

  13. Yang, Y.*†, Gao, A. F., Castellanos, J. C., Ross, Z. E., Azizzadenesheli, K., & Clayton, R. W. (2021). Seismic Wave Propagation and Inversion with Neural Operators. The Seismic Record, 1(3), 126–134. https://doi.org/10.1785/0320210026 [PDF]

  14. Li, Z., Shen, Z., Yang, Y., Williams, E., Wang, X., & Zhan, Z. (2021). Rapid Response to the 2019 Ridgecrest Earthquake With Distributed Acoustic Sensing. AGU Advances, 2(2). https://doi.org/10.1029/2021av000395 [PDF]

  15. Zhang, Z., Yao, H., & Yang, Y. (2020). Shear wave velocity structure of the crust and upper mantle in Southeastern Tibet and its geodynamic implications. Science China Earth Sciences, 63(9), 1278–1293. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11430-020-9625-3 [PDF]

  16. Yang, Y., Yao, H., Wu, H., Zhang, P., & Wang, M. (2020). A new crustal shear-velocity model in Southwest China from joint seismological inversion and its implications for regional crustal dynamics. Geophysical Journal International, 220(2), 1379–1393. https://doi.org/10.1093/gji/ggz514 [PDF]

  17. Yang, Y., Yao, H., Zhang, P., & Chen, L. (2018). Crustal azimuthal anisotropy in the trans-North China orogen and adjacent regions from receiver functions. Science China Earth Sciences, 61(7), 903–913. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11430-017-9209-9 [PDF]

Awards and Scholarship

  • SSA Photonic Seismology Travel Grants, 2024
  • Scripps Postdoctoral Scholar Award, 2024
  • AGU Outstanding Student Presentation Award, 2023
  • GPS Award for Academic Excellence in Research, Caltech, 2023
  • JpGU Outstanding Student Presentation Award, 2023
  • GPS Graduate Fellowship, Caltech, 2019
  • Laurel Scholarship for Graduate Students, USTC, 2018
  • First Class Graduate Academic Scholarship, USTC, 2016, 2017, 2018.
  • Outstanding Undergraduate Graduation Thesis, USTC, 2016.
  • Outstanding Undergraduate Graduates of USTC, USTC, 2016.
  • Competition of Physics Research Experimentation of USTC (First Prize), USTC, 2015.

Invited Talks

  • EPS Department Colloquium, Harvard University, 03/2025
  • EPS Department Seminar, University of California, Berkeley, 02/2025
  • International Symposium on Polar Sciences, Shanghai, 11/2024
  • Berkeley Seismo Lab Seminar, University of California, Berkeley, 10/2024
  • SeismoTea Seminar, University of Utah, 10/2024
  • SSA Photonic Seismology Meeting, 10/2024
  • SAGE/GAGE Community Science Workshop, 06/2024
  • Geophysics Seminar, University of California Los Angeles, 04/2024
  • IGPP Geophysics Seminar, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California San Diego, 01/2024
  • Lithospheric Dynamics Seminar, University of Southern California, 01/2024
  • AGU Annual Meeting, 12/2023
  • Geophysics Seminar, Stanford University, 11/2023
  • Brown Bag Seminar, Caltech, 11/2023
  • GMP Guest Seminar, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, 06/2023
  • Japan Geoscience Union Meeting, 05/2023

Professional Activities

  • Convener of 2025 SSA Annual Meeting Session: Fiber-optic Sensing Applications in Seismology.
  • Convener of 2024 AGU Annual Meeting Session: Investigating Environmental Processes through Fiber-Optic Sensing.
  • Convener of 2024 SSA Photonic Seismology Session: Exploring the Frontier of Environmental Processes using Fiber-optic Sensing.
  • Organizer of Caltech Seismological Laboratory Seminar, 2021-2022.
  • Journal Reviewer: Science Advances, GRL, JGR Solid Earth, IEEE-TGRS, GJI, SRL, BSSA, Geophysics, etc.

Teaching

TA for:

  • California Institute of Technology
    • Ge 162 Seismology (Spring 2023)
    • Ge 165 Geophysical Data Analysis and Seismic Imaging (Fall 2021)
    • Ge 1 Earth and Environment (Spring 2021)
  • University of Science and Technology of China
    • Advances in Geophysics (Fall 2017)

Guest Lecturing:

  • University of California, San Diego
    • Environmental seismology (Winter 2025)
  • California Institute of Technology
    • Fiber-optic seismology (Fall 2021)

Contact

Email:
    yanyang@ucsd.edu

Address:
    Institute of Geophysics and Planetary Physics
    Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UC San Diego
    9500 Gilman Drive, MC 0225
    La Jolla, CA 92093