Seismic modeling with an optimal staggered-grid finite-difference scheme based on combining Taylor-series expansion and minimax approximation

Staggered-grid finite-difference (SGFD) schemes have been used widely in seismic modeling. The spatial difference coefficients of the SGFD scheme are generally determined by a Taylor-series expansion (TE) method or optimization methods. However, high accuracy is hardly guaranteed both at small and large wavenumbers by using these conventional methods. We propose a new optimal SGFD scheme based on combining TE and minimax approximation (MA) for high accuracy modeling. The optimal spatial SGFD coefficients are calculated by applying a combination of TE and MA to the dispersion relation, where the implementation of the MA method is based on a Remez algorithm. We adopt the optimal SGFD coefficients to solve first-order spatial derivatives of the elastic wave equations and then perform numerical modeling. Dispersion analyses and seismic modeling show the advantage of the proposed optimal method. The optimal SGFD scheme has greater accuracy than the TE-based SGFD scheme for the same spatial difference operator length. In addition, the optimal SGFD scheme can also adopt a shorter operator length to achieve the high accuracy reducing the computational cost.