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Abstract. The seismic wavefield can be approximated by a sum of elliptical polarized motions in 3D space, including the extreme linear and circular motions. Each elliptical motion need to be described: the characterization of the ellipse flattening, the orientation of the ellipse, circle or line in the 3D space, and the direction of rotation in case of non-purely linear motion. Numerous fields of study share the need of describing an elliptical motion. A review of advantages and drawbacks of each convention from electromagnetism, astrophysics and focal mechanism is done in order to thereafter define a set of parameters to fully characterize the seismic wavefield polarization.

Abstract.A full polarization parameter system in 3D space is presented to characterize the state of polarization of a seismic wavefield and to parametrize any type of elliptical polarized seismic wave including extreme linear and circular polarizations. This parameter system does not require the a-priori knowledge of the orientation of the polarization plane and provides access to all parameters required in most polarization studies. Two groups of angular and vectorial parameters are defined, which can be easily related to one another. The knowledge of particle motion polarization opens the field of applications for 3-component seismic records contributing to improvements in phase identification. An example of a time-frequency visualization of the polarization parameters on a teleseimic earthquake recorded at a seismic station of LSBB is presented.