True amplitude corrections for a narrow-angle one-way elastic wave equation

Geophysics ◽  
2007 ◽  
Vol 72 (2) ◽  
pp. T19-T26 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. A. Angus

Wavefield extrapolators using one-way wave equations are computationally efficient methods for accurate traveltime modeling in laterally heterogeneous media, and have been used extensively in many seismic forward modeling and migration problems. However, most leading-order, one-way wave equations do not simulate waveform amplitudes accurately and this is primarily because energy flux is not accounted for correctly. I review the derivation of a leading-order, narrow-angle, one-way elastic wave equation for 3D media. I derive correction terms that enable energy-flux normalization and introduce a new higher-order, narrow-angle, one-way elastic wave extrapolator. By implementing these correction terms, the new true amplitude wave extrapolator allows accurate amplitude estimates in the presence of strong gradients. I present numerical examples for 1D velocity transition models to show that (1) the leading-order, narrow-angle propagator accurately models traveltimes, but overestimates transmitted- or primary-wave amplitudes and (2) the new amplitude corrected narrow-angle propagator accurately models both the traveltimes and amplitudes of all forward-traveling waves.

2019 ◽  
Vol 219 (3) ◽  
pp. 1900-1914 ◽  
Author(s):  
T Möller ◽  
W Friederich

SUMMARY An existing nodal discontinuous Galerkin (NDG) method for the simulation of seismic waves in heterogeneous media is extended to media containing fractures with various rheological behaviour. Fractures are treated as 2-D surfaces where Schoenberg’s linear slip or displacement discontinuity condition is applied as an additional boundary condition to the elastic wave equation which is in turn implemented as an additional numerical flux within the NDG formulation. Explicit expressions for the new numerical flux are derived by considering the Riemann problem for the elastic wave equation at fractures with varying rheologies. In all cases, we obtain further first order differential equations that fully describe the temporal evolution of the particle velocity jump at the fracture. Our flux formulation allows to separate the effect of a fracture from flux contributions due to simple welded interfaces enabling us to easily declare element faces as parts of a fracture. We make use of this fact by first generating the numerical mesh and then building up fractures by selecting appropriate element faces instead of adjusting the mesh to pre-defined fracture surfaces. The implementation of the new numerical fluxes into NDG is verified in 1-D by comparison to an analytical solution and in 2-D by comparing the results of a simulation valid in 1-D and 2-D. Further numerical examples address the effect of fracture systems on seismic wave propagation in 1-D and 2-D featuring effective anisotropy and coda generation. Finally, a study of the reflective and transmissive behaviour of fractures indicates that reflection and transmission coefficients are controlled by the ratio of signal frequency and relaxation frequency of the fracture.


Geophysics ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 84 (6) ◽  
pp. R827-R844 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zongcai Feng ◽  
Gerard Schuster

We present a quasi-elastic wave equation as a function of the pressure variable, which can accurately model PP reflections with elastic amplitude variation with offset effects under the first-order Born approximation. The kinematic part of the quasi-elastic wave equation accurately models the propagation of P waves, whereas the virtual-source part, which models the amplitudes of reflections, is a function of the perturbations of density and Lamé parameters [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text]. The quasi-elastic wave equation generates a scattering radiation pattern that is exactly the same as that for the elastic wave equation, and only requires the solution of two acoustic wave equations for each shot gather. This means that the quasi-elastic wave equation can be used for true-amplitude linearized waveform inversion (also known as least-squares reverse time migration) of elastic PP reflections, in which the corresponding misfit gradients are with respect to the perturbations of density and the P- and S-wave impedances. The perturbations of elastic parameters are iteratively updated by minimizing the [Formula: see text]-norm of the difference between the recorded PP reflections and the predicted pressure data modeled from the quasi-elastic wave equation. Numerical tests on synthetic and field data indicate that true-amplitude linearized waveform inversion using the quasi-elastic wave equation can account for the elastic PP amplitudes and provide a robust estimate of the perturbations of P- and S-wave impedances and, in some cases, the density. In addition, true-amplitude linearized waveform inversion provides images with a wider bandwidth and fewer artifacts because the PP amplitudes are accurately explained. We also determine the 2D scalar quasi-elastic wave equation for P-SV reflections and the 3D vector equation for PS reflections.


Geophysics ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 84 (2) ◽  
pp. C85-C94 ◽  
Author(s):  
Houzhu (James) Zhang ◽  
Hongwei Liu ◽  
Yang Zhao

Seismic anisotropy is an intrinsic elastic property. Appropriate accounting of anisotropy is critical for correct and accurate positioning seismic events in reverse time migration. Although the full elastic wave equation may serve as the ultimate solution for modeling and imaging, pseudoelastic and pseudoacoustic wave equations are more preferable due to their computation efficiency and simplicity in practice. The anisotropic parameters and their relations are not arbitrary because they are constrained by the energy principle. Based on the investigation of the stability condition of the pseudoelastic wave equations, we have developed a set of explicit formulations for determining the S-wave velocity from given Thomsen’s parameters [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text] for vertical transverse isotropy and tilted transverse isotropy media. The estimated S-wave velocity ensures that the wave equations are stable and well-posed in the cases of [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text]. In the case of [Formula: see text], a common situation in carbonate, a positive value of S-wave velocity is needed to avoid the wavefield instability. Comparing the stability constraints of the pseudoelastic- with the full-elastic wave equation, we conclude that the feasible range of [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text] was slightly larger for the pseudoelastic assumption. The success of achieving high-accuracy images and high-quality angle gathers using the proposed constraints is demonstrated in a synthetic example and a field example from Saudi Arabia.


Geophysics ◽  
1991 ◽  
Vol 56 (2) ◽  
pp. 274-278 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. Saatcilar ◽  
S. Ergintav

Elastic modeling is one of the basic approaches to determining the seismic response of subsurface structures. There are different numerical techniques for computing the solution of the elastic wave equation, such as the finite‐difference, the finite‐element, and the Fourier methods.


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