Comparison between Born and Kirchhoff operators for least-squares reverse time migration and the constraint of the propagation of the background wavefield

Geophysics ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 84 (5) ◽  
pp. R725-R739 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kai Yang ◽  
Jianfeng Zhang

The Born approximation and the Kirchhoff approximation are two frameworks that are extensively used in solving seismic migration/inversion problems. Both approximations assume a linear relationship between the primary reflected/scattered data to the corresponding physical model. However, different approximations result in different behaviors. For least-squares reverse time migration (LSRTM), most of the algorithms are constructed based on Born approximation. We have constructed a pair of Kirchhoff modeling and migration operators based on the Born modeling operator and the connection between the perturbation model and the reflectivity model, and then we compared the different performances between Born and Kirchhoff operators for LSRTM. Numerical examples on Marmousi model and SEAM 2D salt model indicate that LSRTM with Kirchhoff operators is a better alternative to that with Born operators for imaging complex structures. To reduce the computational cost, we also investigate a strategy by restricting the propagation of the background wavefield to a stopping time rather than the maximum recording time. And this stopping time can be chosen as half of the maximum recording time. This computational strategy can be used in LSRTM procedures of predicting the primary reflected data, calculating the step length, and computing the gradient. Theoretical analyses and numerical experiments are given to justify this computational strategy for LSRTM.

Geophysics ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 1-73
Author(s):  
Milad Farshad ◽  
Hervé Chauris

Elastic least-squares reverse time migration is the state-of-the-art linear imaging technique to retrieve high-resolution quantitative subsurface images. A successful application requires many migration/modeling cycles. To accelerate the convergence rate, various pseudoinverse Born operators have been proposed, providing quantitative results within a single iteration, while having roughly the same computational cost as reverse time migration. However, these are based on the acoustic approximation, leading to possible inaccurate amplitude predictions as well as the ignorance of S-wave effects. To solve this problem, we extend the pseudoinverse Born operator from acoustic to elastic media to account for the elastic amplitudes of PP reflections and provide an estimate of physical density, P- and S-wave impedance models. We restrict the extension to marine environment, with the recording of pressure waves at the receiver positions. Firstly, we replace the acoustic Green's functions by their elastic version, without modifying the structure of the original pseudoinverse Born operator. We then apply a Radon transform to the results of the first step to calculate the angle-dependent response. Finally, we simultaneously invert for the physical parameters using a weighted least-squares method. Through numerical experiments, we first illustrate the consequences of acoustic approximation on elastic data, leading to inaccurate parameter inversion as well as to artificial reflector inclusion. Then we demonstrate that our method can simultaneously invert for elastic parameters in the presence of complex uncorrelated structures, inaccurate background models, and Gaussian noisy data.


Geophysics ◽  
2020 ◽  
pp. 1-61
Author(s):  
Janaki Vamaraju ◽  
Jeremy Vila ◽  
Mauricio Araya-Polo ◽  
Debanjan Datta ◽  
Mohamed Sidahmed ◽  
...  

Migration techniques are an integral part of seismic imaging workflows. Least-squares reverse time migration (LSRTM) overcomes some of the shortcomings of conventional migration algorithms by compensating for illumination and removing sampling artifacts to increase spatial resolution. However, the computational cost associated with iterative LSRTM is high and convergence can be slow in complex media. We implement pre-stack LSRTM in a deep learning framework and adopt strategies from the data science domain to accelerate convergence. The proposed hybrid framework leverages the existing physics-based models and machine learning optimizers to achieve better and cheaper solutions. Using a time-domain formulation, we show that mini-batch gradients can reduce the computation cost by using a subset of total shots for each iteration. Mini-batch approach does not only reduce source cross-talk but also is less memory intensive. Combining mini-batch gradients with deep learning optimizers and loss functions can improve the efficiency of LSRTM. Deep learning optimizers such as the adaptive moment estimation are generally well suited for noisy and sparse data. We compare different optimizers and demonstrate their efficacy in mitigating migration artifacts. To accelerate the inversion, we adopt the regularised Huber loss function in conjunction. We apply these techniques to 2D Marmousi and 3D SEG/EAGE salt models and show improvements over conventional LSRTM baselines. The proposed approach achieves higher spatial resolution in less computation time measured by various qualitative and quantitative evaluation metrics.


Geophysics ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 85 (2) ◽  
pp. S115-S134
Author(s):  
Wenlei Gao ◽  
Gian Matharu ◽  
Mauricio D. Sacchi

Least-squares reverse time migration (LSRTM) has become increasingly popular for complex wavefield imaging due to its ability to equalize image amplitudes, attenuate migration artifacts, handle incomplete and noisy data, and improve spatial resolution. The major drawback of LSRTM is the considerable computational cost incurred by performing migration/demigration at each iteration of the optimization. To ameliorate the computational cost, we introduced a fast method to solve the LSRTM problem in the image domain. Our method is based on a new factorization that approximates the Hessian using a superposition of Kronecker products. The Kronecker factors are small matrices relative to the size of the Hessian. Crucially, the factorization is able to honor the characteristic block-band structure of the Hessian. We have developed a computationally efficient algorithm to estimate the Kronecker factors via low-rank matrix completion. The completion algorithm uses only a small percentage of preferentially sampled elements of the Hessian matrix. Element sampling requires computation of the source and receiver Green’s functions but avoids explicitly constructing the entire Hessian. Our Kronecker-based factorization leads to an imaging technique that we name Kronecker-LSRTM (KLSRTM). The iterative solution of the image-domain KLSRTM is fast because we replace computationally expensive migration/demigration operations with fast matrix multiplications involving small matrices. We first validate the efficacy of our method by explicitly computing the Hessian for a small problem. Subsequent 2D numerical tests compare LSRTM with KLSRTM for several benchmark models. We observe that KLSRTM achieves near-identical images to LSRTM at a significantly reduced computational cost (approximately 5–15× faster); however, KLSRTM has an increased, yet manageable, memory cost.


Geophysics ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 82 (2) ◽  
pp. S159-S172 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xuejian Liu ◽  
Yike Liu ◽  
Huiyi Lu ◽  
Hao Hu ◽  
Majid Khan

In the correlative least-squares reverse time migration (CLSRTM) scheme, a stacked image is updated using a gradient-based inversion algorithm. However, CLSRTM experiences the incoherent stacking of different shots during each iteration due to the use of an imperfect velocity, which leads to image smearing. To reduce the sensitivity to velocity errors, we have developed prestack correlative least-squares reverse time migration (PCLSRTM), in which a gradient descent algorithm using a newly defined initial image and an efficiently defined analytical step length is developed to separately seek the optimal image for each shot gather before the final stacking. Furthermore, a weighted objective function is also designed for PCLSRTM, so that the data-domain gradient can avoid a strong truncation effect. Numerical experiments on a three-layer model as well as a marine synthetic and a field data set reveal the merits of PCLSRTM. In the presence of velocity errors, PCLSRTM shows better convergence and provides higher quality images as compared with CLSRTM. With the newly defined initial image, PCLSRTM can effectively handle observed data with unbalanced amplitudes. By using a weighted objective function, PCLSRTM can provide an image with enhanced resolution and balanced amplitude while avoiding many imaging artifacts.


Geophysics ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 81 (4) ◽  
pp. S221-S238 ◽  
Author(s):  
Youshan Liu ◽  
Jiwen Teng ◽  
Tao Xu ◽  
Zhiming Bai ◽  
Haiqiang Lan ◽  
...  

In correlative least-squares reverse time migration (CLSRTM), the estimation of the optimal step size is usually determined by fitting a parabola and finding its minimum; it involves at least two times extra reading of all seismic records, which significantly lowers the efficiency of the algorithm. To improve the efficiency of the CLSRTM algorithm, we have deduced an analytical step-length (ASL) formula based on the linear property of the demigration operator. Numerical examples performed with the data synthetized by the Marmousi and Sigsbee2A models were used to test its validity. In complex models with imperfect migration velocity, such as the Sigabee2A model, our formula makes the value of the objective function converges to a much smaller minimum. Additional numerical tests performed with the data either acquired irregularly or contaminated by different noise levels verify the robustness of the ASL formula. Compared with the commonly used parabolic search method, the ASL formula is much more efficient because it is free from an extra estimation of the value of the objective function.


Geophysics ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 76 (5) ◽  
pp. R135-R146 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wei Dai ◽  
Xin Wang ◽  
Gerard T. Schuster

Least-squares migration (LSM) has been shown to be able to produce high-quality migration images, but its computational cost is considered to be too high for practical imaging. We have developed a multisource least-squares migration algorithm (MLSM) to increase the computational efficiency by using the blended sources processing technique. To expedite convergence, a multisource deblurring filter is used as a preconditioner to reduce the data residual. This MLSM algorithm is applicable with Kirchhoff migration, wave-equation migration, or reverse time migration, and the gain in computational efficiency depends on the choice of migration method. Numerical results with Kirchhoff LSM on the 2D SEG/EAGE salt model show that an accurate image is obtained by migrating a supergather of 320 phase-encoded shots. When the encoding functions are the same for every iteration, the input/output cost of MLSM is reduced by 320 times. Empirical results show that the crosstalk noise introduced by blended sources is more effectively reduced when the encoding functions are changed at every iteration. The analysis of signal-to-noise ratio (S/N) suggests that not too many iterations are needed to enhance the S/N to an acceptable level. Therefore, when implemented with wave-equation migration or reverse time migration methods, the MLSM algorithm can be more efficient than the conventional migration method.


Geophysics ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 83 (4) ◽  
pp. S321-S332 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xuejian Liu ◽  
Yike Liu ◽  
Majid Khan

For vertical seismic profile (VSP), free-surface multiples can provide much wider subsurface illumination when compared with primaries. However, migration of multiple reflections generates not only the desired image of reflection interfaces but also many crosstalk artifacts. Therefore, the least-squares reverse time migration method is used to image the VSP downgoing free-surface multiples (receiver-side ghosts) and iteratively suppress crosstalks, in which full downgoing data (including direct waves) and downgoing multiples are used as sources and observed data, respectively. To reduce the computational cost, we have developed the simultaneous imaging of different common-receiver gathers that are dynamically blended together with iterations through the altered realizations of the phase-encoding function. Relative to the popular encoding function with a combination of random time delays and polarities, only the random polarities can be applied for further increasing the computational efficiency. Synthetic experiments on Sigsbee2B and Pluto1.5 models indicate that the proposed method can effectively eliminate crosstalk artifacts and improve imaging resolution while calculated even more efficiently than reverse time migration of VSP ghosts.


Geophysics ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 85 (6) ◽  
pp. S357-S369 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jizhong Yang ◽  
Yunyue Elita Li ◽  
Yuzhu Liu ◽  
Jingjing Zong

Because the velocity errors are inevitable in field data applications, direct implementation of conventional least-squares reverse time migration (LSRTM) would generate defocused migration images. Extending the model domain has the potential to preserve the data information, and reducing the extended model could provide a final image with more continuous subsurface structures for geologic interpretation. However, the computational cost and the memory requirement would be increased significantly compared to conventional LSRTM. To obtain an inversion image with better quality than conventional LSRTM, while maintaining the same computational cost and memory requirement, we have introduced random space shifts in LSRTM. The key point is to perform implicit model extension and immediate model reduction within each iteration of the inversion procedure. To be robust against the random noise during the random sampling process, we formulate the inverse problem based on a correlation objective function. Numerical examples on a simple layered model, the Marmousi model, and the SEAM model demonstrate that even when the bulk velocity errors are up to 10%, we still obtain reasonable results for subsurface geologic interpretation.


Geophysics ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 83 (3) ◽  
pp. S299-S310 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kai Yang ◽  
Jianfeng Zhang

Least-squares reverse time migration (LSRTM) produces higher quality images than conventional RTM. However, directly using the standard gradient formula, the inverted images suffer from low-wavenumber noise. Using a simple high-pass filter on the gradient can alleviate the effect of the low-wavenumber noise. But, owing to the illumination issue, the amplitudes are not balanced and in the deep part they are often weak. These two issues can be mitigated by the iterative approach, but it needs more iterations. We introduced an angle-dependent weighting factor to weight the gradient of LSRTM to suppress the low-wavenumber noise and also to emphasize the gradient in the deep part. An optimal step length for the L2-norm objective function is also presented to scale the gradient to the right order. Two numerical examples performed with the data synthesized on the Sigsbee2A and Marmousi models indicate that when using this weighted gradient combined with the preconditioned [Formula: see text]-BFGS algorithm with the optimal step length, only a few iterations can achieve satisfying results.


2021 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yanbao Zhang ◽  
Yike Liu ◽  
Jia Yi ◽  
Xuejian Liu

Nowadays the ocean bottom node (OBN) acquisition is widely used in oil and gas resource exploration and seismic monitoring. Conventional imaging algorithms of OBN data mainly focus on the processing of up-going primaries and down-going first-order multiples. Up-going multiples and higher-order down-going multiples are generally regarded as noise and should be eliminated or ignored in conventional migration methods. However, multiples carry abundant information about subsurface structures where primaries cannot achieve. To take full advantage of multiples, we propose a migration method using OBN down-going all-order multiples. And then the least-squares optimization algorithm is used to suppress crosstalks. Finally, a phase-encoding-based migration algorithm is developed to cut down the computational cost by blending several common receiver gathers together using random time delays and polarity reversals. Numerical experiments on the complex Marmousi model illustrate that the developed approach can enlarge the imaging area evidently, reduce the computational cost effectively, and enhance the image quality by suppressing crosstalks and improving the resolution.


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