Implementation of elastic reverse-time migration using wavefield separation in the frequency domain

Reverse time migration (RTM) is achieved by a forward and reverse time propagation of source and receiver wavefields respectively, followed by an imaging condition. The quality of the image from any RTM implementation depends directly on the method’s ability to separate the true reflection data from the backscattered correlation noise between the source and receiver wavefields. In this paper we demonstrate the application of an inverse scattering imaging condition that significantly reduces this backscattered correlation noise and results in a much higher quality subsurface image than is achieved by typical RTM imaging conditions.

Elastic reverse time migration (ERTM), which is capable of using multicomponent seismic data, provides not only an improvement of the P-P image compared to the one derived from acoustic RTM, but also more opportunities to understand the subsurface through converted wave images (P-S, S-P, and S-S images). However, the polarity reversals in P-S and S-P images and cross-talk noises generated in S-P and S-S images degrade the converted wave images of ERTM. To overcome these problems, we derive a new P-S converted wave imaging condition for 2D ERTM based on wavefield separation techniques. The proposed imaging condition, called converted-wave guided (CWG) imaging condition, incorporates an extra term that represents the sign and wavelength of S-waves converted from source wavefields into the zero-lag cross-correlation imaging condition for P-S imaging. The extra term compensates for the polarity reversal of separated S-waves from receiver wavefields because the converted S-waves from source wavefields also have the change in polarity. In addition, since this CWG imaging condition produces images where P- and S-waves from source wavefields and S-waves from receiver wavefields coincide, image resolution is enhanced without generating spurious events. Our approach is motivated by the specific feature of ERTM that generates converted waves at the reflection points (conventional imaging points) when proper elastic models are used. Through a numerical experiment with a simple elastic model, we demonstrate that the proposed CWG imaging condition successfully corrects the polarity reversal and provides higher image resolution. We also test our migration algorithm on a synthetic ocean bottom cable (OBC) dataset created using the Marmousi-II model. The P-S image obtained from CWG imaging condition shows continuous events and improved image resolution.

Reverse time migration (RTM) is a technique used to obtain high-resolution images of underground reflectors; however, this method is computationally intensive when dealing with large amounts of seismic data. Multi-source RTM can significantly reduce the computational cost by processing multiple shots simultaneously. However, multi-source-based methods frequently result in crosstalk artifacts in the migrated images, causing serious interference in the imaging signals. Plane-wave migration, as a mainstream multi-source method, can yield migrated images with plane waves in different angles by implementing phase encoding of the source and receiver wavefields; however, this method frequently requires a trade-off between computational efficiency and imaging quality. We propose a method based on deep learning for removing crosstalk artifacts and enhancing the image quality of plane-wave migration images. We designed a convolutional neural network that accepts an input of seven plane-wave images at different angles and outputs a clear and enhanced image. We built over 500 1024×256 velocity models, and employed each of them using plane-wave migration to produce raw images at 0°, ±10°, ±20°, and ±30° as input of the network. Labels are high-resolution images computed from the corresponding reflectivity models by convolving with a Ricker wavelet. Random sub-images with a size of 512×128 were used for training the network. Numerical examples demonstrated the effectiveness of the trained network in crosstalk removal and imaging enhancement. The proposed method is superior to both the conventional RTM and plane-wave RTM (PWRTM) in imaging resolution. Moreover, the proposed method requires only seven migrations, significantly improving the computational efficiency. In the numerical examples, the processing time required by our method was approximately 1.6% and 10% of that required by RTM and PWRTM, respectively.

The theory of least-squares reverse time migration of multiples (RTMM) is presented. In this method, least squares migration (LSM) is used to image free-surface multiples where the recorded traces are used as the time histories of the virtual sources at the hydrophones and the surface-related multiples are the observed data. For a single source, the entire free-surface becomes an extended virtual source where the downgoing free-surface multiples more fully illuminate the subsurface compared to the primaries. Since each recorded trace is treated as the time history of a virtual source, knowledge of the source wavelet is not required and the ringy time series for each source is automatically deconvolved. If the multiples can be perfectly separated from the primaries, numerical tests on synthetic data for the Sigsbee2B and Marmousi2 models show that least-squares reverse time migration of multiples (LSRTMM) can significantly improve the image quality compared to RTMM or standard reverse time migration (RTM) of primaries. However, if there is imperfect separation and the multiples are strongly interfering with the primaries then LSRTMM images show no significant advantage over the primary migration images. In some cases, they can be of worse quality. Applying LSRTMM to Gulf of Mexico data shows higher signal-to-noise imaging of the salt bottom and top compared to standard RTM images. This is likely attributed to the fact that the target body is just below the sea bed so that the deep water multiples do not have strong interference with the primaries. Migrating a sparsely sampled version of the Marmousi2 ocean bottom seismic data shows that LSM of primaries and LSRTMM provides significantly better imaging than standard RTM. A potential liability of LSRTMM is that multiples require several round trips between the reflector and the free surface, so that high frequencies in the multiples suffer greater attenuation compared to the primary reflections. This can lead to lower resolution in the migration image compared to that computed from primaries. Another liability is that the multiple migration image is more down-dip limited than the standard primaries migration image. Finally, if the surface-related multiple elimination method is imperfect and there are strong multiples interfering with the primaries, then the resulting LSRTMM image can be significantly degraded. We conclude that LSRTMM can be a useful complement, not a replacement, for RTM of primary reflections.

We have developed an efficient, accurate, and flexible plane-wave migration algorithm in the frequency domain by using a compressed and coupled-plane-wave data set, known as the double-plane-wave (DPW) data set. The DPW data set obtained by slant stacking of seismic shot profiles over source and receiver/offset represents seismic data in a fully decomposed plane-wave domain, which is called the DPW domain. A new DPW migration algorithm is derived under the Born approximation in the frequency domain, and it is referred to as the frequency-domain DPW reverse time migration (RTM). Frequency plane-wave Green’s functions need to be constructed and used during the migration. Time dips in shot profiles help to estimate the range of plane-wave decomposition. Therefore, the number of frequency plane-wave Green’s functions required for migration is limited. Furthermore, frequency plane-wave Green’s functions can be used for imaging each set of plane waves — either source or receiver/offset plane waves. As a result, the computational burden of computing Green’s function is substantially reduced; this results in increasing the migration efficiency. A selected range of plane-wave components can be migrated independently to image specific targets. Ray-parameter common-image gathers can be generated after migration without extra effort. The algorithm was tested on several synthetic data sets to show its feasibility and usefulness. The frequency-domain DPW RTM can also include anisotropy by constructing plane-wave Green’s function in anisotropic media.

To obtain a physical understanding of gradient-based descent methods in full-waveform inversion (FWI), we find a connection between the FWI gradient and the image provided by reverse time migration (RTM). The gradient uses the residual data as a virtual source, and RTM uses the observed data directly as the boundary condition, so the FWI gradient is similar to a time integration of the RTM image using the residual data, which physically converts the phase of the reflectivity to the phase of the velocity. Therefore, gradient-based FWI can be connected to the classical reflectivity-to-velocity/impedance inversion (RVI). We have developed a new FWI scheme that provides a self-contained and physically intuitive derivation, which naturally establishes a connection among the amplitude-preserved RTM, the Zoeppritz equations (amplitude variation with angle inversion), and RVI, and combines them into a single framework to produce a preconditioned inversion formula. In this scheme, the relative velocity update is a phase-modified and deconvolved RTM image obtained with the residual data. Consistent with the deconvolution, the multiscale approach applies a gradually widening low-pass frequency filter to the deconvolved wavelet at early iterations, and then it uses the unfiltered deconvolved wavelet for the final iterations. Our numerical testing determined that the new method makes a significant improvement to the quality of the inversion result.

Ground-penetrating radar (GPR) profiling is the primary tool to provide detail information of the internal structure and characteristics inside a sand dune in the desert area. However, with the severe elevation change in a short horizontal distance and on the rugged and complex surface topography of the sand dunes, getting clear imaging of the internal structure of sand dunes from the GPR profiling is still a big challenge. The classic imaging technique such as the Kirchhoff migration has been applied to process GPR data on sand dunes, with limited success. The reverse-time migration (RTM) technique is the most advanced imaging technique that can handles GPR data acquired on rugged surface with severe topographic relief to generate subsurface structural images with high fidelity and has been tried to process GPR data on sand dunes. The results are encouraging, and the imaging quality is significantly improved. The finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) method is the major numerical tool for forward and backward continuations of the wave field during the RTM process. There are two aspects for using FDTD in RTM of GPR data on sand dunes still need improvement: the numerical scattering caused by the staircase approximation of the ground surface by using gridding in the Cartesian coordinate, and the negligence of the possible anisotropy of the electromagnetic material properties due to the calcareous cementation bedding inside a sand dune. In this paper, we develop the RTM algorithm based on the staggered grid FDTD that handles the rugged topographic surface by using the curvilinear coordinate, and the possible anisotropic radar wave velocity of the sand dune media. We first demonstrate the equivalency of the nonuniform, isotropic medium and the uniform, anisotropic medium for justifying using the uniform, anisotropic velocity in the RTM by synthetic modeling. Next, we validate our approach of using the synthetic data with the comparison of using the Cartesian coordinate and the curvilinear coordinate in an isotropic medium. The results indicate that the RTM algorithm using the curvilinear coordinate can efficiently eliminate the adverse effect of the staircase approximated boundary of the topography surface. Finally, we processed the real GPR data collected on a sand dune in the Badain Jaran desert by using the curvilinear coordinate and the uniform, anisotropic velocity in FDTD forward and backward wave field continuation. Comparison of the results indicates that the RTM imaging using the boundary-conforming curvilinear coordinate and anisotropic velocity gains more coherent and higher resolution images for the calcareous cementation layers and the water table.

Reverse-time migration (RTM) using the crosscorrelation imaging condition requires that the forward-propagated source wavefield and the backward-propagated receiver wavefield be accessible within the imaging domain at the same time step. There are two categories of methods to balance the computer memory requirement and the computational complexity of RTM: checkpointing methods and source-wavefield reconstruction methods. We have developed a new source-wavefield reconstruction method to improve the balance between the computer memory requirement and the computational complexity of RTM. During the forward simulation of the source wavefield, we stored boundary wavefields only at one or two layers of spatial grid points and reconstructed the back-propagated source wavefield at the same time step as that of the back-propagated receiver wavefield, using a high-order wave-equation extrapolation scheme. One conventional RTM method uses boundary wavefields stored at multiple layers of spatial grid points and a high-order finite-difference (FD) scheme to reconstruct the back-propagated source wavefield. For an FD scheme with the eighth or sixteenth order of accuracy in space, our new method used only 37.5% of the computer memory required by this conventional method to store the boundary wavefields. This reduction of computer memory usage is significant because storing the boundary wavefields consumes most of the computer memory required for 3D migration using reconstructed source wavefields. Moreover, our method maintained the spatial order of accuracy of the FD scheme for the entire imaging domain, whereas some conventional methods reduce the spatial-order accuracy of the FD scheme near the boundaries to back-propagate the source wavefield to decrease the computer memory requirement. We validated our method using synthetic seismic data. Our method produced 2D and 3D migration images of complex subsurface structures as accurate as those yielded using an RTM method without reducing the spatial order of accuracy near the boundaries.

The aim of this study is to investigate the capability of the zero-lag crosscorrelation (ZLCC) imaging condition of an A0 Lamb wave mode in imaging a barely visible impact damage (BVID) in a carbon fiber reinforced plastic (CFRP) using a fully non-contact Lamb wave based non-destructive inspection (NDI) system. A 16- ply [45/0/-45/90]2S CFRP laminate was impacted at three different locations with different impact energies using a drop ball at three drop heights causing three BVIDs with different dimensions, ~7 mm, ~12 mm and ~17.5 mm in diameter. The A0 Lamb wave mode is generated inside the laminate using a circular air-coupled transducer (ACT) and detected along the damaged region using a laser Doppler vibrometer (LDV). The measured wavefield is then decomposed into a forward and backward propagating wavefields by applying a frequency-wavenumber filtering postprocessing technique. The decomposed wavefields are then cross-correlated in the frequency domain using ZLCC method producing a detailed cumulative damage image. The experimental images highlight the three damaged areas with higher ZLCC values compared to other parts of the inspected areas. However, it was found that depending on the damage size and if delaminations are happening all around the impacted spot, the delamination boundary on the right side of the impact is difficult to detect if the generated wavefield is traveling from left to right which interacts with the delaminations of the left side and vice versa. In this case, the region of interest around one of the damages (12 mm) was scanned twice with the excitation being to the left and then to the right of it and overlapping the images have given a good approximation of the actual damaged area. The experimental investigation has shown a good correlation between the ZLCC imaging condition and C-scan images, which demonstrate a strong capability of guided wave ZLCC imaging condition technique in approximating the location and size of relatively small BVIDs in thin composite structures. The presence of three separate delaminations in a 2.4 mm thick CFRP laminate impacted by 13.56, 19, and 27 Joule drop ball energies were detected in a fully non-contact ultrasonic technique. doi: 10.12783/SHM2015/319

Old abandoned coal working create major hazards in the form of subsidence of the coalfields. To avoid such hazards, there is need to detect these cavities prior to start of deeper seam mining. There are number of geophysical techniques available for detecting subsurface cavity. High-resolution seismic survey is one such technique which provides accurate results as compared to others. Usually, most of the seismic processing and interpretation of these cavity detection was performed based on stacked data only. To understand these signatures more precisely, in our study, an attempt has been made to image these cavities with the help of Reverse Time Migration (RTM) combined with Full Waveform Inversion (FWI). RTM mostly used for hydrocarbon exploration targets with low central frequency as source. Application of this method to shallow subsurface exploration is still in research stage. Like the same way for velocity model updating, FWI gives mostly appropriate optimization results as compare to other techniques, but it also has the limitation to application of low frequency only. In this paper we first develop a 2D realistic Water Filled Cavity (WFC) model with a work flow of RTM combined with FWI in a high-frequency Ricker source wavelet as 100 Hz. In order to provide a velocity model with high accuracy for RTM, we apply FWI to estimate the subsurface velocity by considering an initial smooth velocity model with addition of 30 % Gaussian noise. The conventional RTM fails to image the cavities and yield a large amount of low frequency back scattered noise at shallow depth during the time of cross correlation due to time/space lag. To avoid these situation, we introduced an automatic shift operator at the time of imaging condition that operates automatically both in time or space. It leads to reduce the lag and improve the results by minimizing the noises at shallow subsurface. By comparing both the results it is observed that most of the noises in the migrated section of conventional method were eliminated by the improved form of RTM with the help of FWI velocity model estimation.

Advances in marine seismic acquisition allow for the recording of four-component (4C) data from dual-source configurations, i.e., using monopole and dipole sources. Here, we describe a novel method for multicomponent reverse-time migration that is based on an adjoint-state formulation using the full vector-acoustic wave equations for pressure and displacement fields. This method takes advantage of the directional dynamic information contained in 4C acoustic fields by using source and receiver weights operators incorporated into the adjoint-state scheme. With this method, we show that the source and receiver radiation properties of the vector-acoustic(VA) depth image can be custom-designed by choosing specific weighting operators. In the examples presented, weights are chosen so that both the source- and receiver-side ghosts are jointly migrated with primary energy. Because the dipole field components (e.g., particle acceleration) are proportional to the spatial gradient components of pressure, our method is a formulation of reverse-time map migration because it images pressure fields while jointly using directional information from its recorded 3C gradient. Thus, our reverse-time 4C map migration yields less aperture- and sampling-related artifacts than migration of pressure-only or 2C seismic data. Finally, our method sets a framework for full-waveform inversion using dual-source 4C seismic data.

ABSTRACTTo obtain a physical understanding of gradient-based descent methods in full-waveform inversion (FWI), we find a connection between the FWI gradient and the image provided by reverse time migration (RTM). The gradient uses the residual data as a virtual source, and RTM uses the observed data directly as the boundary condition, so the FWI gradient is similar to a time integration of the RTM image using the residual data, which physically converts the phase of the reflectivity to the phase of the velocity. Therefore, gradient-based FWI can be connected to the classical reflectivity-to-velocity/impedance inversion (RVI). We have developed a new FWI scheme that provides a self-contained and physically intuitive derivation, which naturally establishes a connection among the amplitude-preserved RTM, the Zoeppritz equations (amplitude variation with angle inversion), and RVI, and combines them into a single framework to produce a preconditioned inversion formula. In this scheme, the relative velocity upd...

This article presents a two-dimensional, non-contact, areal scanning system to image and quantify multiple sites of damage in isotropic plates using reverse-time migration with a normalized zero-lag cross-correlation imaging condition. The hybrid system composed of a single piezoelectric actuator mounted onto the structure and a laser Doppler vibrometer for two-dimensional scan. The laser Doppler vibrometer scanned a region in the vicinity of the lead zirconate titanate actuator to capture the scattered wavefield introduced by the damage. The proposed damage imaging technique takes into account the amplitude, phase, and all the frequency content of the single-mode Lamb waves propagating in the plate; thus, the size of multiple sites of damage can be imaged without bias, regardless of the damage locations. Damage image quality was used as a metric to compare two-dimensional areal scans and linear scans as well as to compare the proposed method with existing imaging conditions. The experimental results show that the two-dimensional reverse-time migration/normalized zero-lag cross-correlation technique is capable of imaging and quantification of multiple damage sites in an aluminum plate using a single lead zirconate titanate actuator and a nearby, areal laser Doppler vibrometer scan.

Acceleration of stable TTI P-wave reverse-time migration with GPUs

The conventional reverse time migration utilizes regularly sampled computational grids to simulate wave propagation. Selecting the appropriate grid sampling is important for computational accuracy and efficiency. In general, the uniform-size grid cannot represent the complexity of the geology well. The grid may appear sparse in the low-velocity zone, especially in shallow depths where dispersion may occur. Conversely, it may appear excessively dense in the high-velocity zone, such as at greater depths or within a salt body, which results in higher computational memory and time consumption. To overcome these issues, we developed an efficient and accurate adaptive variable grid discretization method that automatically selects the vertical grid size based on the velocity, depth, and dominant frequency of the wavelet in elastic medium. Then we reformulated the elastic equations based on the adaptive variable grid by introducing a mapping relationship. To test the effectiveness, accuracy, and efficiency of the equation, we implemented it to both the forward propagation and migration of elastic wavefield. Synthetic numerical examples demonstrate that our proposed method can achieve elastic wavefield separation and no significant dispersion phenomenon. The multi-component imaging accuracy of reverse time migration is nearly equivalent to the traditional method, while significantly improving computational efficiency and saving storage space.