Introduction to this special section: Full-waveform inversion

2019 ◽  
Vol 38 (3) ◽  
pp. 178-178
Author(s):  
Ulrich Zimmer
Keyword(s):  
Case Studies ◽  
Seismic Imaging ◽  
Special Section ◽  
Waveform Inversion ◽  
Leading Edge ◽  
Full Waveform Inversion ◽  
Full Waveform

Full-waveform inversion (FWI) is often the method of choice for addressing the most challenging scenarios in seismic imaging. While FWI has been around for quite some time, the workflows are continuously developed and more case studies are becoming available to illustrate the power of the method. This special section of The Leading Edge presents seven papers that not only provide an overview of the progress of the method but also suggest new tweaks to the algorithm and several new case studies.

Full-waveform inversion for full-wavefield imaging: Decades in the making

2021 ◽  
Vol 40 (5) ◽  
pp. 324-334
Author(s):  
Rongxin Huang ◽  
Zhigang Zhang ◽  
Zedong Wu ◽  
Zhiyuan Wei ◽  
Jiawei Mei ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Model Building ◽  
Seismic Imaging ◽  
Structural Information ◽  
Waveform Inversion ◽  
Velocity Model ◽  
Data Sets ◽  
Full Waveform Inversion ◽  
Data Types ◽  
Velocity Models ◽  
Full Waveform

Seismic imaging using full-wavefield data that includes primary reflections, transmitted waves, and their multiples has been the holy grail for generations of geophysicists. To be able to use the full-wavefield data effectively requires a forward-modeling process to generate full-wavefield data, an inversion scheme to minimize the difference between modeled and recorded data, and, more importantly, an accurate velocity model to correctly propagate and collapse energy of different wave modes. All of these elements have been embedded in the framework of full-waveform inversion (FWI) since it was proposed three decades ago. However, for a long time, the application of FWI did not find its way into the domain of full-wavefield imaging, mostly owing to the lack of data sets with good constraints to ensure the convergence of inversion, the required compute power to handle large data sets and extend the inversion frequency to the bandwidth needed for imaging, and, most significantly, stable FWI algorithms that could work with different data types in different geologic settings. Recently, with the advancement of high-performance computing and progress in FWI algorithms at tackling issues such as cycle skipping and amplitude mismatch, FWI has found success using different data types in a variety of geologic settings, providing some of the most accurate velocity models for generating significantly improved migration images. Here, we take a step further to modify the FWI workflow to output the subsurface image or reflectivity directly, potentially eliminating the need to go through the time-consuming conventional seismic imaging process that involves preprocessing, velocity model building, and migration. Compared with a conventional migration image, the reflectivity image directly output from FWI often provides additional structural information with better illumination and higher signal-to-noise ratio naturally as a result of many iterations of least-squares fitting of the full-wavefield data.

Introduction to this special section: Seismic acquisition

2022 ◽  
Vol 41 (1) ◽  
pp. 8-8
Author(s):  
Keith Millis ◽  
Guillaume Richard ◽  
Chengbo Li
Keyword(s):  
Special Section ◽  
Waveform Inversion ◽  
Environmental Concerns ◽  
Full Potential ◽  
Full Waveform Inversion ◽  
Low Frequencies ◽  
Seismic Surveys ◽  
Operational Risks ◽  
Full Waveform ◽  
Seismic Acquisition

In the life cycle of a seismic product, the lion's share of the budget and personnel hours is spent on acquisition. In most modern seismic surveys, acquisition involves hundreds of specialized personnel working for months or years. Seismic acquisition also must overcome potential liabilities and health, safety, and environmental concerns that rival facility, pipeline, construction, and other operational risks. As only properly acquired data can contribute effectively to processing and interpretation strategies, a great deal of importance is placed on acquisition quality. Arguably, many of the advances the seismic industry has experienced find their origin arising from advances in acquisition techniques. Full-waveform inversion (FWI), for example, can reach its full potential only when seismic acquisition has provided both low frequencies and long offsets.

Near-surface seismic imaging of tunnels using 3D elastic full-waveform inversion

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
James Smith ◽  
Dmitry Borisov ◽  
Ryan Modrak ◽  
Jeroen Tromp ◽  
Harley Cudney ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Seismic Imaging ◽  
Waveform Inversion ◽  
Full Waveform Inversion ◽  
Near Surface ◽  
Full Waveform

Acoustic and anisotropic multi-parameter seismic full waveform inversion case studies

2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
René-Édouard Plessix ◽  
Alexandre Stopin ◽  
Paul Milcik ◽  
Ken Matson
Keyword(s):  
Case Studies ◽  
Waveform Inversion ◽  
Full Waveform Inversion ◽  
Full Waveform
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