Frugal full-waveform inversion: From theory to a practical algorithm

As conventional oil and gas fields are maturing, our profession is challenged to come up with the next-generation of more and more sophisticated exploration tools. In exploration seismology this trend has let to the emergence of wave-equation-based inversion technologies such as reverse time migrati...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Herrmann, F., Hanlon, I., Kumar, R., van Leeuwen, T., Li., X., Smithyman, B., Wason, H., Calvert, A., Javanmehri, M., Takam Takougang, Eric
Format: Journal Article
Published: Society of Exploration Geophysicists 2013
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/38827
Description
Summary:As conventional oil and gas fields are maturing, our profession is challenged to come up with the next-generation of more and more sophisticated exploration tools. In exploration seismology this trend has let to the emergence of wave-equation-based inversion technologies such as reverse time migration and full-waveform inversion. While significant progress has been made in wave-equation-based inversion, major challenges remain in the development of robust and computationally feasible workflows that give reliable results in geophysically challenging areas that may include ultralow shear-velocity zones or high-velocity salt. Moreover, subsalt production carries risks that need mitigation, which raises the bar from creating subsalt images to inverting for subsalt overpressure.