scholarly journals Finite‐difference quasi‐P traveltimes for anisotropic media

Geophysics ◽  
2002 ◽  
Vol 67 (1) ◽  
pp. 147-155 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jianliang Qian ◽  
William W. Symes
Keyword(s):  
Finite Difference ◽  
Group Velocity ◽  
Velocity Vector ◽  
Eikonal Equation ◽  
Nonlinear Partial Differential Equation ◽  
Elastic Solid ◽  
Transversely Isotropic ◽  
Anisotropic Media ◽  
P Wave ◽  
First Arrival

The first‐arrival quasi‐P wave traveltime field in an anisotropic elastic solid solves a first‐order nonlinear partial differential equation, the q P eikonal equation. The difficulty in solving this eikonal equation by a finite‐difference method is that for anisotropic media the ray (group) velocity direction is not the same as the direction of the traveltime gradient, so that the traveltime gradient can no longer serve as an indicator of the group velocity direction in extrapolating the traveltime field. However, establishing an explicit relation between the ray velocity vector and the phase velocity vector overcomes this difficulty. Furthermore, the solution of the paraxial q P eikonal equation, an evolution equation in depth, gives the first‐arrival traveltime along downward propagating rays. A second‐order upwind finite‐difference scheme solves this paraxial eikonal equation in O(N) floating point operations, where N is the number of grid points. Numerical experiments using 2‐D and 3‐D transversely isotropic models demonstrate the accuracy of the scheme.

Migration of P‐wave reflection data in transversely isotropic media

Geophysics ◽  
1994 ◽  
Vol 59 (4) ◽  
pp. 591-596 ◽  
Author(s):  
Suhas Phadke ◽  
S. Kapotas ◽  
N. Dai ◽  
Ernest R. Kanasewich
Keyword(s):  
Wave Equation ◽  
Dispersion Relation ◽  
Synthetic Data ◽  
Transversely Isotropic ◽  
Anisotropic Media ◽  
Limited Range ◽  
Horizontal Velocity ◽  
P Wave ◽  
Transversely Isotropic Media ◽  
Isotropic Media

Wave propagation in transversely isotropic media is governed by the horizontal and vertical wave velocities. The quasi‐P(qP) wavefront is not an ellipse; therefore, the propagation cannot be described by the wave equation appropriate for elliptically anisotropic media. However, for a limited range of angles from the vertical, the dispersion relation for qP‐waves can be approximated by an ellipse. The horizontal velocity necessary for this approximation is different from the true horizontal velocity and depends upon the physical properties of the media. In the method described here, seismic data is migrated using a 45-degree wave equation for elliptically anisotropic media with the horizontal velocity determined by comparing the 45-degree elliptical dispersion relation and the quasi‐P‐dispersion relation. The method is demonstrated for some synthetic data sets.

Effective and efficient approaches for calculating seismic ray velocity and attenuation in viscoelastic anisotropic media

Geophysics ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 86 (1) ◽  
pp. C19-C35
Author(s):  
Jianlu Wu ◽  
Bing Zhou ◽  
Xingwang Li ◽  
Youcef Bouzidi
Keyword(s):  
Velocity Vector ◽  
Hamiltonian Function ◽  
Transversely Isotropic ◽  
Anisotropic Media ◽  
Quality Factors ◽  
Approximate Methods ◽  
Slowness Vector ◽  
Homogeneous Complex ◽  
Isotropic Media ◽  
Complex Ray

In viscoelastic anisotropic media, the elastic moduli, slowness vector, phase, and ray velocity are all complex-valued quantities in the frequency domain. Solving the complex eikonal equation becomes computationally complex and time-consuming. We have developed two approximate methods to effectively calculate the ray velocity vector, attenuation, and quality factor in viscoelastic transversely isotropic media with a vertical symmetry axis (VTI) and in orthorhombic (ORT) anisotropy. The first method is based on the perturbation theory (PER) under the assumption of a homogeneous complex ray vector, which is obtained by applying the elastic background and viscoelastic perturbations to the real and imaginary components of the modulus tensor, respectively. The perturbations of the slowness vectors of the three wave modes (qP, qSV, and qSH) are determined through the vanishing Hamiltonian function. The second method is derived by applying a real slowness direction (RSD) to the inhomogeneous complex slowness vector and then approximately calculating the complex ray velocity vector with the condition of the homogeneous complex vector. The numerical results verify that the two approaches can produce accurate ray velocity vector, attenuation, and quality factors of the qP-wave in viscoelastic VTI and ORT media. The RSD method can yield high accuracies of ray velocity for the qSV- and qSH-wave in viscoelastic VTI models even at triplication of the qSV wavefronts, as well as qS1 and qS2 in a weak ORT medium ([Formula: see text] > 20), except for near the cusp of the qS1 wavefronts (errors approximately 6%) where the PER has more than 10% error.

On: “3-D traveltime compuation using the fast marching method” (J. A. Sethian and A. M. Popovici, GEOPHYSICS, 64, 516–523).

Geophysics ◽  
2000 ◽  
Vol 65 (2) ◽  
pp. 682-682
Author(s):  
Fuhao Qin
Keyword(s):  
Finite Difference ◽  
Eikonal Equation ◽  
Fast Marching Method ◽  
Fast Marching ◽  
First Arrival ◽  
Finite Difference Solution ◽  
Marching Method ◽  
Difference Solution

The Sethian and Popovici paper “3-D traveltime computation using the fast marching method” that appeared in Geophysics, Vol. 64, 516–523, discussed a method to solve the eikonal equation for first arrival traveltimes which was called the “fast marching” method. The method, as the authors demonstrated, is very fast and stable. However, their method is very similar to the method discussed by F. Qin et al. (1992), entitled “Finite difference solution of the eikonal equation along expanding wavefronts,” Geophysics, Vol. 57, 478–487. F. Qin et al. first proposed the “expanding wavefront” method for solving eikonal equation in the 60th Ann. Internat. Mtg. of the SEG in 1990.

scholarly journals A fast sweeping algorithm for accurate solution of the tilted transversely isotropic eikonal equation using factorization

Geophysics ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 82 (6) ◽  
pp. WB1-WB8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Umair bin Waheed ◽  
Tariq Alkhalifah
Keyword(s):  
Finite Difference ◽  
Eikonal Equation ◽  
Transversely Isotropic ◽  
Accurate Solution ◽  
Computational Domain ◽  
Wave Kinematics ◽  
Source Point ◽  
Fast Sweeping ◽  
Two Factors ◽  
The Right

Traveltime computation is essential for many seismic data processing applications and velocity analysis tools. High-resolution seismic imaging requires eikonal solvers to account for anisotropy whenever it significantly affects the seismic wave kinematics. Moreover, computation of auxiliary quantities, such as amplitude and take-off angle, relies on highly accurate traveltime solutions. However, the finite-difference-based eikonal solution for a point-source initial condition has upwind source singularity at the source position because the wavefront curvature is large near the source point. Therefore, all finite-difference solvers, even the high-order ones, show inaccuracies because the errors due to source-singularity spread from the source point to the whole computational domain. We address the source-singularity problem for tilted transversely isotropic (TTI) eikonal solvers using factorization. We solve a sequence of factored tilted elliptically anisotropic (TEA) eikonal equations iteratively, each time by updating the right-hand-side function. At each iteration, we factor the unknown TEA traveltime into two factors. One of the factors is specified analytically, such that the other factor is smooth in the source neighborhood. Through this iterative procedure, we obtain an accurate solution to the TTI eikonal equation. Numerical tests show significant improvement in accuracy due to factorization. The idea can be easily extended to compute accurate traveltimes for models with lower anisotropic symmetries, such as orthorhombic, monoclinic, or even triclinic media.

Finite‐difference solution of the eikonal equation using an efficient, first‐arrival, wavefront tracking scheme

Geophysics ◽  
1994 ◽  
Vol 59 (4) ◽  
pp. 632-643 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shunhua Cao ◽  
Stewart Greenhalgh
Keyword(s):  
Finite Difference ◽  
Eikonal Equation ◽  
Discretization Scheme ◽  
Efficiency Improvement ◽  
Average Value ◽  
Velocity Models ◽  
First Arrival ◽  
Finite Difference Solution ◽  
Corner Node ◽  
Difference Solution

First‐break traveltimes can be accurately computed by the finite‐difference solution of the eikonal equation using a new corner‐node discretization scheme. It offers accuracy advantages over the traditional cell‐centered node scheme. A substantial efficiency improvement is achieved by the incorporation of a wavefront tracking algorithm based on the construction of a minimum traveltime tree. For the traditional discretization scheme, an accurate average value for the local squared slowness is found to be crucial in stabilizing the numerical scheme for models with large slowness contrasts. An improved method based on the traditional discretization scheme can be used to calculate traveltimes in arbitrarily varying velocity models, but the method based on the corner‐node discretization scheme provides a much better solution.

Finite-difference frequency-domain modeling of viscoacoustic wave propagation in 2D tilted transversely isotropic (TTI) media

Geophysics ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 74 (5) ◽  
pp. T75-T95 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stéphane Operto ◽  
Jean Virieux ◽  
A. Ribodetti ◽  
J. E. Anderson
Keyword(s):  
Finite Difference ◽  
Frequency Domain ◽  
Symmetry Axis ◽  
Transversely Isotropic ◽  
Wave Mode ◽  
Absorbing Boundary Conditions ◽  
P Wave ◽  
Domain Modeling ◽  
S Wave ◽  
Absorbing Boundary

A 2D finite-difference, frequency-domain method was developed for modeling viscoacoustic seismic waves in transversely isotropic media with a tilted symmetry axis. The medium is parameterized by the P-wave velocity on the symmetry axis, the density, the attenuation factor, Thomsen’s anisotropic parameters [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text], and the tilt angle. The finite-difference discretization relies on a parsimonious mixed-grid approach that designs accurate yet spatially compact stencils. The system of linear equations resulting from discretizing the time-harmonic wave equation is solved with a parallel direct solver that computes monochromatic wavefields efficiently for many sources. Dispersion analysis shows that four grid points per P-wavelength provide sufficiently accurate solutions in homogeneous media. The absorbing boundary conditions are perfectly matched layers (PMLs). The kinematic and dynamic accuracy of the method wasassessed with several synthetic examples which illustrate the propagation of S-waves excited at the source or at seismic discontinuities when [Formula: see text]. In frequency-domain modeling with absorbing boundary conditions, the unstable S-wave mode is not excited when [Formula: see text], allowing stable simulations of the P-wave mode for such anisotropic media. Some S-wave instabilities are seen in the PMLs when the symmetry axis is tilted and [Formula: see text]. These instabilities are consistent with previous theoretical analyses of PMLs in anisotropic media; they are removed if the grid interval is matched to the P-wavelength that leads to dispersive S-waves. Comparisons between seismograms computed with the frequency-domain acoustic TTI method and a finite-difference, time-domain method for the vertical transversely isotropic elastic equation show good agreement for weak to moderate anisotropy. This suggests the method can be used as a forward problem for viscoacoustic anisotropic full-waveform inversion.

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