Poynting Vector Based Scalar Imaging Condition of Elastic Reverse Time Migration

Author(s):  
X. Zhou ◽  
X. Chang ◽  
Y. Wang ◽  
Z. Yao
Geophysics ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 82 (5) ◽  
pp. S359-S376 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chen Tang ◽  
George A. McMechan

Because receiver wavefields reconstructed from observed data are not as stable as synthetic source wavefields, the source-propagation vector and the reflector normal have often been used to calculate angle-domain common-image gathers (ADCIGs) from reverse time migration. However, the existing data flows have three main limitations: (1) Calculating the propagation direction only at the wavefields with maximum amplitudes ignores multiarrivals; using the crosscorrelation imaging condition at each time step can include the multiarrivals but will result in backscattering artifacts. (2) Neither amplitude picking nor Poynting-vector calculations are accurate for overlapping wavefields. (3) Calculating the reflector normal in space is not accurate for a structurally complicated reflection image, and calculating it in the wavenumber ([Formula: see text]) domain may give Fourier truncation artifacts. We address these three limitations in an improved data flow with two steps: During imaging, we use a multidirectional Poynting vector (MPV) to calculate the propagation vectors of the source wavefield at each time step and output intermediate source-angle-domain CIGs (SACIGs). After imaging, we use an antitruncation-artifact Fourier transform (ATFT) to convert SACIGs to ADCIGs in the [Formula: see text]-domain. To achieve the new flow, another three innovative aspects are included. In the first step, we develop an angle-tapering scheme to remove the Fourier truncation artifacts during the wave decomposition (of MPV) while preserving the amplitudes, and we use a wavefield decomposition plus angle-filter imaging condition to remove the backscattering artifacts in the SACIGs. In the second step, we compare two algorithms to remove the Fourier truncation artifacts that are caused by the plane-wave assumption. One uses an antileakage FT (ALFT) in local windows; the other uses an antitruncation-artifact FT, which relaxes the plane-wave assumption and thus can be done for the global space. The second algorithm is preferred. Numerical tests indicate that this new flow (source-side MPV plus ATFT) gives high-quality ADCIGs.


Geophysics ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 74 (3) ◽  
pp. S57-S66 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. C. Costa ◽  
F. A. Silva Neto ◽  
M. R. Alcântara ◽  
J. Schleicher ◽  
A. Novais

The quality of seismic images obtained by reverse time migration (RTM) strongly depends on the imaging condition. We propose a new imaging condition that is motivated by stationary phase analysis of the classical crosscorrelation imaging condition. Its implementation requires the Poynting vector of the source and receiver wavefields at the imaging point. An obliquity correction is added to compensate for the reflector dip effect on amplitudes of RTM. Numerical experiments show that using an imaging condition with obliquity compensation improves reverse time migration by reducing backscattering artifacts and improving illumination compensation.


Geophysics ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 82 (2) ◽  
pp. S111-S127 ◽  
Author(s):  
Qizhen Du ◽  
ChengFeng Guo ◽  
Qiang Zhao ◽  
Xufei Gong ◽  
Chengxiang Wang ◽  
...  

The scalar images (PP, PS, SP, and SS) of elastic reverse time migration (ERTM) can be generated by applying an imaging condition as crosscorrelation of pure wave modes. In conventional ERTM, Helmholtz decomposition is commonly applied in wavefield separation, which leads to a polarity reversal problem in converted-wave images because of the opposite polarity distributions of the S-wavefields. Polarity reversal of the converted-wave image will cause destructive interference when stacking over multiple shots. Besides, in the 3D case, the curl calculation generates a vector S-wave, which makes it impossible to produce scalar PS, SP, and SS images with the crosscorrelation imaging condition. We evaluate a vector-based ERTM (VB-ERTM) method to address these problems. In VB-ERTM, an amplitude-preserved wavefield separation method based on decoupled elastic wave equation is exploited to obtain the pure wave modes. The output separated wavefields are both vectorial. To obtain the scalar images, the scalar imaging condition in which the scalar product of two vector wavefields with source-normalized illumination is exploited to produce scalar images instead of correlating Cartesian components or magnitude of the vector P- and S-wave modes. Compared with alternative methods for correcting the polarity reversal of PS and SP images, our ERTM solution is more stable and simple. Besides these four scalar images, the VB-ERTM method generates another PP-mode image by using the auxiliary stress wavefields. Several 2D and 3D numerical examples are evaluated to demonstrate the potential of our ERTM method.


Geophysics ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 83 (6) ◽  
pp. S569-S577 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yang Zhao ◽  
Houzhu Zhang ◽  
Jidong Yang ◽  
Tong Fei

Using the two-way elastic-wave equation, elastic reverse time migration (ERTM) is superior to acoustic RTM because ERTM can handle mode conversions and S-wave propagations in complex realistic subsurface. However, ERTM results may not only contain classical backscattering noises, but they may also suffer from false images associated with primary P- and S-wave reflections along their nonphysical paths. These false images are produced by specific wave paths in migration velocity models in the presence of sharp interfaces or strong velocity contrasts. We have addressed these issues explicitly by introducing a primary noise removal strategy into ERTM, in which the up- and downgoing waves are efficiently separated from the pure-mode vector P- and S-wavefields during source- and receiver-side wavefield extrapolation. Specifically, we investigate a new method of vector wavefield decomposition, which allows us to produce the same phases and amplitudes for the separated P- and S-wavefields as those of the input elastic wavefields. A complex function involved with the Hilbert transform is used in up- and downgoing wavefield decomposition. Our approach is cost effective and avoids the large storage of wavefield snapshots that is required by the conventional wavefield separation technique. A modified dot-product imaging condition is proposed to produce multicomponent PP-, PS-, SP-, and SS-images. We apply our imaging condition to two synthetic models, and we demonstrate the improvement on the image quality of ERTM.


Geophysics ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 84 (2) ◽  
pp. S95-S111 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wei Zhang ◽  
Ying Shi

Elastic reverse time migration (RTM) has the ability to retrieve accurately migrated images of complex subsurface structures by imaging the multicomponent seismic data. However, the imaging condition applied in elastic RTM significantly influences the quality of the migrated images. We evaluated three kinds of imaging conditions in elastic RTM. The first kind of imaging condition involves the crosscorrelation between the Cartesian components of the particle-velocity wavefields to yield migrated images of subsurface structures. An alternative crosscorrelation imaging condition between the separated pure wave modes obtained by a Helmholtz-like decomposition method could produce reflectivity images with explicit physical meaning and fewer crosstalk artifacts. A drawback of this approach, though, was that the polarity reversal of the separated S-wave could cause destructive interference in the converted-wave image after stacking over multiple shots. Unlike the conventional decomposition method, the elastic wavefields can also be decomposed in the vector domain using the decoupled elastic wave equation, which preserves the amplitude and phase information of the original elastic wavefields. We have developed an inner-product imaging condition to match the vector-separated P- and S-wave modes to obtain scalar reflectivity images of the subsurface. Moreover, an auxiliary P-wave stress image can supplement the elastic imaging. Using synthetic examples with a layered model, the Marmousi 2 model, and a fault model, we determined that the inner-product imaging condition has prominent advantages over the other two imaging conditions and generates images with preserved amplitude and phase attributes.


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