Pre-stack Kirchhoff depth migration local space-shift imaging condition: synthetic and data examples

Extracting accurate common image angle gathers from pre-stack depth migrations is important in the generation of any incremental uplift to the amplitude versus angle attributes and seismic inversions that can lead to significant impacts in exploration and development success. The commonly used Kirchhoff migration outputs surface common offset image gathers that require a transformation to angle gathers for amplitude versus angle analysis. The accuracy of this transformation is one of the factors that determine the robustness of the amplitude versus angle measurements. Here, we investigate the possibility of implementing an extended imaging condition, focusing on the space-lag condition, for generating subsurface reflection angle gathers within a Kirchhoff migration. The objective is to determine if exploiting the spatial local shift imaging condition can provide any increase in angle gather fidelity relative to the common offset image gathers. The same restrictions with a ray-based approach will apply using the extended imaging condition as both the offset and extended imaging condition method use travel times derived from solutions to an Eikonal equation. The aims are to offer an alternative ray-based method to generate subsurface angle gathers and to understand the impact on the amplitude versus angle response. To this end, the implementation of the space-shift imaging condition is discussed and results of three different data sets are presented. A layered three-dimensional model and a complex two-dimensional model are used to assess the space shift image gathers output from such a migration scheme and to evaluate the seismic attributes relative to the traditional surface offset common image gathers. The synthetic results show that the extended imaging condition clearly provides an uplift in the measured amplitude versus angle over the surface offset migration. The noise profile post-migration is also improved for the space-lag migration due to the double summation inside the migration. Finally, we show an example of a space-lag gather from deep marine data and compare the resultant angle gathers with those generated from an offset migration and a time-shift imaging condition Kirchhoff migration. The comparison of the real data with a well log shows that the space-lag result is a better match to the well compared to the time-lag extended imaging condition and the common offset Kirchhoff migration. Overall, the results from the synthetics and real data show that a Kirchhoff migration with an extended imaging condition is capable of generating subsurface angle gathers with an incremental improvement in amplitude versus angle fidelity and lower noise but comes at a higher computational cost.     

Increasing resolution of reverse‐time migration using time‐shift gathers

Reverse‐time migration has become an industry standard for imaging in complex geological areas. We present an approach for increasing its imaging resolution by employing time‐shift gathers. The method consists of two steps: (i) migrating seismic data with the extended imaging condition to get time‐shift gathers and (ii) accumulating the information from time‐shift gathers after they are transformed to zero‐lag time‐shift by a post‐stack depth migration on a finer grid. The final image is generated on a grid, which is denser than that of the original image, thus improving the resolution of the migrated images. Our method is based on the observation that non‐zero‐lag time‐shift images recorded on the regular computing grid contain the information of zero‐lag time‐shift image on a denser grid, and such information can be continued to zero‐lag time‐shift and refocused at the correct locations on the denser grid. The extra computational cost of the proposed method amounts to the computational cost of zero‐offset migration and is almost negligible compared with the cost of pre‐stack shot‐record reverse‐time migration. Numerical tests on synthetic models demonstrate that the method can effectively improve reverse‐time migration resolution. It can also be regarded as an approach to improve the efficiency of reverse‐time migration by performing wavefield extrapolation on a coarse grid and by generating the final image on the desired fine grid.     

Preserved‐amplitude angle domain migration by shot‐receiver wavefield continuation

We present preserved‐amplitude downward continuation migration formulas in the aperture angle domain. Our approach is based on shot‐receiver wavefield continuation. Since source and receiver points are close to the image point, a local homogeneous reference velocity can be approximated after redatuming. We analyse this approach in the framework of linearized inversion of Kirchhoff and Born approximations. From our analysis, preserved‐amplitude Kirchhoff and Born inverse formulas can be derived for the 2D case. They involve slant stacks of filtered subsurface offset domain common image gathers followed by the application of the appropriate weighting factors. For the numerical implementation of these formulas, we develop an algorithm based on the true amplitude version of the one‐way paraxial approximation. Finally, we demonstrate the relevance of our approach with a set of applications on synthetic datasets and compare our results with those obtained on the Marmousi model by multi‐arrival ray‐based preserved‐amplitude migration. While results are similar, we observe that our results are less affected by artefacts.     

Kirchhoff积分叠前时间偏移全方位角度道集生成方法与实现

方位角度域共成像点道集能够客观反映地下介质的速度、各向异性参数异常以及振幅随角度变化（AVA）和裂缝信息。传统Kirchhoff PSTM通常输出偏移距域共成像点道集,对于速度分析、各向异性分析、AVA分析、裂缝识别等均存在诸多不便。本文提出了基于走时梯度的Kirchhoff叠前时间偏移全方位角度集输出方法并提出工业上切实可行的实现方案。通过走时场梯度计算波场传播方向矢量,形成能够反映观测系统参数和波场传播情况的全方位角度域共成像点道集。为了在大规模地震数据Kirchhoff积分叠前时间偏移中输出全方位角度道集,本文给出基于输入道方式的偏移实现方法,采用逐条inline线进行线偏移成像,从而大大降低了全方位角度道集输出对计算机内存的压力,显著提高了Kirchhoff积分时间偏移输出全方位角度道集的可行性。三维盐丘模型测试和海上某区块三维实际资料试验证明了本文方法的正确性。      

Kirchhoff叠前时间偏移角度道集

提出三维Kirchhoff叠前时间偏移角度域共像点道集的改进算法,克服传统角度求取算法局限,可计算相对倾斜地层法线入射角;与Kirchhoff直射线叠前时间偏移求角度算法相比,本文方法考虑射线弯曲效应,包含层速度,角度范围加大,更接近真实入射角;计算走时采取弯曲射线或者适应线性横向变速介质的非对称走时等算法,角度道集在大角度处得到拉平;采用相对保幅的权因子以及覆盖次数校正技术,有利于叠前AVA反演.模型测试结果表明：叠前时间偏移角度道集,相对CMP、CRP所转化角度道集,更准确反应AVA效应;实际三维数据测试表明本文方法可以提供品质优良的角度道集,适用于AVA分析、反演,提高叠前反演分辨率.     

基于波动方程的广义屏叠前深度偏移

地震波传播算子的计算效率和精度是制约三维叠前深度偏移的关键因素. 广义屏传播算子(GSP, Generalized Screen Propagator)是一种在双域中实现的广角单程波传播算子. 这一方法略去了在非均匀体之间发生的交混回响,但它可以正确处理包括聚焦、衍射、折射和干涉在内的各种多次前向散射现象. 通过背景速度下的相移和扰动速度下的陡倾角校正,广义屏算子能够适应地层速度的强烈横向变化. 这种算子可以直接应用于炮集叠前偏移,通过将广义屏算子作用于双平方根方程,还可以获得一种高效率、高精度的炮检距域叠前深度偏移方法,用于二维共炮检距道集和三维共方位角道集的深度域成像. 本文首先简述了炮检距域广义屏传播算子的理论,进而讨论了共照射角成像(CAI, Common Angle Imaging)条件,由此给出各个不同照射角(炮检距射线参数)下的成像结果,进而得到共照射角像集. 由于照射角和炮检距的对应关系,共照射角像集又为偏移速度分析和AVO(振幅随炮检距变化)分析等提供了有力工具.     

Converted‐wave beam migration with sparse sources or receivers

Gaussian beam depth migration overcomes the single‐wavefront limitation of most implementations of Kirchhoff migration and provides a cost‐effective alternative to full‐wavefield imaging methods such as reverse‐time migration. Common‐offset beam migration was originally derived to exploit symmetries available in marine towed‐streamer acquisition. However, sparse acquisition geometries, such as cross‐spread and ocean bottom, do not easily accommodate requirements for common‐offset, common‐azimuth (or common‐offset‐vector) migration. Seismic data interpolation or regularization can be used to mitigate this problem by forming well‐populated common‐offset‐vector volumes. This procedure is computationally intensive and can, in the case of converted‐wave imaging with sparse receivers, compromise the final image resolution. As an alternative, we introduce a common‐shot (or common‐receiver) beam migration implementation, which allows migration of datasets rich in azimuth, without any regularization pre‐processing required. Using analytic, synthetic, and field data examples, we demonstrate that converted‐wave imaging of ocean‐bottom‐node data benefits from this formulation, particularly in the shallow subsurface where regularization for common‐offset‐vector migration is both necessary and difficult.     

Wide‐azimuth angle gathers for anisotropic wave‐equation migration

Extended common‐image‐point gathers (CIP) constructed by wide‐azimuth TI wave‐equation migration contain all the necessary information for angle decomposition as a function of the reflection and azimuth angles at selected locations in the subsurface. The aperture and azimuth angles are derived from the extended images using analytic relations between the space‐ and time‐lag extensions using information which is already available at the time of migration, i.e. the anisotropic model parameters. CIPs are cheap to compute because they can be distributed in the image at the most relevant positions, as indicated by the geologic structure. If the reflector dip is known at the CIP locations, then the computational cost can be reduced by evaluating only two components of the space‐lag vector. The transformation from extended images to angle gathers is a planar Radon transform which depends on the local medium parameters. This transformation allows us to separate all illumination directions for a given experiment, or between different experiments. We do not need to decompose the reconstructed wavefields or to choose the most energetic directions for decomposition. Applications of the method include illumination studies in complex areas where ray‐based methods fail, and assuming that the subsurface illumination is sufficiently dense, the study of amplitude variation with aperture and azimuth angles.     

Poststack diffraction imaging using reverse‐time migration

We propose a method for imaging small‐scale diffraction objects in complex environments in which Kirchhoff‐based approaches may fail. The proposed method is based on a separation between the specular reflection and diffraction components of the total wavefield in the migrated surface angle domain. Reverse‐time migration was utilized to produce the common image gathers. This approach provides stable and robust results in cases of complex velocity models. The separation is based on the fact that, in surface angle common image gathers, reflection events are focused at positions that correspond to the apparent dip angle of the reflectors, whereas diffracted events are distributed over a wide range of angles. The high‐resolution radon‐based procedure is used to efficiently separate the reflection and diffraction wavefields. In this study, we consider poststack diffraction imaging. The advantages of working in the poststack domain are its numerical efficiency and the reduced computational time. The numerical results show that the proposed method is able to image diffraction objects in complex environments. The application of the method to a real seismic dataset illustrates the capability of the approach to extract diffractions.     

Extended imaging conditions for wave‐equation migration

Wavefield‐based migration velocity analysis using the semblance principle requires computation of images in an extended space in which we can evaluate the imaging consistency as a function of overlapping experiments. Usual industry practice is to assemble those seismic images in common‐image gathers that represent reflectivity as a function of depth and extensions, e.g., reflection angles. We introduce extended common‐image point (CIP) gathers constructed only as a function of the space‐ and time‐lag extensions at sparse and irregularly distributed points in the image. Semblance analysis using CIP's constructed by this procedure is advantageous because we do not need to compute gathers at regular surface locations and we do not need to compute extensions at all depth levels. The CIP's also give us the flexibility to distribute them in the image at irregular locations aligned with the geologic structure. Furthermore, the CIP's remove the depth bias of common‐image gathers constructed as a function of the depth axis. An interpretation of the CIP's using the scattering theory shows that they are scattered wavefields associated with sources and receivers inside the subsurface. Thus, when the surface wavefields are correctly reconstructed, the extended CIP's are characterized by focused energy at the origin of the space‐ and time‐lag axes. Otherwise, the energy defocuses from the origin of the lag axes proportionally with the cumulative velocity error in the overburden. This information can be used for wavefield‐based tomographic updates of the velocity model, and if the velocity used for imaging is correct, the coordinate‐independent CIP's can be a decomposed as a function of the angles of incidence.     

Anisotropy signature in reverse‐time migration extended images

Reverse‐time migration can accurately image complex geologic structures in anisotropic media. Extended images at selected locations in the Earth, i.e., at common‐image‐point gathers, carry rich information to characterize the angle‐dependent illumination and to provide measurements for migration velocity analysis. However, characterizing the anisotropy influence on such extended images is a challenge. Extended common‐image‐point gathers are cheap to evaluate since they sample the image at sparse locations indicated by the presence of strong reflectors. Such gathers are also sensitive to velocity error that manifests itself through moveout as a function of space and time lags. Furthermore, inaccurate anisotropy leaves a distinctive signature in common‐image‐point gathers, which can be used to evaluate anisotropy through techniques similar to the ones used in conventional wavefield tomography. It specifically admits a V‐shaped residual moveout with the slope of the “V” flanks depending on the anisotropic parameter η regardless of the complexity of the velocity model. It reflects the fourth‐order nature of the anisotropy influence on moveout as it manifests itself in this distinct signature in extended images after handling the velocity properly in the imaging process. Synthetic and real data observations support this assertion.     

Wavefield interpolation in 3D large‐step Fourier wavefield extrapolation

Extrapolating wavefields and imaging at each depth during three‐dimensional recursive wave‐equation migration is a time‐consuming endeavor. For efficiency, most commercial techniques extrapolate wavefields through thick slabs followed by wavefield interpolation within each thick slab. In this article, we develop this strategy by associating more efficient interpolators with a Fourier‐transform‐related wavefield extrapolation method. First, we formulate a three‐dimensional first‐order separation‐of‐variables screen propagator for large‐step wavefield extrapolation, which allows for wide‐angle propagations in highly contrasting media. This propagator significantly improves the performance of the split‐step Fourier method in dealing with significant lateral heterogeneities at the cost of only one more fast Fourier transform in each thick slab. We then extend the two‐dimensional Kirchhoff and Born–Kirchhoff local wavefield interpolators to three‐dimensional cases for each slab. The three‐dimensional Kirchhoff interpolator is based on the traditional Kirchhoff formula and applies to moderate lateral velocity variations, whereas the three‐dimensional Born–Kirchhoff interpolator is derived from the Lippmann–Schwinger integral equation under the Born approximation and is adapted to highly laterally varying media. Numerical examples on the three‐dimensional salt model of the Society of Exploration Geophysicists/European Association of Geoscientists demonstrate that three‐dimensional first‐order separation‐of‐variables screen propagator Born–Kirchhoff depth migration using thick‐slab wavefield extrapolation plus thin‐slab interpolation tolerates a considerable depth‐step size of up to 72 ms, eventually resulting in an efficiency improvement of nearly 80% without obvious loss of imaging accuracy. Although the proposed three‐dimensional interpolators are presented with one‐way Fourier extrapolation methods, they can be extended for applications to general migration methods.     

面炮成像、控制照明与AVA道集

基于波场延拓的叠前深度偏移是实现复杂构造地质体成像的最可靠方法,但存在着计算量大、对观测系统适应性差等缺点.面炮偏移是波动方程实现精确叠前成像的另一类方法,具有较高的计算效率,不存在偏移孔径问题,而且可以通过控制照明方法,解决平面波在目标区域的能量补偿问题.本文采用面炮成像技术进行叠前深度偏移,通过对面炮震源下行波场的质量控制和优选射线个数和范围,以达到最佳的成像效果.采用控制照明技术,较大地提高了目标地层的成像精度.与此同时,得到振幅随入射角变化(AVA)道集,有利于叠前振幅解释和储层岩性预测.数据实验表明面炮成像技术是一种快速有效的方法,其成像精度与单平方根算子的共炮点道集偏移和双平方根算子的共中心点道集偏移相当,但在计算速度上要快得多,而且易于并行计算.     

Image‐domain wavefield tomography with extended common‐image‐point gathers

Waveform inversion is a velocity‐model‐building technique based on full waveforms as the input and seismic wavefields as the information carrier. Conventional waveform inversion is implemented in the data domain. However, similar techniques referred to as image‐domain wavefield tomography can be formulated in the image domain and use a seismic image as the input and seismic wavefields as the information carrier. The objective function for the image‐domain approach is designed to optimize the coherency of reflections in extended common‐image gathers. The function applies a penalty operator to the gathers, thus highlighting image inaccuracies arising from the velocity model error. Minimizing the objective function optimizes the model and improves the image quality. The gradient of the objective function is computed using the adjoint state method in a way similar to that in the analogous data‐domain implementation. We propose an image‐domain velocity‐model building method using extended common‐image‐point space‐ and time‐lag gathers constructed sparsely at reflections in the image. The gathers are effective in reconstructing the velocity model in complex geologic environments and can be used as an economical replacement for conventional common‐image gathers in wave‐equation tomography. A test on the Marmousi model illustrates successful updating of the velocity model using common‐image‐point gathers and resulting improved image quality.     

振幅保真的单程波方程偏移理论

本报告综述了近年来发展起来的真振幅单程波方程偏移理论,对各种基于单程波方程的偏移振幅作出了系统的分析介绍.为了得到正确的偏移振幅,叠后偏移之前必须进行球面扩散校正.但是,作为叠后相位移偏移算法的推广,Dubrulle氏的共炮检距偏移除了零炮检距和平层两种特例外,它不能给出正确的偏移振幅.通过分析,我们发现传统的单程波单炮偏移不是保振幅算法.利用真振幅单程波方程分解和校正地表的初值条件,我们可以将常规偏移方法改造为真振幅算法并且证明在高频渐近的意义下,新方法的偏移振幅等价于Kirchhoff反演的结果.进一步研究发现可以利用单平方根算子和双平方根算子输出真振幅共反射角剖面.我们的分析指出,这时正确的成像条件为乘积pUp*D.与真振幅共炮偏移所需的商型成像条件pU/pD相比,共反射角偏移的计算稳定性大为改善并且在实际地震资料处理中有重要的应用.     

The form of the reflection operator and extended image gathers for a dipping plane reflector in two space dimensions

The reflection operator for a simple flat‐lying interface can be thought of as the set of all its plane‐wave reflection coefficients or as the set of virtual surveys with sources and receivers along the interface. When there is dip, however, it is necessary to include the varying effects of propagation between the virtual‐survey level and the interface. Hence, step one in this paper is to derive the reflection operator for a dipping plane interface as observed at a datum level some distance away. The key assumption is that the aperture at the datum level is sufficient to characterize the reflector properties around a particular point. This translates into an assumption that the dip is moderate, though no explicit small‐angle approximation is required. The second step is to find the apparent reflection operator that would relate data that have been extrapolated from the datum towards and possibly beyond the reflector using an assumed migration velocity. This apparent reflection operator is closely related to extended common‐image gathers. The apparent reflection operator may be analysed asymptotically in terms of rays and other signals, shedding light on the structure of extended image gathers. In keeping with the virtual‐survey idea, the results are considered in a subsurface space‐time or slowness‐time domain at various extrapolation levels around the interface. An important distinction is drawn between using subsurface midpoint‐offset coordinates and the wavefield coordinates of the incident and reflected waves. The latter reveal more clearly the effects of dip, because they lead to a more asymmetric apparent reflection operator. Properties such as an up‐dip shift of a traveltime minimum and its associated curvature theoretically provide information about the reflector location and dip and the migration‐velocity error. The space‐time form of the reflection operator can be highly intricate around the offset‐time origin and it was described for a simple flat interface in a background paper. To avoid a layer of mathematics, the reflection‐operator formulas presented here are in the intermediate space‐frequency domain. They are analysed by considering their stationary‐phase and branch‐point high‐frequency contributions. There is no Born‐like assumption of weak reflector contrast and so wide‐angle, total reflection and head‐wave effects are included. Snell’s law is an explicit part of the theory. It is hoped that the work will therefore be a step towards the goal of unifying amplitude‐versus‐offset, imaging and waveform inversion.     

Diffraction imaging by prestack reverse‐time migration in the dip‐angle domain

Prestack image volumes may be decomposed into specular and non‐specular parts by filters defined in the dip‐angle domain. For space‐shift extended image volumes, the dip‐angle decomposition is derived via local Radon transform in depth and midpoint coordinates, followed by an averaging over space‐shifts. We propose to employ prestack space‐shift extended reverse‐time migration and dip‐angle decomposition for imaging small‐scale structural elements, considered as seismic diffractors, in models with arbitrary complexity. A suitable design of a specularity filter in the dip‐angle domain rejects the dominant reflectors and enhances diffractors and other non‐specular image content. The filter exploits a clear discrimination in dip between specular reflections and diffractions. The former are stationary at the specular dip, whereas the latter are non‐stationary without a preferred dip direction. While the filtered image volume features other than the diffractor images (for example, noise and truncation artefacts are also present), synthetic and field data examples suggest that diffractors tend to dominate and are readily recognisable. Averaging over space‐shifts in the filter construction makes the reflectors? rejection robust against migration velocity errors. Another consequence of the space‐shift extension and its angle‐domain transforms is the possibility of exploring the image in a multiple set of common‐image gathers. The filtered diffractions may be analysed simultaneously in space‐shift, scattering‐angle, and dip‐angle image gathers by means of a single migration job. The deliverables of our method obviously enrich the processed material on the interpreter's desk. We expect them to further supplement our understanding of the Earth's interior.     

Parsimonious 3D post-stack Kirchhoff depth migration

Parsimonious post‐stack migration is extended to three dimensions. By tracing single rays back along each incident wave direction (as determined by a local slant stack at the receivers), the ray tracing can be embedded in the migration. This approach significantly reduces the computer time and disk space needed because it is not necessary to build and save image time maps; 3D migration can be performed on a workstation or personal computer rather than using a supercomputer or cluster. The location of a reflector in the output image is defined by tracing a zero‐offset ray to the one‐way traveltime (the image condition); the orientation of the reflector is defined as a surface perpendicular to the raypath. The migration impulse response operator is confined to the first Fresnel zone around the estimated reflection point, which is much smaller than the large isochronic surface in traditional Kirchhoff depth migration. Additional efficiency is obtained by applying an amplitude threshold to reduce the amount of data to be migrated. Tests on synthetic data show that the proposed implementation of parsimonious 3D post‐stack Kirchhoff depth migration is at least two orders of magnitude faster than traditional Kirchhoff migration, at the expense of slightly degraded migration image coherence. The proposed migration is expected to be a useful complement to conventional time migrations for fast initial imaging of subsurface structures and for real‐time imaging of near‐offset sections during data acquisition for quality control.     

Directional‐oriented wavefield imaging: a new wave‐based subsurface illumination imaging condition for reverse time migration

The key objective of an imaging algorithm is to produce accurate and high‐resolution images of the subsurface geology. However, significant wavefield distortions occur due to wave propagation through complex structures and irregular acquisition geometries causing uneven wavefield illumination at the target. Therefore, conventional imaging conditions are unable to correctly compensate for variable illumination effects. We propose a generalised wave‐based imaging condition, which incorporates a weighting function based on energy illumination at each subsurface reflection and azimuth angles. Our proposed imaging kernel, named as the directional‐oriented wavefield imaging, compensates for illumination effects produced by possible surface obstructions during acquisition, sparse geometries employed in the field, and complex velocity models. An integral part of the directional‐oriented wavefield imaging condition is a methodology for applying down‐going/up‐going wavefield decomposition to both source and receiver extrapolated wavefields. This type of wavefield decomposition eliminates low‐frequency artefacts and scattering noise caused by the two‐way wave equation and can facilitate the robust estimation for energy fluxes of wavefields required for the seismic illumination analysis. Then, based on the estimation of the respective wavefield propagation vectors and associated directions, we evaluate the illumination energy for each subsurface location as a function of image depth point and subsurface azimuth and reflection angles. Thus, the final directional‐oriented wavefield imaging kernel is a cross‐correlation of the decomposed source and receiver wavefields weighted by the illuminated energy estimated at each depth location. The application of the directional‐oriented wavefield imaging condition can be employed during the generation of both depth‐stacked images and azimuth–reflection angle‐domain common image gathers. Numerical examples using synthetic and real data demonstrate that the new imaging condition can properly image complex wave paths and produce high‐fidelity depth sections.     

逆时偏移中用Poynting矢量高效地提取角道集

逆时偏移在提高复杂介质的成像质量方面表现出了优越的性能,但逆时偏移对速度精度的要求比较高.共成像点道集是一种非常重要的叠前深度偏移输出,它除了能为深度偏移处理提供速度信息外,还能够提供振幅和相位等信息,为后续的属性解释提供依据.本文提出一种在逆时偏移成像过程中提取角度域共成像点道集的方法,该方法采用矢量波动方程进行波场传播,并用能流密度矢量(Poynting vector)计算反射角,最后应用互相关成像条件输出角度域共成像点道集.该方法简单易于实现,且几乎不需要额外的计算量和存储量,非常适合于进行逆时偏移速度分析,同时提出的角道集也能用于进行AVA等分析.最后通过模型算例和实际数据检验了方法的有效性和优越性.