scholarly journals Deconvolution-type imaging condition effects on shot-profile migration amplitudes

2012 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 05-18
Author(s):  
Flor-A. Vivas-Mejía ◽  
Herling González-Alvarez ◽  
Ligia-E. Jaimes-Osorio ◽  
Nancy Espindola-López

Amplitude preservation in Pre-Stack Depth Migration (PSDM) processes that use wavefield extrapolation must be ensured – first, in the operators used to continue the wavefield in time or depth, and second, in the imaging condition used to estimate the reflectivity function. In the later point, the conventional correlation-type imaging condition must be replaced by a deconvolution-type imaging condition. Migration performed in common-shot profile domain obtains the final migrated image as the superposition of images resulting of migrate each shot separately. The amplitude obtained in a point of the migrated image corresponds to the sum of the reflectivities for each shot which has illuminated such point, along the angles determined by the velocity model and the positions of the source and the receiver. The deeper the reflector, the lower the amplitude of the illumination field will be. As result, the correlation-type imaging condition produces images with an unbalanced amplitude decrease with depth. A deconvolution-type imaging condition scales the amplitudes through a correlation, using the weighting function dependent on the spectral density or the illumination of the downgoing wave field. In this article, two possible scaling functions have been used in the case of a single shot. In the case of data with multiple shots, five scaling possibilities are presented with the spectral density or the illumination function. The results of applying these imaging conditions to synthetic data with multiple shots show that the values of the amplitude in the migrated images are influenced by the coverage of the common midpoint, compensating this effect only in one of the imaging conditions described. Numerical experiments with synthetic data generated using Seismic Unix and the Sigsbee2a data are presented, highlighting that in velocity fields with strong vertical and lateral velocity variations, the balance of the amplitudes of the deep reflectors relative to the shallow reflectors is strongly influenced by the imaging condition applied.

Geophysics ◽  
1998 ◽  
Vol 63 (1) ◽  
pp. 25-38 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xianhuai Zhu ◽  
Burke G. Angstman ◽  
David P. Sixta

Through the use of iterative turning‐ray tomography followed by wave‐equation datuming (or tomo‐datuming) and prestack depth migration, we generate accurate prestack images of seismic data in overthrust areas containing both highly variable near‐surface velocities and rough topography. In tomo‐datuming, we downward continue shot records from the topography to a horizontal datum using velocities estimated from tomography. Turning‐ray tomography often provides a more accurate near‐surface velocity model than that from refraction statics. The main advantage of tomo‐datuming over tomo‐statics (tomography plus static corrections) or refraction statics is that instead of applying a vertical time‐shift to the data, tomo‐datuming propagates the recorded wavefield to the new datum. We find that tomo‐datuming better reconstructs diffractions and reflections, subsequently providing better images after migration. In the datuming process, we use a recursive finite‐difference (FD) scheme to extrapolate wavefield without applying the imaging condition, such that lateral velocity variations can be handled properly and approximations in traveltime calculations associated with the raypath distortions near the surface for migration are avoided. We follow the downward continuation step with a conventional Kirchhoff prestack depth migration. This results in better images than those migrated from the topography using the conventional Kirchhoff method with traveltime calculation in the complicated near surface. Since FD datuming is only applied to the shallow part of the section, its cost is much less than the whole volume FD migration. This is attractive because (1) prestack depth migration usually is used iteratively to build a velocity model, so both efficiency and accuracy are important factors to be considered; and (2) tomo‐datuming can improve the signal‐to‐noise (S/N) ratio of prestack gathers, leading to more accurate migration velocity analysis and better images after depth migration. Case studies with synthetic and field data examples show that tomo‐datuming is especially helpful when strong lateral velocity variations are present below the topography.


Geophysics ◽  
1981 ◽  
Vol 46 (5) ◽  
pp. 751-767 ◽  
Author(s):  
Les Hatton ◽  
Ken Larner ◽  
Bruce S. Gibson

Because conventional time‐migration algorithms are founded on the implicit assumption of locally lateral homogeneity, they leave events mispositioned when overburden velocity varies laterally. The ray‐theoretical depth migration procedure of Hubral often can provide adequate first‐order corrections for such position errors. Complex geologic structure, however, can so severely distort wavefronts that resulting time‐migrated sections may be barely interpretable and thus not readily correctable. A more accurate, wave‐theoretical approach to depth migration then becomes essential to image the subsurface properly. This approach, which transforms an unmigrated time section directly into migrated depth, more completely honors the wave equation for a medium in which variations in interval velocity and details of structural shape govern wave propagation. Where geologic structure is complicated, however, we usually lack an accurate velocity model. It is important, therefore, to understand the sensitivity of depth migration to velocity errors and, in particular, to assess whether it is justified to go to the added effort of doing depth migration. We show a synthetic data example in which the wave‐theoretical approach to depth migration properly images deep reflections that are poorly resolved and left distorted by either time migration or ray‐theoretical depth migration. These imaging results are, moreover, surprisingly insensitive to errors introduced into the velocity model. Application to one field data example demonstrates the superior treatment of amplitude and waveform by wave‐theoretical depth migration. In a second data example, deep reflections are so influenced by anomalous overburden structure that the only valid alternative to performing wave‐theoretical depth migration is simply to convert the unmigrated data to depth. When the overburden is laterally variable, conventional time migration of unstacked data can be as destructive to steeply dipping reflections as is CDP stacking prior to migration. A schematic example illustrates that when migration of unstacked data is judged necessary, it should normally be performed as a depth migration.


Geophysics ◽  
2020 ◽  
pp. 1-79
Author(s):  
Can Oren ◽  
Jeffrey Shragge

Accurately estimating event locations is of significant importance in microseismic investigations because this information greatly contributes to the overall success of hydraulic fracturing monitoring programs. Full-wavefield time-reverse imaging (TRI) using one or more wave-equation imaging conditions offers an effective methodology for locating surface-recorded microseismic events. To be most beneficial in microseismic monitoring programs, though, the TRI procedure requires using accurate subsurface models that account for elastic media effects. We develop a novel microseismic (extended) PS energy imaging condition that explicitly incorporates the stiffness tensor and exhibits heightened sensitivity to isotropic elastic model perturbations compared to existing imaging conditions. Numerical experiments demonstrate the sensitivity of microseismic TRI results to perturbations in P- and S-wave velocity models. Zero-lag and extended microseismic source images computed at selected subsurface locations yields useful information about 3D P- and S-wave velocity model accuracy. Thus, we assert that these image volumes potentially can serve as the input into microseismic elastic velocity model building algorithms.


Geophysics ◽  
2003 ◽  
Vol 68 (3) ◽  
pp. 1008-1021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Frederic Billette ◽  
Soazig Le Bégat ◽  
Pascal Podvin ◽  
Gilles Lambaré

Stereotomography is a new velocity estimation method. This tomographic approach aims at retrieving subsurface velocities from prestack seismic data. In addition to traveltimes, the slope of locally coherent events are picked simultaneously in common offset, common source, common receiver, and common midpoint gathers. As the picking is realized on locally coherent events, they do not need to be interpreted in terms of reflection on given interfaces, but may represent diffractions or reflections from anywhere in the image. In the high‐frequency approximation, each one of these events corresponds to a ray trajectory in the subsurface. Stereotomography consists of picking and analyzing these events to update both the associated ray paths and velocity model. In this paper, we describe the implementation of two critical features needed to put stereotomography into practice: an automatic picking tool and a robust multiscale iterative inversion technique. Applications to 2D reflection seismic are presented on synthetic data and on a 2D line extracted from a 3D towed streamer survey shot in West Africa for TotalFinaElf. The examples demonstrate that the method requires only minor human intervention and rapidly converges to a geologically plausible velocity model in these two very different and complex velocity regimes. The quality of the velocity models is verified by prestack depth migration results.


Geophysics ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 1-45
Author(s):  
Guofeng Liu ◽  
Xiaohong Meng ◽  
Johanes Gedo Sea

Seismic reflection is a proven and effective method commonly used during the exploration of deep mineral deposits in Fujian, China. In seismic data processing, rugged depth migration based on wave-equation migration can play a key role in handling surface fluctuations and complex underground structures. Because wave-equation migration in the shot domain cannot output offset-domain common-image gathers in a straightforward way, the use of traditional tools for updating the velocity model and improving image quality can be quite challenging. To overcome this problem, we employed the attribute migration method. This worked by sorting the migrated stack results for every single-shot gather into the offset gathers. The value of the offset that corresponded to each image point was obtained from the ratio of the original migration results to the offset-modulated shot-data migration results. A Gaussian function was proposed to map every image point to a certain range of offsets. This helped improve the signal-to-noise ratio, which was especially important in handing low quality seismic data obtained during mineral exploration. Residual velocity analysis was applied to these gathers to update the velocity model and improve image quality. The offset-domain common-image gathers were also used directly for real mineral exploration seismic data with rugged depth migration. After several iterations of migration and updating the velocity, the proposed procedure achieved an image quality better than the one obtained with the initial velocity model. The results can help with the interpretation of thrust faults and deep deposit exploration.


1990 ◽  
Vol 80 (5) ◽  
pp. 1284-1296
Author(s):  
Claude F. Lafond ◽  
Alan R. Levander

Abstract We have developed a fast and accurate dynamic raytracing method for 2.5-D heterogeneous media based on the kinematic algorithm proposed by Langan et al. (1985). This algorithm divides the model into cells of constant slowness gradient, and the positions, directions, and travel times of the rays are expressed as polynomials of the travel path length, accurate to the second other in the gradient. This method is efficient because of the use of simple polynomials at each raytracing step. We derived similar polynomial expressions for the dynamic raytracing quantities by integrating the raytracing system and expanding the solutions to the second order in the gradient. This new algorithm efficiently computes the geometrical spreading, amplitude, and wavefront curvature on individual rays. The two-point raytracing problem is solved by the shooting method using the geometrical spreading. Paraxial corrections based on the wavefront curvature improve the accuracy of the travel time and amplitude at a given receiver. The computational results for two simple velocity models are compared with those obtained with the SEIS83 seismic modeling package (Cerveny and Psencik, 1984); this new method is accurate for both travel times and amplitudes while being significantly faster. We present a complex velocity model that shows that the algorithm allows for realistic models and easily computes rays in structures that pose difficulties for conventional methods. The method can be extended to raytracing in 3-D heterogeneous media and can be used as a support for a Gaussian beam algorithm. It is also suitable for computing the Green's function and imaging condition needed for prestack depth migration.


Geophysics ◽  
1997 ◽  
Vol 62 (4) ◽  
pp. 1238-1249 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhenyue Liu

Prestack depth migration provides a powerful tool for velocity analysis in complex media. Both prominent approaches to velocity analysis—depth‐focusing analysis and residual‐curvature analysis, rely on approximate formulas to update velocity. Generally, these formulas are derived under the assumptions of horizontal reflector, lateral velocity homogeneity, or small offset. Therefore, the conventional methods for updating velocity lack accuracy and computational efficiency when velocity has large, lateral variations. Here, based on ray theory, I find the analytic representation for the derivative of imaged depths with respect to migration velocity. This derivative function characterizes a general relationship between residual moveout and residual velocity. Using the derivative function and the perturbation method, I derive a new formula to update velocity from residual moveout. In the derivation, I impose no limitation on offset, dip, or velocity distribution. Consequently, I revise the residual‐curvature‐analysis method for velocity estimation in the postmigrated domain. Furthermore, my formula provides sensitivity and error estimation for migration‐based velocity analysis, which is helpful in quantifying the reliability of the estimated velocity. The theory and methodology in this paper have been tested on synthetic data (including the Marmousi data).


Geophysics ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 78 (1) ◽  
pp. S25-S36 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ernesto V. Oropeza ◽  
George A. McMechan

An efficient Kirchhoff-style prestack depth migration, called “parsimonious” migration, was developed a decade ago for isotropic 2D and 3D media by using measured slownesses to reduce the amount of ray tracing by orders of magnitude. It is conceptually similar to “map” migration, but its implementation has some differences. We have extended this approach to 2D tilted transversely isotropic (TTI) media and illustrated it with synthetic P-wave data. Although the framework of isotropic parsimonious may be retained, the extension to TTI media requires redevelopment of each of the numerical components, calculation of the phase and group velocity for TTI media, development of a new two-point anisotropic ray tracer, and substitution of an initial-angle isotropic shooting ray-trace algorithm for an anisotropic one. The model parameterization consists of Thomsen’s parameters ([Formula: see text], [Formula: see text], [Formula: see text]) and the tilt angle of the symmetry axis of the TI medium. The parsimonious anisotropic migration algorithm is successfully applied to synthetic data from a TTI version of the Marmousi2 model. The quality of the image improves by weighting the impulse response by the calculation of the anisotropic Fresnel radius. The accuracy and speed of this migration makes it useful for anisotropic velocity model building. The elapsed computing time for 101 shots for the Marmousi2 TTI model is 35 s per shot (each with 501 traces) in 32 Opteron cores.


1986 ◽  
Vol 23 (6) ◽  
pp. 839-848 ◽  
Author(s):  
Panos G. Kelamis ◽  
Einar Kjartansson ◽  
E George Marlin

The 45 °monochromatic one-way wave equation, along with the thin-lens term, is used, and a depth-migration algorithm is developed in the frequency–space (ω, x) domain. Using this approach, an unmigrated stack section is directly transformed into a depth-migrated section taking into account both vertical and lateral velocity variations. In practice, the algorithm can accommodate steep events with dips of the order of 60–65°. The use of the frequency–space domain offers several advantages over the conventional time–space and frequency–wave-number domains. Time derivatives are evaluated exactly by a simple multiplication, while the use of the space (x, z) domain facilitates the handling of lateral velocity inhomogeneities. The performance of the depth-migration algorithm is tested with synthetic data from complicated models and real data from the Foothills area of western Canada.


2016 ◽  
Vol 28 (2) ◽  
pp. 43
Author(s):  
Hagayudha Timotius ◽  
Yulinar Firdaus

The main goal of seismic exploration is to get an accurate image of subsurface section so it can be easily interpreted. Pre Stack Depth Migration (PSDM) is such a powerful imaging tool especially for complex area such an area where strong lateral velocity variations exist. The main challenge of PSDM is the need of accurate interval velocity model.In this research, Dix Transformation, coherency inversion, and tomography are used for initial interval velocity model, and then tomography is used for interval velocity model refinement. We compare also between seismic image resulted from PSDM and PSTM to determine the best method. The seismic data that processed in this paper is derived from north western part of Australian Waters. Kata kunci: Pre Stack Depth Migration, Dix Transformation, coherency inversion, tomography. Tujuan utama dari eksplorasi seismik adalah menghasilkan citra yang akurat dari penampang bawah permukaan sehingga diinterpretasi lebih mudah. Pre Stack Depth Migration (PSDM) merupakan suatu metode yang memberikan hasil peningkatan kualitas citra seismik pada daerah kompleks dimana terjadi variasi kecepatan lateral yang signifikan. Salah satu syarat penting yang harus dipenuhi agar hasil PSDM lebih optimal adalah model kecepatan interval yang akurat. Dalam penelitian ini Transformasi Dix, inversi koheren, dan tomografi digunakan untuk memenuhi syarat tersebut. Perbandingan hasil penampang seimik PSDM dan PSTM dilakukan untuk menentukan metode terbaik. Data seismik yang diolah dalam tulisan ini berasal dari wilayah Perairan Baratlaut Australia. Kata kunci: Pre Stack Depth Migration, Transformasi Dix, inversi koheren, tomografi


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document