3D elastic full-waveform inversion of surface waves in the presence of irregular topography using an envelope-based misfit function

Geophysics ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 83 (1) ◽  
pp. R1-R11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dmitry Borisov ◽  
Ryan Modrak ◽  
Fuchun Gao ◽  
Jeroen Tromp

Full-waveform inversion (FWI) is a powerful method for estimating the earth’s material properties. We demonstrate that surface-wave-driven FWI is well-suited to recovering near-surface structures and effective at providing S-wave speed starting models for use in conventional body-wave FWI. Using a synthetic example based on the SEG Advanced Modeling phase II foothills model, we started with an envelope-based objective function to invert for shallow large-scale heterogeneities. Then we used a waveform-difference objective function to obtain a higher-resolution model. To accurately model surface waves in the presence of complex tomography, we used a spectral-element wave-propagation solver. Envelope misfit functions are found to be effective at minimizing cycle-skipping issues in surface-wave inversions, and surface waves themselves are found to be useful for constraining complex near-surface features.

Geophysics ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 84 (1) ◽  
pp. B95-B105 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yao Wang ◽  
Richard D. Miller ◽  
Shelby L. Peterie ◽  
Steven D. Sloan ◽  
Mark L. Moran ◽  
...  

We have applied time domain 2D full-waveform inversion (FWI) to detect a known 10 m deep wood-framed tunnel at Yuma Proving Ground, Arizona. The acquired seismic data consist of a series of 2D survey lines that are perpendicular to the long axis of the tunnel. With the use of an initial model estimated from surface wave methods, a void-detection-oriented FWI workflow was applied. A straightforward [Formula: see text] quotient masking method was used to reduce the inversion artifacts and improve confidence in identifying anomalies that possess a high [Formula: see text] ratio. Using near-surface FWI, [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text] velocity profiles were obtained with void anomalies that are easily interpreted. The inverted velocity profiles depict the tunnel as a low-velocity anomaly at the correct location and depth. A comparison of the observed and simulated waveforms demonstrates the reliability of inverted models. Because the known tunnel has a uniform shape and for our purposes an infinite length, we apply 1D interpolation to the inverted [Formula: see text] profiles to generate a pseudo 3D (2.5D) volume. Based on this research, we conclude the following: (1) FWI is effective in near-surface tunnel detection when high resolution is necessary. (2) Surface-wave methods can provide accurate initial S-wave velocity [Formula: see text] models for near-surface 2D FWI.


Geophysics ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 85 (4) ◽  
pp. EN49-EN61
Author(s):  
Yudi Pan ◽  
Lingli Gao

Full-waveform inversion (FWI) of surface waves is becoming increasingly popular among shallow-seismic methods. Due to a huge amount of data and the high nonlinearity of the objective function, FWI usually requires heavy computational costs and may converge toward a local minimum. To mitigate these problems, we have reformulated FWI under a multiobjective framework and adopted a random objective waveform inversion (ROWI) method for surface-wave characterization. Three different measure functions were used, whereas the combination of one measure function with one shot independently provided one of the [Formula: see text] objective functions ([Formula: see text] is the total number of shots). We have randomly chose and optimized one objective function at each iteration. We performed a synthetic test to compare the performance of the ROWI and conventional FWI approaches, which showed that the convergence of ROWI is faster and more robust compared with conventional FWI approaches. We also applied ROWI to a field data set acquired in Rheinstetten, Germany. ROWI successfully reconstructed the main geologic feature, a refilled trench, in the final result. The comparison between the ROWI result and a migrated ground-penetrating radar profile further proved the effectiveness of ROWI in reconstructing the near-surface S-wave velocity model. We also ran the same field example by using a poor initial model. In this case, conventional FWI failed whereas ROWI still reconstructed the subsurface model to a fairly good level, which highlighted the relatively low dependency of ROWI on the initial model.


2019 ◽  
Vol 219 (3) ◽  
pp. 1970-1988 ◽  
Author(s):  
Weiguang He ◽  
Romain Brossier ◽  
Ludovic Métivier ◽  
René-Édouard Plessix

SUMMARY Land seismic multiparameter full waveform inversion in anisotropic media is challenging because of high medium contrasts and surface waves. With a data-residual least-squares objective function, the surface wave energy usually masks the body waves and the gradient of the objective function exhibits high values in the very shallow depths preventing from recovering the deeper part of the earth model parameters. The optimal transport objective function, coupled with a Gaussian time-windowing strategy, allows to overcome this issue by more focusing on phase shifts and by balancing the contributions of the different events in the adjoint-source and the gradients. We first illustrate the advantages of the optimal transport function with respect to the least-squares one, with two realistic examples. We then discuss a vertical transverse isotropic (VTI) example starting from a quasi 1-D isotropic initial model. Despite some cycle-skipping issues in the initial model, the inversion based on the windowed optimal transport approach converges. Both the near-surface complexities and the variations at depth are recovered.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (15) ◽  
pp. 6712
Author(s):  
Chao Zhang ◽  
Ting Lei ◽  
Yi Wang

Surface-wave dispersion and the Z/H ratio are important parameters used to resolve the Earth’s structure, especially for S-wave velocity. Several previous studies have explored using joint inversion of these two datasets. However, all of these studies used a 1-D depth-sensitivity kernel, which lacks precision when the structure is laterally heterogeneous. Adjoint tomography (i.e., full-waveform inversion) is a state-of-the-art imaging method with a high resolution. It can obtain better-resolved lithospheric structures beyond the resolving ability of traditional ray-based travel-time tomography. In this study, we present a systematic investigation of the 2D sensitivities of the surface wave phase and Z/H ratio using the adjoint-state method. The forward-modeling experiments indicated that the 2D phase and Z/H ratio had different sensitivities to the S-wave velocity. Thus, a full-waveform joint-inversion scheme of surface waves with phases and a Z/H ratio was proposed to take advantage of their complementary sensitivities to the Earth’s structure. Both applications to synthetic data sets in large- and small-scale inversions demonstrated the advantage of the joint inversion over the individual inversions, allowing for the creation of a more unified S-wave velocity model. The proposed joint-inversion scheme offers a computationally efficient and inexpensive alternative to imaging fine-scale shallow structures beneath a 2D seismic array.


Geophysics ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 76 (3) ◽  
pp. R81-R93 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anouar Romdhane ◽  
Gilles Grandjean ◽  
Romain Brossier ◽  
Fayçal Rejiba ◽  
Stéphane Operto ◽  
...  

Assessing the effectiveness of elastic full-waveform-inversion (FWI) algorithms when applied to shallow 2D structures in the presence of a complex topography is critically important. By using FWI, we overcome inherent limitations of conventional seismic methods used for near-surface prospecting (acoustic tomography and multichannel spectral analysis of surface waves). The elastic forward problem, formulated in the frequency domain, is based on a mixed finite-element P0-P1 discontinuous Galerkin method to ensure accurate modeling of complex topography effects at a reasonable computing cost. The inversion problem uses an FWI algorithm to minimize the misfit between observed and calculated data. Based on results from a numerical experiment performed on a realistic landslide model inspired from the morphostructure of the Super-Sauze earthflow, we analyzed the effect of using a hierarchical preconditioning strategy, based on a simultaneous multifrequency inversion of damped data, to mitigate the strong nonlinearities coming from the surface waves. This strategy is a key point in alleviating the strong near-surface effects and avoiding convergence toward a local minimum. Using a limited-memory quasi-Newton method improved the convergence level. These findings are analogous to recent applications on large-scale domains, although limited source-receiver offset ranges, low-frequency content of the source, and domination of surface waves on the signal led to some difficulties. Regarding the impact of data decimation on the inversion results, we have learned that an inversion restricted to the vertical data component can be successful without significant loss in terms of parameter imagery resolution. In our investigations of the effect of increased source spacing, we found that a sampling of 4 m (less than three times the theoretical maximum of one half-wavelength) led to severe aliasing.


Geophysics ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 74 (6) ◽  
pp. WCC105-WCC118 ◽  
Author(s):  
Romain Brossier ◽  
Stéphane Operto ◽  
Jean Virieux

Quantitative imaging of the elastic properties of the subsurface at depth is essential for civil engineering applications and oil- and gas-reservoir characterization. A realistic synthetic example provides for an assessment of the potential and limits of 2D elastic full-waveform inversion (FWI) of wide-aperture seismic data for recovering high-resolution P- and S-wave velocity models of complex onshore structures. FWI of land data is challenging because of the increased nonlinearity introduced by free-surface effects such as the propagation of surface waves in the heterogeneous near-surface. Moreover, the short wavelengths of the shear wavefield require an accurate S-wave velocity starting model if low frequencies are unavailable in the data. We evaluated different multiscale strategies with the aim of mitigating the nonlinearities. Massively parallel full-waveform inversion was implemented in the frequency domain. The numerical optimization relies on a limited-memory quasi-Newton algorithm thatoutperforms the more classic preconditioned conjugate-gradient algorithm. The forward problem is based upon a discontinuous Galerkin (DG) method on triangular mesh, which allows accurate modeling of free-surface effects. Sequential inversions of increasing frequencies define the most natural level of hierarchy in multiscale imaging. In the case of land data involving surface waves, the regularization introduced by hierarchical frequency inversions is not enough for adequate convergence of the inversion. A second level of hierarchy implemented with complex-valued frequencies is necessary and provides convergence of the inversion toward acceptable P- and S-wave velocity models. Among the possible strategies for sampling frequencies in the inversion, successive inversions of slightly overlapping frequency groups is the most reliable when compared to the more standard sequential inversion of single frequencies. This suggests that simultaneous inversion of multiple frequencies is critical when considering complex wave phenomena.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yudi Pan ◽  
Lingli Gao ◽  
Thomas Bohlen

<p>The full-waveform inversion (FWI) of surface waves, including both Rayleigh and Love waves, is becoming increasingly popular for near-surface characterizations. Due to the high nonlinearity of the objective function and a huge amount of data, FWI may converge towards a local minimum and is usually computationally expensive. To overcome these problems, we reformulate FWI under a multi-objective framework and propose a random objective waveform inversion (ROWI) method for surface-wave characterization. We use three objective functions: the classical least-squares (<em>l</em><sub>2</sub>) waveform difference, the envelope difference, and the difference in the FK spectra. At each iteration, we randomly choose one shot and randomly assign one of the three objective functions to this shot. We only update the model with one iteration using a preconditioned steepest descent algorithm to optimize the currently assigned objective function. Therefore, ROWI has high freedom in exploring the model and objective spaces.<br>We use a synthetic example to compare the performance of ROWI with conventional FWI approaches. ROWI converges to better result compared to the conventional FWI approaches, while some of the conventional FWI approaches are trapped at local minima and fail to reconstruct reasonable results. We also apply ROWI to a field data acquired in Rheinstetten, Germany. The main geological feature, a refilled trench, is successfully reconstructed in the ROWI result. The reliability of the ROWI result is also proven by a migrated GPR profile. Overall, both synthetic and field-data examples show that ROWI is computationally more efficient, less dependent on the initial model, and more robust compared to conventional FWI approaches.</p>


2013 ◽  
Vol 56 (5) ◽  
pp. 685-703
Author(s):  
DONG Liang-Guo ◽  
CHI Ben-Xin ◽  
TAO Ji-Xia ◽  
LIU Yu-Zhu

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