Anisotropic reverse-time migration for tilted TI media

Seismic anisotropy in dipping shales results in imaging and positioning problems for underlying structures. We develop an anisotropic reverse‐time depth migration approach for P‐wave and SV‐wave seismic data in transversely isotropic (TI) media with a tilted axis of symmetry normal to bedding. Based on an accurate phase velocity formula and dispersion relationships for weak anisotropy, we derive the wave equation for P‐wave and SV‐wave propagation in tilted transversely isotropic (TTI) media. The accuracy of the P‐wave equation and the SV‐wave equation is analyzed and compared with other acoustic wave equations for TTI media. Using this analysis and the pseudo‐spectral method, we apply reverse‐time migration to numerical and physical‐model data. According to the comparison between the isotropic and anisotropic migration results, the anisotropic reverse‐time depth migration offers significant improvements in positioning and reflector continuity over those obtained using isotropic algorithms.     

各向异性介质qP波传播描述I：伪纯模式波动方程

地球介质相对于地震波波长尺度的定向非均匀性会导致波速的各向异性,进而影响地震波场的运动学与动力学特征．各向异性弹性波动方程是描述该类介质波场传播的基本工具,在正演模拟、偏移成像与参数反演中起着关键作用．为了面向实际应用构建灵活、简便的各向异性波场传播算子,人们一直在寻求简化的各向异性波动方程．本文借鉴各向异性弹性波波型分离思想,通过对平面波形式的弹性波方程(即Christoffel方程)实施一种代表向波矢量方向投影的相似变换,推导出了一种适应任意各向异性介质、运动学上与原始弹性波方程完全等价,在动力学上突出qP波的新方程,即qP波伪纯模式波动方程．文中以横向各向同性(TI)介质为例,给出了相应的qP波伪纯模式波动方程及其声学与各向同性近似,并在此基础上开展了正演模拟和逆时偏移试验,展示了这种描述各向异性波场传播的新方程的特点与优势．     

3D P‐wave traveltime computation in transversely isotropic media using layer‐by‐layer wavefront marching

Subsurface rocks (e.g. shale) may induce seismic anisotropy, such as transverse isotropy. Traveltime computation is an essential component of depth imaging and tomography in transversely isotropic media. It is natural to compute the traveltime using the wavefront marching method. However, tracking the 3D wavefront is expensive, especially in anisotropic media. Besides, the wavefront marching method usually computes the traveltime using the eikonal equation. However, the anisotropic eikonal equation is highly non‐linear and it is challenging to solve. To address these issues, we present a layer‐by‐layer wavefront marching method to compute the P‐wave traveltime in 3D transversely isotropic media. To simplify the wavefront tracking, it uses the traveltime of the previous depth as the boundary condition to compute that of the next depth based on the wavefront marching. A strategy of traveltime computation is designed to guarantee the causality of wave propagation. To avoid solving the non‐linear eikonal equation, it updates traveltime along the expanding wavefront by Fermat's principle. To compute the traveltime using Fermat's principle, an approximate group velocity with high accuracy in transversely isotropic media is adopted to describe the ray propagation. Numerical examples on 3D vertical transverse isotropy and tilted transverse isotropy models show that the proposed method computes the traveltime with high accuracy. It can find applications in modelling and depth migration.     

VTI介质纯P波混合法正演模拟及稳定性分析

各向异性介质纯P波方程完全不受横波的干扰,在一定程度上可以减缓由于介质各向异性引起的数值不稳定,本文推导了具有垂直对称轴的横向各向同性(VTI)介质纯P波一阶速度-应力方程.由于纯P波方程存在一个分数形式的伪微分算子,无法直接采用有限差分法求解.针对该问题,本文采用伪谱法和高阶有限差分法联合求解波动方程,重点分析了混合法求解纯P波一阶速度-应力方程的稳定性问题,并给出了混合法求解纯P波方程的稳定性条件.数值模拟结果表明纯P波方程伪谱法和高阶有限差分混合法能够进行复杂介质的正演模拟,在强变速度、变密度的地球介质中仍然具有较好的稳定性.     

DEPTH IMAGING OF OFFSET VERTICAL SEISMIC PROFILE DATA1

Depth migration consists of two different steps: wavefield extrapolation and imaging. The wave propagation is firmly founded on a mathematical frame-work, and is simulated by solving different types of wave equations, dependent on the physical model under investigation. In contrast, the imaging part of migration is usually based on ad hoc‘principles’, rather than on a physical model with an associated mathematical expression. The imaging is usually performed using the U/D concept of Claerbout (1971), which states that reflectors exist at points in the subsurface where the first arrival of the downgoing wave is time-coincident with the upgoing wave. Inversion can, as with migration, be divided into the two steps of wavefield extrapolation and imaging. In contrast to the imaging principle in migration, imaging in inversion follows from the mathematical formulation of the problem. The image with respect to the bulk modulus (or velocity) perturbations is proportional to the correlation between the time derivatives of a forward-propagated field and a backward-propagated residual field (Lailly 1984; Tarantola 1984). We assume a physical model in which the wave propagation is governed by the 2D acoustic wave equation. The wave equation is solved numerically using an efficient finite-difference scheme, making simulations in realistically sized models feasible. The two imaging concepts of migration and inversion are tested and compared in depth imaging from a synthetic offset vertical seismic profile section. In order to test the velocity sensitivity of the algorithms, two erroneous input velocity models are tested. We find that the algorithm founded on inverse theory is less sensitive to velocity errors than depth migration using the more ad hoc U/D imaging principle.     

Kirchhoff prestack depth migration in 3-D simple models: comparison of triclinic anisotropy with simpler anisotropies

We use Kirchhoff prestack depth migration to calculate migrated sections in 3-D simple anisotropic homogeneous velocity models in order to demonstrate the impact of anisotropy on migrated images. The recorded wave field is generated in models composed of two homogeneous layers separated by one either non-inclined or inclined curved interface. The anisotropy in the upper layer is triclinic. We apply Kirchhoff prestack depth migration to velocity models with different types of anisotropy: a triclinic anisotropic medium, an isotropic medium, transversely isotropic media with a horizontal (HTI) and vertical (VTI) symmetry axis. We observe asymmetry in migration caused by triclinic anisotropy and we show the errors of the migrated interface caused by inaccurate velocity models used for migration. The study is limited to P-waves.     

Estimating azimuthal stress‐induced P‐wave anisotropy from S‐wave anisotropy using sonic log or vertical seismic profile data

Most sedimentary rocks are anisotropic, yet it is often difficult to accurately incorporate anisotropy into seismic workflows because analysis of anisotropy requires knowledge of a number of parameters that are difficult to estimate from standard seismic data. In this study, we provide a methodology to infer azimuthal P‐wave anisotropy from S‐wave anisotropy calculated from log or vertical seismic profile data. This methodology involves a number of steps. First, we compute the azimuthal P‐wave anisotropy in the dry medium as a function of the azimuthal S‐wave anisotropy using a rock physics model, which accounts for the stress dependency of seismic wave velocities in dry isotropic elastic media subjected to triaxial compression. Once the P‐wave anisotropy in the dry medium is known, we use the anisotropic Gassmann equations to estimate the anisotropy of the saturated medium. We test this workflow on the log data acquired in the North West Shelf of Australia, where azimuthal anisotropy is likely caused by large differences between minimum and maximum horizontal stresses. The obtained results are compared to azimuthal P‐wave anisotropy obtained via orthorhombic tomography in the same area. In the clean sandstone layers, anisotropy parameters obtained by both methods are fairly consistent. In the shale and shaly sandstone layers, however, there is a significant discrepancy between results since the stress‐induced anisotropy model we use is not applicable to rocks exhibiting intrinsic anisotropy. This methodology could be useful for building the initial anisotropic velocity model for imaging, which is to be refined through migration velocity analysis.     

带正则化校正的TTI介质qP波方程及其逆时偏移方法和应用

各向异性研究对地下介质精确成像有着重要的意义,在当前计算机硬件迅速发展及宽方位地震数据采集日益普遍的情况下,成像必须考虑介质的各向异性.逆时偏移是基于双程波动方程的较为精确的数值解的成像方法,所以相对于其他地震成像方法,它具有很大的优势,譬如不受反射界面的倾角限制、偏移速度结构合适时能够使回转波及多次波正确成像.在各向同性介质中,可使用标量波方程来模拟波场.而在各向异性介质中,P波和SV波是相互耦合的,即不存在单纯的标量波传播,通常利用能代表耦合波场中P波分量运动学特征的拟声波(qP波)进行偏移成像.本文中,我们推导出了TTI介质下qP波控制方程.该方程可采用显式有限差分格式进行求解.通过声学近似,若沿对称轴方向的剪切波速度为零,对于对称轴方向不变且ε≥δ的模型来说,可得到稳定的数值解.但对于TTI介质来说,由于沿对称轴方向各向异性参数是变化的,声学近似会引起波场传播及数值计算的不稳定.因此,我们提出了正则化有限横波的方法,很好地解决了这一问题.最后,给出了Foothill模型的测试结果及某探区实际资料试算结果,展示了采用这个方程进行复杂TTI模型正演和高质量逆时偏移成像结果,证实了该方法的正确性和实际资料应用中的有效性.     

求解二次方程的二维VTI介质qSV波和qSH波走时快速扫描算法

地震波走时计算在观测系统设计、偏移成像、速度模型走时反演和地震定位等方面起到重要作用.各向异性广泛存在于地球介质中,影响地震波传播的振幅和走时,忽略各向异性的影响将对成像、反演以及地震定位等造成一定的误差.因此对于高分辨率成像和反演,走时计算中考虑各向异性十分重要.快速扫描法不需要存储和追踪波前面信息,在各向异性初至波走时计算方面应用广泛.传统的方法通过将慢度四次方程转换为走时四次方程并结合快速扫描法求解走时.该方法没有对程函方程做近似,适用于强各向异性介质,但存在计算效率低的问题.对于求解qSV波走时,本文发展了一种在局部解中将慢度四次方程简化为二次方程解析地快速求解走时的方法,极大地提高了计算效率.对于qSH波,慢度方程是二次的,可以直接解析求解.最后,本文用各向异性均匀模型和BP复杂模型进行测试,计算结果表明走时计算准确,验证了该方法的有效性.

     

基于小振幅波方程的起伏海面构建及其对地震波场传播特性的影响

海面起伏状态对波场传播以及模型空间成像有着非常重要的影响, 在常规海洋地震数据采集和处理中, 都是将海面作为水平界面处理, 实际海洋地震数据采集中, 由于海水受风浪、洋流等的影响, 海面呈现高低起伏状态, 这样来自底层反射界面的反射波经过海水起伏界面反射后会引起波场的强烈散射, 从而造成地震记录反射波同相轴抖动和畸变, 最终影响成像效果.为了更加深入了解起伏海面存在对波场传播以及偏移成像的影响, 本文首先基于流体力学小振幅波方程, 从边界条件出发, 给出包含海浪谱信息的动态边界条件, 并在此基础上构建起伏海面速度模型; 然后在构建的起伏海面速度模型上通过冻结不同时刻海面开展波场传播特征分析, 研究起伏海面在不同冻结时刻下波场传播规律以及对反射地震记录和偏移成像的影响.研究结果表明, 不管是对于简单的层状介质模型还是海底较为复杂的大水深模型, 海面不同形态的起伏变化直接影响着波场记录以及波场快照形态, 同时会对偏移成像结果造成较大影响, 随着海水深度的增加, 该影响对于简单模型影响逐渐变小, 但对于复杂模型, 影响依然很严重.

     

基于波场垂向和水平方向外推的高陡构造偏移

常规的单程波波动方程偏移成像方法对大角度的高陡构造偏移成像存在内在的限制.根据波动方程在各个空间方向的数学特性和高陡构造反射地震波的传播特征,通过把地震波分解为垂向的上下行波、水平方向的前后行波和左右行波,提出基于波场垂向外推和水平方向外推相结合的单程波波动方程高陡构造偏移成像方法,即用波场垂向外推的单程波波动方程偏移成像方法解决中低角度平缓构造的偏移成像,用波场水平方向外推的单程波波动方程偏移成像方法解决中高角度陡倾构造的偏移成像.这种基于波场垂向和水平方向外推相结合的高陡构造偏移成像方法是常规单程波波动方程叠前深度偏移成像方法的补充和改进,它相对基于全波方程的逆时偏移具有计算效率上的优势.     

Pure P- and S-wave equations in transversely isotropic media

Pure-mode wave propagation is important for applications ranging from imaging to avoiding parameter tradeoff in waveform inversion. Although seismic anisotropy is an elastic phenomenon, pseudo-acoustic approximations are routinely used to avoid the high computational cost and difficulty in decoupling wave modes to obtain interpretable seismic images. However, such approximations may result in inaccuracies in characterizing anisotropic wave propagation. We propose new pure-mode equations for P- and S-waves resulting in an artefact-free solution in transversely isotropic medium with a vertical symmetry axis. Our approximations are more accurate than other known approximations as they are not based on weak anisotropy assumptions. Therefore, the S-wave approximation can reproduce the group velocity triplications in strongly anisotropic media. The proposed approximations can be used for accurate modelling and imaging of pure P- and S-waves in transversely isotropic media.     

近似常Q模型的黏声各向异性纯qP波逆时偏移

地下介质中普遍存在各向异性及黏滞性, 各向异性会使地震波走时发生变化, 黏滞性会使地震波发生振幅衰减和相位畸变.在进行地震资料偏移成像时, 忽略介质各向异性及黏滞性的影响会导致绕射波不收敛、构造位置不准确, 能量不均衡, 偏移剖面频带变窄等问题, 大幅降低偏移剖面质量.本文基于TI介质纯qP波动方程, 结合常Q模型的松弛函数, 推导出新的黏声各向异性纯qP波动方程.在该方程中, 振幅衰减项与相位频散项是解耦的, 因此利用该方程进行成像时, 可通过改变振幅衰减项的符号进行衰减补偿.多个数值算例结果表明文中所提出的方程可以正确描述地震波在各向异性衰减介质中的传播特征, 应用本文方程进行成像时能够有效校正各向异性及黏滞性对偏移剖面的影响, 提高成像剖面的分辨率及精度.

     

TI介质偏移速度建模研究

经过多年的研究发展,各向异性叠前深度偏移算法已经趋于完善.然而,在地震资料处理过程中导致成像结果不理想的主要原因还是由于建立的地层参数场不够精确.当地层参数接近其真实值时,基于波动方程的剩余曲率建模方法由于不受构造的影响,能够在各向异性和横向变速介质中进行速度分析,所以得到了广泛的研究.本文从偏移结果中抽取共成像道集,然后通过交互运用叠前深度偏移和参数更新实现各向异性偏移速度建模.对理论模型和实际资料进行的试算表明,该方法具有较强的适应性,能极大改善VTI介质反射界面成像效果和分辨率.     

Velocity anisotropy characteristics and pre-stack time migration imaging of the marine sedimentary strata in the South Yellow Sea Basin

The South Yellow Sea is a superimposed basin overlying Mesozoic-Cenozoic continental sediments, which in turn overlie Paleozoic-Mesozoic marine deposits that are now the target of hydrocarbon exploration. Strongly modified by multiple tectonic events, the marine sediments feature a large tectonic relief, with obvious horizontal anisotropy in seismic velocity, which significantly affects the seismic image quality. In this study, the sedimentary velocity anisotropy and its influence on image quality were analyzed using an analytical theory method, assuming transversely isotropic medium with vertical axis of symmetry (VTI), and using seismic and well-log data. Additionally, an anisotropic prestack time migration was used for the imaging of the field data. The results showed that the anisotropic pre-stack time migration processing could be used to significantly improve the accuracy of the seismic images in areas with distinct faults, offering clear images of accurately located fault planes and fault edges, thereby improving the lateral resolution of the seismic data and its signal-to-noise ratio.     

Simulation of improved pure P-wave equation in transversely isotropic media with a horizontal symmetry axis

Characterizing the expressions of seismic waves in elastic anisotropic media depends on multiparameters. To reduce the complexity, decomposing the P-mode wave from elastic seismic data is an effective way to describe the considerably accurate kinematics with fewer parameters. The acoustic approximation for transversely isotropic media is widely used to obtain P-mode wave by setting the axial S-wave phase velocity to zero. However, the separated pure P-wave of this approach is coupled with undesired S-wave in anisotropic media called S-wave artefacts. To eliminate the S-wave artefacts in acoustic waves for anisotropic media, we set the vertical S-wave phase velocity as a function related to propagation directions. Then, we derive a pure P-wave equation in transversely isotropic media with a horizontal symmetry axis by introducing the expression of vertical S-wave phase velocity. The differential form of new expression for pure P-wave is reduced to second-order by inserting the expression of S-wave phase velocity as an auxiliary operator. The results of numerical simulation examples by finite difference illustrate the stability and accuracy of the derived pure P-wave equation.     

Anisotropic migration velocity analysis: Application to a data set from West Africa

Although it is widely recognized that anisotropy can have a significant influence on the focusing and positioning of migrated reflection events, conventional depth imaging methods still operate with isotropic velocity fields. Here, we present an application of a 2D migration velocity analysis (MVA) algorithm, designed for factorized v(x, z) VTI (transversely isotropic with a vertical symmetry axis) media, to an offshore data set from West Africa. By approximating the subsurface with factorized VTI blocks, it is possible to decouple the spatial variations in the vertical velocity from the anisotropic parameters with minimal a priori information. Since our method accounts for lateral velocity variation, it produces more accurate estimates of the anisotropic parameters than those previously obtained with time‐domain techniques. The values of the anellipticity parameter η found for the massive shales exceed 0.2, which confirms that ignoring anisotropy in the study area can lead to substantial imaging distortions, such as mis‐stacking and mispositioning of dipping events. While some of these distortions can be removed by using anisotropic time processing, further marked improvement in image quality is achieved by prestack depth migration with the estimated factorized VTI model. In particular, many fault planes, including antithetic faults in the shallow part of the section, are better focused by the anisotropic depth‐migration algorithm and appear more continuous. Anisotropic depth migration facilitates structural interpretation by eliminating false dips at the bottom of the section and improving the images of a number of gently dipping features. One of the main difficulties in anisotropic MVA is the need to use a priori information for constraining the vertical velocity. In this case study, we successfully reconstructed the time–depth curve from reflection data by assuming that the vertical velocity is a continuous function of depth and estimating the vertical and lateral velocity gradients in each factorized block. If the subsurface contains strong boundaries with jumps in velocity, knowledge of the vertical velocity at a single point in a layer is sufficient for our algorithm to determine all relevant layer parameters.     

轴对称各向异性介质波动方程深度偏移的对称非平稳相移方法

由所建立的三维qP波相速度表示式出发,导出并解析求解各向异性介质中的频散方程,得到三维各向异性介质中的相移算子,进而将以相移算子为基础的对称非平稳相移方法推广到各向异性介质,发展了一个三维各向异性介质的深度偏移方法. 文中使用的各向异性介质的速度模型与现行的各向异性构造的速度估计方法一致,将各向同性、弱各向异性及强各向异性统一在一个模型中. 所建立的各向异性介质对称非平稳相移波场延拓算子可以同时适应速度及各向异性参数横向变化;文中给出的算例虽然是针对二维VTI介质的,但所提出的算法同样适用于三维TI介质.     

Pure acoustic wave propagation in transversely isotropic media by the pseudospectral method

Seismic wave propagation in transversely isotropic (TI) media is commonly described by a set of coupled partial differential equations, derived from the acoustic approximation. These equations produce pure P‐wave responses in elliptically anisotropic media but generate undesired shear‐wave components for more general TI anisotropy. Furthermore, these equations suffer from instabilities when the anisotropy parameter ε is less than δ. One solution to both problems is to use pure acoustic anisotropic wave equations, which can produce pure P‐waves without any shear‐wave contaminations in both elliptical and anelliptical TI media. In this paper, we propose a new pure acoustic transversely isotropic wave equation, which can be conveniently solved using the pseudospectral method. Like most other pure acoustic anisotropic wave equations, our equation involves complicated pseudo‐differential operators in space which are difficult to handle using the finite difference method. The advantage of our equation is that all of its model parameters are separable from the spatial differential and pseudo‐differential operators; therefore, the pseudospectral method can be directly applied. We use phase velocity analysis to show that our equation, expressed in a summation form, can be properly truncated to achieve the desired accuracy according to anisotropy strength. This flexibility allows us to save computational time by choosing the right number of summation terms for a given model. We use numerical examples to demonstrate that this new pure acoustic wave equation can produce highly accurate results, completely free from shear‐wave artefacts. This equation can be straightforwardly generalized to tilted TI media.