Abstract: Transient Rayleigh wave exploration technique is a new type of seismic exploration method.It stimulates and receives the spread speed of different frequencies of Rayleigh wave to detect the physical and mechanical properties of rock from different depth or distance and provides the basis for understanding the rock properties.This article invitigates the basic principle of transient Rayleigh wave and the method of data interpretation based on the engineering example,and utilizes the frequency disperse curve of Rayleigh wave for layering of shallow layer,determines for the potential sliding surface.