scholarly journals Least-squares reverse-time migration with sparsity constraints

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 304-316
Author(s):  
Di Wu ◽  
Yanghua Wang ◽  
Jingjie Cao ◽  
Nuno V da Silva ◽  
Gang Yao

Abstract Least-squares reverse-time migration (RTM) works with an inverse operation, rather than an adjoint operation in a conventional RTM, and thus produces an image with a higher resolution and more balanced amplitude than the conventional RTM image. However, least-squares RTM introduces two side effects: sidelobes around reflectors and high-wavenumber migration artifacts. These side effects are caused mainly by the limited bandwidth of seismic data, the limited coverage of receiver arrays and the inaccuracy of the modeling kernel. To mitigate these side effects and to further boost resolution, we employed two sparsity constraints in the least-squares inversion operation, namely the Cauchy and L1-norm constraints. For solving the Cauchy-constrained least-squares RTM, we used a preconditioned nonlinear conjugate-gradient method. For solving the L1-norm constrained least-squares RTM, we modified the iterative soft thresholding method. While adopting these two solution methods, the Cauchy-constrained least-squares RTM converged faster than the L1-norm constrained least-squares RTM. Application examples with synthetic data and laboratory modeling data demonstrated that the constrained least-squares RTM methods can mitigate the side effects and promote image resolution.

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xu Hong-Qiao ◽  
Wang Xiao-Yi ◽  
Wang Chen-Yuan ◽  
Zhang Jiang-Jie

Least-squares reverse time migration (LSRTM) is powerful for imaging complex geological structures. Most researches are based on Born modeling operator with the assumption of small perturbation. However, studies have shown that LSRTM based on Kirchhoff approximation performs better; in particular, it generates a more explicit reflected subsurface and fits large offset data well. Moreover, minimizing the difference between predicted and observed data in a least-squares sense leads to an average solution with relatively low quality. This study applies L1-norm regularization to LSRTM (L1-LSRTM) based on Kirchhoff approximation to compensate for the shortcomings of conventional LSRTM, which obtains a better reflectivity image and gets the residual and resolution in balance. Several numerical examples demonstrate that our method can effectively mitigate the deficiencies of conventional LSRTM and provide a higher resolution image profile.


Geophysics ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 74 (5) ◽  
pp. H27-H33 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jun Ji

To reduce the migration artifacts arising from incomplete data or inaccurate operators instead of migrating data with the adjoint of the forward-modeling operator, a least-squares migration often is considered. Least-squares migration requires a forward-modeling operator and its adjoint. In a derivation of the mathematically correct adjoint operator to a given forward-time-extrapolation modeling operator, the exact adjoint of the derived operator is obtained by formulating an explicit matrix equation for the forward operation and transposing it. The programs that implement the exact adjoint operator pair are verified by the dot-product test. The derived exact adjoint operator turns out to differ from the conventional reverse-time-migration (RTM) operator, an implementation of wavefield extrapolation backward in time. Examples with synthetic data show that migration using the exact adjoint operator gives similar results for a conventional RTM operator and that least-squares RTM is quite successful in reducing most migration artifacts. The least-squares solution using the exact adjoint pair produces a model that fits the data better than one using a conventional RTM operator pair.


Geophysics ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 84 (5) ◽  
pp. S411-S423
Author(s):  
Peng Yong ◽  
Jianping Huang ◽  
Zhenchun Li ◽  
Wenyuan Liao ◽  
Luping Qu

Least-squares reverse time migration (LSRTM), an effective tool for imaging the structures of the earth from seismograms, can be characterized as a linearized waveform inversion problem. We have investigated the performance of three minimization functionals as the [Formula: see text] norm, the hybrid [Formula: see text] norm, and the Wasserstein metric ([Formula: see text] metric) for LSRTM. The [Formula: see text] metric used in this study is based on the dynamic formulation of transport problems, and a primal-dual hybrid gradient algorithm is introduced to efficiently compute the [Formula: see text] metric between two seismograms. One-dimensional signal analysis has demonstrated that the [Formula: see text] metric behaves like the [Formula: see text] norm for two amplitude-varied signals. Unlike the [Formula: see text] norm, the [Formula: see text] metric does not suffer from the differentiability issue for null residuals. Numerical examples of the application of three misfit functions to LSRTM on synthetic data have demonstrated that, compared to the [Formula: see text] norm, the hybrid [Formula: see text] norm and [Formula: see text] metric can accelerate LSRTM and are less sensitive to non-Gaussian noise. For the field data application, the [Formula: see text] metric produces the most reliable imaging results. The hybrid [Formula: see text] norm requires tedious trial-and-error tests for the judicious threshold parameter selection. Hence, the more automatic [Formula: see text] metric is recommended as a robust alternative to the customary [Formula: see text] norm for time-domain LSRTM.


Geophysics ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 85 (4) ◽  
pp. S199-S216
Author(s):  
Xinru Mu ◽  
Jianping Huang ◽  
Jidong Yang ◽  
Xu Guo ◽  
Yundong Guo

Anisotropy is a common phenomenon in subsurface strata and should be considered in seismic imaging and inversion. Seismic imaging in a vertical transversely isotropic (VTI) medium does not take into account the effects of the tilt angles, which can lead to degraded migrated images in areas with strong anisotropy. To correct such waveform distortion, reduce related image artifacts, and improve migration resolution, a tilted transversely isotropic (TTI) least-squares reverse time migration (LSRTM) method is presented. In the LSRTM, a pure qP-wave equation is used and solved with the finite-difference method. We have analyzed the stability condition for the pure qP-wave equation using the matrix method, which is used to ensure the stability of wave propagation in the TTI medium. Based on this wave equation, we derive a corresponding demigration (Born modeling) and adjoint migration operators to implement TTI LSRTM. Numerical tests on the synthetic data show the advantages of TTI LSRTM over VTI RTM and VTI LSRTM when the recorded data contain strong effects caused by large tilt angles. Our numerical experiments illustrate that the sensitivity of the adopted TTI LSRTM to the migration velocity errors is much higher than that to the anisotropic parameters (including epsilon, delta, and tilted angle parameters), and its sensitivity to the epsilon model and tilt angle is higher than that to the delta model.


Geophysics ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 79 (1) ◽  
pp. S11-S21 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dongliang Zhang ◽  
Gerard T. Schuster

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.


Geophysics ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 84 (6) ◽  
pp. S539-S553 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jidong Yang ◽  
Hejun Zhu ◽  
George McMechan ◽  
Houzhu Zhang ◽  
Yang Zhao

Using adjoint-based elastic reverse time migration, it is difficult to produce high-quality reflectivity images due to the limited acquisition apertures, band-limited source time function, and irregular subsurface illumination. Through iteratively computing the Hessian inverse, least-squares migration enables us to reduce the point-spread-function effects and improve the image resolution and amplitude fidelity. By incorporating anisotropy in the 2D elastic wave equation, we have developed an elastic least-squares reverse time migration (LSRTM) method for multicomponent data from the vertically transversely isotropic (VTI) media. Using the perturbed stiffness parameters [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text] as PP and PS reflectivities, we linearize the elastic VTI wave equation and obtain a Born modeling (demigration) operator. Then, we use the Lagrange multiplier method to derive the corresponding adjoint wave equation and reflectivity kernels. With linearized forward modeling and adjoint migration operators, we solve a linear inverse problem to estimate the subsurface reflectivity models for [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text]. To reduce the artifacts caused by data over-fitting, we introduce total-variation regularization into the reflectivity inversion, which promotes a sparse solution in terms of the model derivatives. To accelerate the convergence of LSRTM, we use source illumination to approximate the diagonal Hessian and use it as a preconditioner for the misfit gradient. Numerical examples help us determine that our elastic VTI LSRTM method can improve the spatial resolution and amplitude fidelity in comparison to adjoint migration.


Geophysics ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 84 (3) ◽  
pp. S171-S185 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chuang Li ◽  
Jianping Huang ◽  
Zhenchun Li ◽  
Han Yu ◽  
Rongrong Wang

Least-squares migration (LSM) of seismic data is supposed to produce images of subsurface structures with better quality than standard migration if we have an accurate migration velocity model. However, LSM suffers from data mismatch problems and migration artifacts when noise pollutes the recorded profiles. This study has developed a reweighted least-squares reverse time migration (RWLSRTM) method to overcome the problems caused by such noise. We first verify that spiky noise and free-surface multiples lead to the mismatch problems and should be eliminated from the data residual. The primary- and multiple-guided weighting matrices are then derived for RWLSRTM to reduce the noise in the data residual. The weighting matrices impose constraints on the data residual such that spiky noise and free-surface multiple reflections are reduced whereas primary reflections are preserved. The weights for spiky noise and multiple reflections are controlled by a dynamic threshold parameter decreasing with iterations for better results. Finally, we use an iteratively reweighted least-squares algorithm to minimize the weighted data residual. We conduct numerical tests using the synthetic data and compared the results of this method with the results of standard LSRTM. The results suggest that RWLSRTM is more robust than standard LSRTM when the seismic data contain spiky noise and multiple reflections. Moreover, our method not only suppresses the migration artifacts, but it also accelerates the convergence.


Geophysics ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 82 (3) ◽  
pp. S271-S291 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bingluo Gu ◽  
Zhenchun Li ◽  
Peng Yang ◽  
Wencai Xu ◽  
Jianguang Han

We have developed the theory and synthetic tests of elastic least-squares reverse time migration (ELSRTM). In this method, a least-squares reverse time migration algorithm is used to image multicomponent seismic data based on the first-order elastic velocity-stress wave equation, in which the linearized elastic modeling equations are used for forward modeling and its adjoint equations are derived based on the adjoint-state method for back propagating the data residuals. Also, we have developed another ELSRTM scheme based on the wavefield separation technique, in which the P-wave image is obtained using P-wave forward and adjoint wavefields and the S-wave image is obtained using P-wave forward and S-wave adjoint wavefields. In this way, the crosstalk artifacts can be minimized to a significant extent. In general, seismic data inevitably contain noise. We apply the hybrid [Formula: see text] misfit function to the ELSRTM algorithm to improve the robustness of our ELSRTM to noise. Numerical tests on synthetic data reveal that our ELSRTM, when compared with elastic reverse time migration, can produce images with higher spatial resolution, more-balanced amplitudes, and fewer artifacts. Moreover, the hybrid [Formula: see text] misfit function makes the ELSRTM more robust than the [Formula: see text] misfit function in the presence of noise.


Geophysics ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 83 (3) ◽  
pp. S279-S297 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bingluo Gu ◽  
Zhenchun Li ◽  
Jianguang Han

Elastic least-squares reverse time migration (ELSRTM) has the potential to provide improved subsurface reflectivity estimation. Compared with elastic RTM (ERTM), ELSRTM can produce images with higher spatial resolution, more balanced amplitudes, and fewer artifacts. However, the crosstalk between P- and S-waves can significantly degrade the imaging quality of ELSRTM. We have developed an ELSRTM method to suppress the crosstalk artifacts. This method includes three crucial points. The first is that the forward and backward wavefields are extrapolated based on the separated elastic velocity-stress equation of P- and S-waves. The second is that the separated vector P- and S-wave residuals are migrated to form reflectivity images of Lamé constants [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text] independently. The third is that the reflectivity images of [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text] are obtained by the vector P-wave wavefields achieved in the backward extrapolation of the separated vector P-wave residuals and the vector S-wave wavefields achieved in the backward extrapolation of the separated vector S-wave residuals, respectively. Numerical tests with synthetic data demonstrate that our ELSRTM method can produce images free of crosstalk artifacts. Compared with ELSRTM based on the coupled wavefields, our ELSRTM method has better convergence and higher accuracy.


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