Normal moveout velocity ellipse in tilted orthorhombic media

Geophysics ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 81 (6) ◽  
pp. C319-C336 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yuriy Ivanov ◽  
Alexey Stovas
Keyword(s):  
Wave Mode ◽  
Initial Position ◽  
Orthorhombic Symmetry ◽  
Arbitrary Orientation ◽  
S Wave ◽  
Converted Wave ◽  
Slowness Surface ◽  
S Waves ◽  
Trade Offs ◽  
The Individual

Normal moveout (NMO) velocity is a commonly used tool in the seismic industry nowadays. In 3D surveys, the variation of the NMO velocity in a horizontal plane is elliptic in shape for the anisotropy or heterogeneity of any strength (apart from a few exotic cases). The NMO ellipse is used for Dix-type inversion and can provide important information on the strength of anisotropy and the orientation of the vertical symmetry planes, which can correspond, for example, to fractures’ orientation and compliances. To describe a vertically fractured finely layered medium (the fracture is orthogonal to the layering), an anisotropy of orthorhombic symmetry is commonly used. In areas with complicated geology and stress distribution, the orientation of the orthorhombic symmetry planes can be considerably altered from the initial position. We have derived the exact equations for the NMO ellipse in an elastic tilted orthorhombic layer with an arbitrary orientation of the symmetry planes. We have evaluated pure and converted wave modes and determined that the influence of the orientation upon the NMO ellipse for all the waves is strong. We have considered acoustic and ellipsoidal orthorhombic approximations of the NMO ellipse equations, which we used to develop a numerical inversion scheme. We determined that in the most general case of arbitrary orientation of the orthorhombic symmetry planes, the inversion results are unreliable due to significant trade-offs between the parameters. We have evaluated S-wave features such as point singularities (slowness surfaces of the split S-waves cross) and triplications (due to concaveness of the individual S-wave mode slowness surface) and their influence on the NMO ellipse.

scholarly journals Array data processing techniques applied to long-period shear waves at Fennoscandian seismograph stations

1969 ◽  
Vol 59 (5) ◽  
pp. 1863-1887
Author(s):  
James H. Whitcomb
Keyword(s):  
Data Processing ◽  
Velocity Ratio ◽  
Underground Explosion ◽  
High Signal ◽  
S Wave ◽  
Array Data ◽  
S Waves ◽  
Long Period ◽  
Normal Record ◽  
The Individual

abstract Array data processing is applied to long-period records of S waves at a network of five Fennoscandian seismograph stations (Uppsala, Umeå, Nurmijärvi, Kongsberg, Copenhagen) with a maximum separation of 1300 km. Records of five earthquakes and one underground explosion are included in the study. The S motion is resolved into SH and SV, and after appropriate time shifts the individual traces are summed, both directly and after weighting. In general, high signal correlation exists among the different stations involved resulting in more accurate time readings, especially for records which have amplitudes that are too small to be read normally. S-wave station residuals correlate with the general crustal type under each station. In addition, the Fennoscandian shield may have a higher SH/SV velocity ratio than the adjacent tectonic area to the northwest.SV-to-P conversion at the base of the crust can seriously interfere with picking the onset of Sin normal record reading. The study demonstrates that, for epicentral distances beyond about 30°, existing networks of seismograph stations can be successfully used for array processing of long-period arrivals, especially the S arrivals.

On-axis triplications in elastic orthorhombic media

2020 ◽  
Vol 224 (1) ◽  
pp. 449-467
Author(s):  
Shibo Xu ◽  
Alexey Stovas ◽  
Hitoshi Mikada ◽  
Junichi Takekawa
Keyword(s):  
Group Velocity ◽  
Transversely Isotropic ◽  
Model Complexity ◽  
Model Parameters ◽  
S Wave ◽  
Slowness Surface ◽  
S Waves ◽  
Redundant Signal ◽  
Velocity Surface ◽  
Offset Curve

SUMMARY Triplicated traveltime curve has three arrivals at a given distance with the bowtie shape in the traveltime-offset curve. The existence of the triplication can cause a lot of problems such as several arrivals for the same wave type, anomalous amplitudes near caustics, anomalous behaviour of rays near caustics, which leads to the structure imaging deviation and redundant signal in the inversion of the model parameters. Hence, triplication prediction becomes necessary when the medium is known. The research of the triplication in transversely isotropic medium with a vertical symmetry axis (VTI) has been well investigated and it has become clear that, apart from the point singularity case, the triplicated traveltime only occurs for S wave. On contrary to the VTI case, the triplication behaviour in the orthorhombic (ORT) medium has not been well focused due to the model complexity. In this paper, we derive the second-order coefficients of the slowness surface for two S waves in the vicinity of three symmetry axes and define the elliptic form function to examine the existence of the on-axis triplication in ORT model. The existence of the on-axis triplication is found by the sign of the defined curvature coefficients. Three ORT models are defined in the numerical examples to analyse the behaviour of the on-axis triplication. The plots of the group velocity surface in the vicinity of three symmetry axes are shown for different ORT models where different shapes: convex or the saddle-shaped (concave along one direction and convex along with another) indicates the existence of the on-axis triplication. We also show the traveltime plots (associated with the group velocity surface) to illustrate the effect of the on-axis triplication.

Multidirectional-vector-based elastic reverse time migration and angle-domain common-image gathers with approximate wavefield decomposition of P- and S-waves

Geophysics ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 83 (1) ◽  
pp. S57-S79 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chen Tang ◽  
George A. McMechan
Keyword(s):  
Wave Mode ◽  
Reverse Time ◽  
Reverse Time Migration ◽  
S Wave ◽  
S Waves ◽  
Time Migration ◽  
Mode Separation ◽  
Reflection Image ◽  
Wavefield Decomposition ◽  
Imaging Conditions

Elastic reverse time migration (E-RTM) has limitations when the migration velocities contain strong contrasts. First, the traditional scheme of P/S-wave mode separation is based on Helmholtz’s equations, which ignore the conversion between P- and S-waves at the current separation time. Thus, it contains an implicit assumption of the constant shear modulus and requires smoothing the heterogeneous model to approximately satisfy a locally constant condition. Second, the vector-based imaging condition needs to use the reflection-image normal, and it also cannot give the correct polarity of the PP image in all possible conditions. Third, the angle-domain common-image gathers (ADCIGs) calculated using the Poynting vectors (PVs) do not consider the wave interferences that happen at each reflector. Therefore, smooth models are often used for E-RTM. We relax this condition by proposing an improved data flow that involves three new contributions. The first contribution is an improved system of P/S-wave mode separation that considers the converted wave generated at the current time, and thus it does not require the constant-shear-modulus assumption. The second contribution is the new elastic imaging conditions based on multidirectional vectors; they can give the correct image polarity in all possible conditions without knowledge of the reflection-image normal. The third contribution is two methods to calculate multidirectional propagation vectors (PRVs) for RTM images and ADCIGs: One is the elastic multidirectional PV, and the other uses the sign of wavenumber-over-frequency ([Formula: see text]) ratio obtained from an amplitude-preserved approximate-propagation-angle-based wavefield decomposition to convert the particle velocities into multidirectional PRVs. The robustness of the improved data flow is determined by several 2D numerical examples. Extension of the schemes into 3D and amplitude-preserved imaging conditions is also possible.

Adaptive decomposition of multicomponent ocean‐bottom seismic data into downgoing and upgoing P‐ and S‐waves

Geophysics ◽  
2003 ◽  
Vol 68 (3) ◽  
pp. 1091-1102 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. M. Schalkwijk ◽  
C. P. A. Wapenaar ◽  
D. J. Verschuur
Keyword(s):  
Ocean Bottom ◽  
S Wave ◽  
Depth Level ◽  
S Waves ◽  
Decomposition Scheme ◽  
Adaptive Decomposition ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Event Definition ◽  
Wavefield Decomposition ◽  
Shallow Water Depth

With wavefield decomposition, the recorded wavefield at a certain depth level can be separated into upgoing and downgoing wavefields as well as into P‐ and S‐waves. The medium parameters at the considered depth level (e.g., just below the ocean‐bottom) need to be known in order to be able to do a decomposition. In general, these parameters are unknown and, in addition, measurement‐related issues, such as geophone coupling and crosstalk between the different components, need to be dealt with. In order to apply decomposition to field data, an adaptive five‐stage decomposition scheme was developed in which these issues are addressed. In this study, the adaptive decomposition scheme is tested on a data example with a relatively shallow water depth (∼120 m), consisting recordings from of a full line of ocean‐bottom receivers. Although some of the individual stages in the decomposition scheme are more difficult to apply because of stronger interference between events compared to data acquired over deeper water, the end result is satisfying. Also, a good decomposition result is obtained for the S‐waves. The extension of the decomposition scheme to a complete line of ocean‐bottom cable data consists of a repeated application of the procedure for each receiver. The resulting decomposed upgoing P‐ and S‐wavefields are processed, yielding poststack time migrated images of the subsurface. Comparison with the images obtained from the original (i.e., not decomposed) measurements shows that wavefield decomposition just below the ocean bottom leads to a strong attenuation of multiply reflected events at the sea surface and better event definition in both P‐ and S‐wave sections. Other decomposition effects like improved angle‐dependent amplitudes cannot be evaluated in this way.

Examining the processing differences between P and P-S waves in a Rocky Mountain Foothills model

2014 ◽  
Vol 54 (2) ◽  
pp. 504
Author(s):  
Sanjeev Rajput ◽  
Michael Ring
Keyword(s):  
Rocky Mountain ◽  
P Wave ◽  
S Wave ◽  
Converted Wave ◽  
Wave Source ◽  
Depth Migration ◽  
S Waves ◽  
Full Waveform ◽  
Fluid Saturation ◽  
Converted Waves

For the past two decades, most of the shear-wave (S-wave) or converted wave (P-S) acquisitions were performed with P-wave source by making the use of downgoing P-waves converting to upgoing S-waves at the mode conversion boundaries. The processing of converted waves requires studying asymmetric reflection at the conversion point, difference in geometries and conditions of source and receiver, and the partitioning of energy into orthogonally polarised components. Interpretation of P-S sections incorporates the identification of P-S waves, full waveform modeling, correlation with P-wave sections and depth migration. The main applications of P-S wave imaging are to obtain a measure of subsurface S-wave properties relating to rock type and fluid saturation (in addition to the P-wave values), imaging through gas clouds and shale diapers, and imaging interfaces with low P-wave contrast but significant S-wave changes. This study examines the major differences in processing of P and P-S wave surveys and the feasibility of identifying converted mode reflections by P-wave sources in anisotropic media. Two-dimensional synthetic seismograms for a realistic rocky mountain foothills model were studied. A Kirchhoff-based technique that includes anisotropic velocities is used for depth migration of converted waves. The results from depth imaging show that P-S section help in distinguishing amplitude associated with hydrocarbons from those caused by localised stratigraphic changes. In addition, the full waveform elastic modeling is useful in finding an appropriate balance between capturing high-quality P-wave data and P-S data challenges in a survey.

Receiver-side near-surface corrections in the τ-p domain: A raypath-consistent solution for converted wave processing

Geophysics ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 82 (2) ◽  
pp. U13-U23 ◽  
Author(s):  
Raul Cova ◽  
David Henley ◽  
Xiucheng Wei ◽  
Kristopher A. Innanen
Keyword(s):  
Processing Technique ◽  
Receiver Side ◽  
S Wave ◽  
Converted Wave ◽  
Velocity Change ◽  
Near Surface ◽  
S Waves ◽  
Surface Time ◽  
Consistent Solution ◽  
Consistent Approach

Removing near-surface effects in the processing of 3C data is key to exploiting the information provided by converted waves. Particularly for the case of the PS-mode, converted energy travels back to the surface as S-waves. Therefore, S-wave static corrections are needed for the receiver side. This is often done under the assumption of surface consistency. This implies a constant correction for all the traces recorded at a fixed receiver location. However, if the velocity change between the near-surface layer and the medium underneath is gradual, the vertical raypath assumption that supports the surface-consistent approach is no longer valid. This property results in a nonstationary change of the near-surface traveltimes that need to be addressed to properly solve the problem. We have determined how the delays introduced by the presence of very low S-wave velocities in the near surface can introduce raypath-dependent effects. The magnitudes of these delays can be larger than what can be considered a residual static. In this study, a raypath-consistent approach is used to solve the problem. This is achieved by transforming the data, organized into receiver gathers, to the [Formula: see text]-[Formula: see text] domain and performing crosscorrelation and convolution operations to capture and remove the near-surface delays from the data. We tested this processing technique on synthetic and field data. In both cases, removing near-surface time delays in a raypath-consistent framework improved the coherency and stacking power of shallow and deep events simultaneously. Shallow events benefited most from this processing due to their wider range of reflection angles. This approach can be useful in the processing of wide-angle broadband data in which the kinematics of wave propagation are not consistent with vertical raypath approximations in the near surface.

Examining the processing differences between P and P-S waves in a Rocky Mountain Foothills model

2014 ◽  
Vol 54 (2) ◽  
pp. 536
Author(s):  
Sanjeev Rajput ◽  
Michael Ring
Keyword(s):  
Rocky Mountain ◽  
P Wave ◽  
S Wave ◽  
Converted Wave ◽  
Wave Source ◽  
Depth Migration ◽  
S Waves ◽  
Full Waveform ◽  
Fluid Saturation ◽  
Converted Waves

For the past two decades, most of the shear-wave (S-wave) or converted wave (P-S) acquisitions were performed with P-wave source by making the use of downgoing P-waves converting to upgoing S-waves at the mode conversion boundaries. The processing of converted waves requires studying asymmetric reflection at the conversion point, difference in geometries and conditions of source and receiver, and the partitioning of energy into orthogonally polarised components. Interpretation of P-S sections incorporates the identification of P-S waves, full waveform modeling, correlation with P-wave sections and depth migration. The main applications of P-S wave imaging are to obtain a measure of subsurface S-wave properties relating to rock type and fluid saturation (in addition to the P-wave values), imaging through gas clouds and shale diapers, and imaging interfaces with low P-wave contrast but significant S-wave changes. This study examines the major differences in processing of P and P-S wave surveys and the feasibility of identifying converted mode reflections by P-wave sources in anisotropic media. Two-dimensional synthetic seismograms for a realistic rocky mountain foothills model were studied. A Kirchhoff-based technique that includes anisotropic velocities is used for depth migration of converted waves. The results from depth imaging show that P-S section help in distinguishing amplitude associated with hydrocarbons from those caused by localised stratigraphic changes. In addition, the full waveform elastic modeling is useful in finding an appropriate balance between capturing high-quality P-wave data and P-S data challenges in a survey.

A simple method for resolving large converted‐wave (P-SV) statics

Geophysics ◽  
1993 ◽  
Vol 58 (3) ◽  
pp. 429-433 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter W. Cary ◽  
David W. S. Eaton
Keyword(s):  
P Wave ◽  
S Wave ◽  
Converted Wave ◽  
P Waves ◽  
Simple Method ◽  
Near Surface ◽  
S Waves ◽  
Static Solutions ◽  
Surface Fluctuations

The processing of converted‐wave (P-SV) seismic data requires certain special considerations, such as commonconversion‐point (CCP) binning techniques (Tessmer and Behle, 1988) and a modified normal moveout formula (Slotboom, 1990), that makes it different for processing conventional P-P data. However, from the processor’s perspective, the most problematic step is often the determination of residual S‐wave statics, which are commonly two to ten times greater than the P‐wave statics for the same location (Tatham and McCormack, 1991). Conventional residualstatics algorithms often produce numerous cycle skips when attempting to resolve very large statics. Unlike P‐waves, the velocity of S‐waves is virtually unaffected by near‐surface fluctuations in the water table (Figure 1). Hence, the P‐wave and S‐wave static solutions are largely unrelated to each other, so it is generally not feasible to approximate the S‐wave statics by simply scaling the known P‐wave static values (Anno, 1986).

scholarly journals Three-component amplitude versus offset analysis

1989 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
pp. 257
Author(s):  
D.R. Miles ◽  
G. Gassaway ◽  
L. Bennett ◽  
R. Brown
Keyword(s):  
Seismic Data ◽  
P Wave ◽  
S Wave ◽  
Converted Wave ◽  
P Waves ◽  
S Waves ◽  
Avo Analysis ◽  
Avo Inversion ◽  
Amplitude Versus Offset ◽  
Converted Waves

Three-component (3-C) amplitude versus offset (AVO) inversion is the AVO analysis of the three major energies in the seismic data, P-waves, S-waves and converted waves. For each type of energy the reflection coefficients at the boundary are a function of the contrast across the boundary in velocity, density and Poisson's ratio, and of the angle of incidence of the incoming wave. 3-C AVO analysis exploits these relationships to analyse the AVO changes in the P, S, and converted waves. 3-C AVO analysis is generally done on P, S, and converted wave data collected from a single source on 3-C geophones. Since most seismic sources generate both P and S-waves, it follows that most 3-C seismic data may be used in 3-C AVO inversion. Processing of the P-wave, S-wave and converted wave gathers is nearly the same as for single-component P-wave gathers. In split-spread shooting, the P-wave and S-wave energy on the radial component is one polarity on the forward shot and the opposite polarity on the back shot. Therefore to use both sides of the shot, the back shot must be rotated 180 degrees before it can be stacked with the forward shot. The amplitude of the returning energy is a function of all three components, not just the vertical or radial, so all three components must be stacked for P-waves, then for S-waves, and finally for converted waves. After the gathers are processed, reflectors are picked and the amplitudes are corrected for free-surface effects, spherical divergence and the shot and geophone array geometries. Next the P and S-wave interval velocities are calculated from the P and S-wave moveouts. Then the amplitude response of the P and S-wave reflections are analysed to give Poisson's ratio. The two solutions are then compared and adjusted until they match each other and the data. Three-component AVO inversion not only yields information about the lithologies and pore-fluids at a specific location; it also provides the interpreter with good correlations between the P-waves and the S-waves, and between the P and converted waves, thus greatly expanding the value of 3-C seismic data.

S-wave singularities in tilted orthorhombic media

Geophysics ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 82 (4) ◽  
pp. WA11-WA21 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yuriy Ivanov ◽  
Alexey Stovas
Keyword(s):  
Numerical Models ◽  
Anomalous Behavior ◽  
Shear Mode ◽  
S Wave ◽  
Slowness Surface ◽  
S Waves ◽  
Hyperbolic Region ◽  
Conical Points ◽  
Zero Offset ◽  
Anisotropy Strength

Quasi S-wave propagation in low-symmetry anisotropic media is complicated due to the existence of point singularities (conical points) — points in the phase space at which slowness sheets of the split S-waves touch each other. At these points, two eigenvalues of the Christoffel tensor (associated with the quasi S-waves) degenerate into one and polarization directions of the S-waves, which lay in the plane orthogonal to the polarization of the quasi longitudinal wave, are not uniquely defined. In the vicinity of these points, slowness sheets of the S-waves have complicated shapes, leading to rapid variations in polarization directions, multipathing, and cusps and discontinuities of the shear wavefronts. In a tilted orthorhombic medium, the point singularities can occur close to the vertical, distorting the traveltime parameters that are defined at the zero offset. We have analyzed the influence of the singularities on these parameters by examining the derivatives of the slowness surface up to the fourth order. Using two orthorhombic numerical models of different shear anisotropy strength and with different number of singularity points, we evaluate the complexity of the slowness sheets in the vicinity of the conical points and analyze how the traveltime parameters are affected by the singularities. In particular, we observe that the hyperbolic region associated with the singularity points in a model with moderate to strong shear anisotropy spans over a big portion of the slowness surfaces and the traveltime parameters are strongly affected outside the hyperbolic region. In general, the fast shear mode is less affected by the singularities; however, the effect is still very pronounced. Moreover, the hyperbolic region associated with the singularity points on the slow S-wave affects the slowness surface of the fast mode extensively. In addition, we evaluate a relation between the slowness surface Gaussian curvature and the relative geometric spreading, which has anomalous behavior due to the singularities.

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