Sharp and laterally constrained multitrace impedance inversion based on blocky coordinate descent

Seismic impedance inversion is a well-known method used to obtain the image of subsurface geological structures. Utilizing the spatial coherence among seismic traces, the laterally constrained multitrace impedance inversion (LCI) is superior to trace-by-trace inversion and can produce a more realistic image of the subsurface structures. However, when the traces are numerous, it will take great computational cost and a lot of memory to solve the large-scale matrix in the multitrace inversion, which restricts the efficiency and applicability of the existing multitrace inversion algorithm. In addition, the multitrace inversion methods are not only needed to consider the lateral correlation but also should take the constraints in temporal dimension into account. As usual, these vertical constraints represent the stratigraphic characteristics of the reservoir. For instance, total-variation regularization is adopted to obtain the blocky structure. However, it still limits the magnitude of model parameter variation and therefore somewhat distorts the real image. In this paper, we propose two schemes to solve these issues. Firstly, we introduce a fast algorithm called blocky coordinate descent (BCD) to derive a new framework of laterally constrained multitrace impedance inversion. This new BCD-based inversion approach is fast and spends fewer memories. Next, we introduce a minimum gradient support regularization into the BCD-based laterally constrained inversion. This new approach can adapt to sharp layer boundaries and keep the spatial coherence. The feasibility of the proposed method is illustrated by numerical tests for both synthetic data and field seismic data.     

地震勘探中广义弹性阻抗的正反演

常规的地震道反演方法建立在反射P波垂直入射假设 的基础上,而实际地震资料采集时多数是非零炮检距的，反射振幅是共中心点道集叠加的结 果 . 因此，利用常规地震道反演方法就不能得到可靠的波阻抗或其他岩性信息. 本文利用Patr ick Connolly弹性阻抗的思想，通过对Zoeppritz方程的进一步简化，推导出适合常规叠后 资料的、非零炮检距条件下纵波反射系数递推公式，提出了广义弹性阻抗的概念，解决了非 零炮检距条件下，常规叠后地震道正反演的关键问题. 广义弹性阻抗不仅包含波阻抗，还包 含了纵横波速度等岩性信息，具有很好的实用价值. 进行广义弹性阻抗的反演，能较常规地 震道反演获得更多、更可靠的流体、孔隙度、砂泥含量等信息，有助于解释常规地震道反演 和道积分剖面中的假象，降低反演的多解性，提高储层预测的精度.     

基于矩阵Toeplitz稀疏分解的相对波阻抗反演方法

针对利用地震道进行相对波阻抗反演中遇到的横向连续性难以保持、初始子波容错度差以及随机噪声干扰影响反演结果等问题,提出了一种基于矩阵Toeplitz稀疏分解的相对波阻抗反演方法.该方法将地震数据剖面的Toeplitz稀疏分解问题分解为两个子反演问题,其一以Toeplitz子波矩阵元素为待反演的参数,用Fused Lasso方法求解,可保证子波具有紧支集且是光滑的;其二以稀疏反射系数矩阵元素为待反演参数,用基于回溯的快速萎缩阈值迭代算法求解,大大降低了目标函数中参数选择的难度.通过交替迭代求解上述两个子反演问题可将地震数据剖面因式分解为一个Toeplitz子波矩阵和一个稀疏反射系数矩阵;然后由反射系数矩阵递推反演可以得到高分辨率的相对波阻抗剖面;利用测井资料加入低频分量后,也可得到高分辨率的绝对波阻抗剖面.Marmousi2模型生成的合成记录算例和实际地震资料算例均表明:本文方法可以从带限地震数据中有效地反演相对波阻抗,反演结果分辨率高并且能够很好地保持地震数据的横向连续性;即使在初始估计子波存在误差和地震数据被随机噪声污染的情况下也能取得较好的效果.     

基于基追踪弹性阻抗反演的深部储层流体识别方法

深部储层地震资料通常照明度低、信噪比低、分辨率不足,尤其是缺乏大角度入射信息,对深部储层流体识别存在较大影响.Gassmann流体项是储层流体识别的重要参数,针对深层地震资料的特点,本文首先在孔隙介质理论的指导下,推导了基于Gassmann流体项与剪切模量的两项AVO近似方程.通过模型分析,验证了该方程在小角度时与精确Zoeppritz方程误差很小,满足小角度入射条件下的近似精度要求.然后借助Connolly推导弹性阻抗的思想,推导了基于Gassmann流体项与剪切模量的两项弹性阻抗方程.针对深部储层地震资料信噪比差的特点,利用奇偶反射系数分解实现了深部储层基追踪弹性阻抗反演方法,最后提出了基于基追踪弹性阻抗反演的Gassmann流体项与剪切模量的求取方法,并将提取的Gassmann流体项应用于深部储层流体识别.模型测试和实际应用表明该方法稳定有效,具有较好的实用性.     

地震波形反演的稀疏约束正则化方法

本文考虑地震波形反演问题.为了克服传统的Tikhonov正则化方法过度光滑的弊端,引入了非线性稀疏约束正则化方法,并采用对偶方法求解稀疏约束泛函的极小点.基于二维声波方程波形反演问题进行了数值模拟,针对不同模型对稀疏约束正则化方法进行了测试.结果表明,稀疏约束正则化方法对不连续介质模型的介质边缘具有良好的识别能力.     

Modelling of viscoacoustic wave propagation in transversely isotropic media using decoupled fractional Laplacians

A new wave equation is derived for modelling viscoacoustic wave propagation in transversely isotropic media under acoustic transverse isotropy approximation. The formulas expressed by fractional Laplacian operators can well model the constant-Q (i.e. frequency-independent quality factor) attenuation, anisotropic attenuation, decoupled amplitude loss and velocity dispersion behaviours. The proposed viscoacoustic anisotropic equation can keep consistent velocity and attenuation anisotropy effects with that of qP-wave in the constant-Q viscoelastic anisotropic theory. For numerical simulations, the staggered-grid pseudo-spectral method is implemented to solve the velocity–stress formulation of wave equation in the time domain. The constant fractional-order Laplacian approximation method is used to cope with spatial variable-order fractional Laplacians for efficient modelling in heterogeneous velocity and Q media. Simulation results for a homogeneous model show the decoupling of velocity dispersion and amplitude loss effects of the constant-Q equation, and illustrate the influence of anisotropic attenuation on seismic wavefields. The modelling example of a layered model illustrates the accuracy of the constant fractional-order Laplacian approximation method. Finally, the Hess vertical transversely isotropic model is used to validate the applicability of the formulation and algorithm for heterogeneous media.     

子波相位不准对反演结果的影响(英文)

本文重点讨论在振幅谱估计准确的情况下,采用不同相位谱子波作为实际估计子波进行线性最小二乘反演,并对结果进行分析。除子波相位外,所有其它影响反演结果的因素均忽略。稀疏反射系数模型(块状波阻抗模型)反演结果表明:(1)使用不同相位谱子波进行反演,其反演结果合成的记录与原始记录都非常匹配,但反演的反射系数和声波阻抗结果与真实模型有差异;(2)反演结果的可靠程度主要与不同相位子波z变换的根的分布有关,当估计子波与真实子波Z变换的根的分布仅在单位圆附近有差异时,反演的反射系数和声波阻抗与真实模型很接近;(3)尽管反演前后地震记录都匹配了,并且评价反演结果好坏的柯西准则或改进柯西准则(反演参数没有进行自适应处理)已经达到了最优(最小),但反演结果与真实模型仍存在较大差异。最后,针对子波相位估计不准可能导致反演效果较差这个问题,我们提出采用求L1范数、丰度、变分、柯西准则(反演参数进行了自适应处理)或/和改进柯西准则(反演参数进行了自适应处理)的最优值或次优值作为评价准则的一种解决办法,理论上得到了好的效果。     

Accurate estimation of acoustic impedance based on spectral inversion

Acoustic impedance is one of the best attributes for seismic interpretation and reservoir characterisation. We present an approach for estimating acoustic impedance accurately from a band‐limited and noisy seismic data. The approach is composed of two stages: inverting for reflectivity from seismic data and then estimating impedance from the reflectivity inverted in the first stage. For the first stage, we achieve a two‐step spectral inversion that locates the positions of reflection coefficients in the first step and determines the amplitudes of the reflection coefficients in the second step under the constraints of the positions located in the first step. For the second stage, we construct an iterative impedance estimation algorithm based on reflectivity. In each iteration, the iterative impedance estimation algorithm estimates the absolute acoustic impedance based on an initial acoustic impedance model that is given by summing the high‐frequency component of acoustic impedance estimated at the last iteration and a low‐frequency component determined in advance using other data. The known low‐frequency component is used to restrict the acoustic impedance variation tendency in each iteration. Examples using one‐ and two‐dimensional synthetic and field seismic data show that the approach is flexible and superior to the conventional spectral inversion and recursive inversion methods for generating more accurate acoustic impedance models.     

Tomographic joint inversion of first arrivals in a real case fromSaudi Arabia

A joint inversion of both first and refracted arrivals is applied on a seismic line, acquired onshore, in order to obtain a well‐resolved velocity field for the computation of static corrections. The use of different arrivals in the inversion involves exploiting the information derived from the different raypaths associated with each wave type, thus enhancing the reliability of the inversion. The data was gathered by Saudi Aramco in an area of the Arabian Peninsula characterized by strong lateral variations, both in topography and shallow velocity, and where therefore a well‐defined near‐surface velocity field is important. In addition to velocity, the depth distribution of the quality factor Q is computed from the tomographic inversion of the seismic‐signal frequency shift. Thus, the Q‐factor field is used to perform an inverse Q‐data filtering and improve the resolution of the final stacked section.     

Frequency‐domain waveform modelling and inversion for coupled media using a symmetric impedance matrix

To simulate the seismic signals that are obtained in a marine environment, a coupled system of both acoustic and elastic wave equations is solved. The acoustic wave equation for the fluid region simulates the pressure field while minimizing the number of degrees of freedom of the impedance matrix, and the elastic wave equation for the solid region simulates several elastic events, such as shear waves and surface waves. Moreover, by combining this coupled approach with the waveform inversion technique, the elastic properties of the earth can be inverted using the pressure data obtained from the acoustic region. However, in contrast to the pure acoustic and elastic cases, the complex impedance matrix for the coupled media does not have a symmetric form because of the boundary (continuity) condition at the interface between the acoustic and elastic elements. In this study, we propose a manipulation scheme that makes the complex impedance matrix for acoustic–elastic coupled media to take a symmetric form. Using the proposed symmetric matrix, forward and backward wavefields are identical to those generated by the conventional approach; thus, we do not lose any accuracy in the waveform inversion results. However, to solve the modified symmetric matrix, LDLT factorization is used instead of LU factorization for a matrix of the same size; this method can mitigate issues related to severe memory insufficiency and long computation times, particularly for large‐scale problems.     

Multi-trace basis-pursuit seismic inversion for resolution enhancement

Seismic inversion is an important tool that transfers interface information of seismic data to formation information, which renders the seismic data easily understood by geologists or petroleum engineers. In this study, a novel multi-trace basis-pursuit inversion method based on the Bayesian theory is proposed to enhance the vertical resolution and overcome the lateral instability of inversion results between different traces occasionally seen in the traditional trace-by-trace basis-pursuit inversion method. The Markov process is initially introduced to describe the relationship between adjacent seismic traces and their correlation, which we then close couple in the equation of our new inversion method. A recursive function is further derived to simplify the inversion process by considering the particularity of the coefficient matrix in the multi-trace inversion equation. A series of numerical-analysis and field data examples demonstrates that both the traditional and the new methods for P-wave impedance inversion are helpful in enhancing the resolution of thin beds that are usually difficult to discern from original seismic profiles, thus highlighting the importance of acoustic-impedance inversion for thin bed interpretation. Furthermore, in addition to yielding thin bed inversion results with enhanced lateral continuity and high vertical resolution, our proposed method is robust to noise and cannot be easily contaminated by it, which we verify using both synthetic and field data.     

MULTI-OFFSET ACOUSTIC INVERSION OF A LATERALLY INVARIANT MEDIUM: APPLICATION TO REAL DATA1

The aim of seismic inversion methods is to obtain quantitative information on the subsurface properties from seismic measurements. However, the potential accuracy of such methods depends strongly on the physical correctness of the mathematical equations used to model the propagation of the seismic waves. In general, the most accurate models involve the full non-linear acoustic or elastic wave equations. Inversion algorithms based on these equations are very CPU intensive. The application of such an algorithm on a real marine CMP gather is demonstrated. The earth model is assumed to be laterally invariant and only acoustic wave phenomena are modelled. A complete acoustic earth model (P-wave velocity and reflectivity as functions of vertical traveltime) is estimated. The inversion algorithm assumes that the seismic waves propagate in 2D. Therefore, an exact method for transforming the real data from 3D to 2D is derived and applied to the data. The time function of the source is estimated from a vertical far-field signature and its applicability is demonstrated by comparing synthetic and real water-bottom reflections. The source scaling factor is chosen such that the false reflection coefficient due to the first water-bottom multiple disappears from the inversion result. In order to speed up the convergence of the algorithm, the following inversion strategy is adopted: an initial smooth velocity model (macromodel) is obtained by applying Dix's equation to the result of a classical velocity analysis, followed by a smoothing operation. The initial reflectivity model is then computed using Gardner's empirical relationship between densities and velocities. In a first inversion step, reflectivity is estimated from small-offset data, keeping the velocity model fixed. In a second step, the initial smooth velocity model, and possibly the reflectivity model, is refined by using larger-offset data. This strategy is very efficient. In the first step, only ten iterations with a quasi-Newton algorithm are necessary in order to obtain an excellent convergence. The data window was 0–2.8 s, the maximum offset was 250 m, and the residual energy after the first inversion step was only 5% of the energy of the observed data. When the earth model estimated in the first inversion step is used to model data at moderate offsets (900 m, time window 0.0–1.1 s), the data fit is very good. In the second step, only a small improvement in the data fit could be obtained, and the convergence was slow. This is probably due to the strong non-linearity of the inversion problem with respect to the velocity model. Nevertheless, the final residual energy for the moderate offsets was only 11%. The estimated model was compared to sonic and density logs obtained from a nearby well. The comparison indicated that the present algorithm can be used to estimate normal incidence reflectivity from real data with good accuracy, provided that absorption phenomena play a minor role in the depth interval considered. If details in the velocity model are required, large offsets and an elastic inversion algorithm should be used.     

各向异性介质中的弹性阻抗及其反演

地震反演已成为油藏描述中的重要组成部分.绝大多数的常规地震反演是叠后地震数据体上进行,很少考虑各向异性存在的情况.随着勘探开发的发展,地震各向异性和叠前地震波阻抗反演引起了人们极大关注.本文在各向同性介质中弹性阻抗研究基础上,推导出了各向异性介质中的弹性阻抗方程,提出了地震各向异性介质中用弹性阻抗进行储层参数描述的技术路线和框架,并对反演过程中存在的问题进行了有益探讨.     

Direct inversion for a fluid factor and its application in heterogeneous reservoirs

Prestack seismic inversion plays an important role in estimating elastic parameters that are sensitive to reservoirs and fluid underground. In this paper, a simultaneous inversion method named FMR‐AVA (Fluid Factor, Mu (Shear modulus), Rho (Density)‐Amplitude Variation with Angle) is proposed based on partial angle stack seismic gathers. This method can be used for direct inversion for the fluid factor, shear modulus and density of heterogeneous reservoirs. Firstly, an FMR approximation equation of a reflection coefficient is derived based on poroelasticity with P‐ and S‐wave moduli. Secondly, a stable simultaneous AVA inversion approach is presented in a Bayesian scheme. This approach has little dependence on initial models. Furthermore, it can be applied in heterogeneous reservoirs whose initial models for inversion are not easy to establish. Finally, a model test shows the superiority of this FMR‐AVA inversion method in stability and independence of initial models. We obtain a reasonable fluid factor, shear modulus and density even with smooth initial models and moderate Gaussian noise. A real data case example shows that the inverted fluid factor, shear modulus and density fit nicely with well log interpretation results, which verifies the effectiveness of the proposed method.     

Elastic‐impedance analysis constrained by rock‐physics bounds†

By applying seismic inversion, we can derive rock impedance from seismic data. Since it is an interval property, impedance is valuable for reservoir characterization. Furthermore, the decomposition of the impedance into two fundamental properties, i.e. velocity and density, provides a link to the currently available rock‐physics applications to derive quantitative reservoir properties. However, the decomposition is a challenging task due to the strong influence of noise, especially for seismic data with a maximum offset angle of less than 30°. We present a method of impedance decomposition using three elastic impedance data derived from the seismic inversion of angle stacks, where the far‐stack angle is 23.5°. We discuss the effect of noise on the analysis as being the most significant cause of making the decomposition difficult. As the result, the offset‐consistent component of noise mostly affects the determination of density but not the velocities (P‐ and S‐wave), whereas the effect of the random component of noise occurs equally in the determination of the velocities and density. The effect is controlled by the noise enhancement factor 1/A, which is determined by a combination of stack angles. Based on the results of the analysis, we show an innovative method of decomposition incorporating rock‐physics bounds as constraints for the analysis. The method is applied to an actual data set from an offshore oilfield; we demonstrate the result of analysis for sandbody detection.     

VTI介质中的弹性阻抗与参数提取

弹性阻抗是波阻抗的扩展,可以更好的反映储层和流体性质.常规弹性阻抗方程忽略了各向异性的影响,不能正确地描述各向异性介质中弹性阻抗的性质.本文基于Ruger给出的VTI介质反射系数近似公式,结合Connolly推导弹性阻抗的思想,推导出了一种VTI介质中的弹性阻抗方程.通过引入归一化常数,对方程进行了标准化,消除了方程量纲随角度变化而变化的不足.结合常规弹性阻抗反演的流程,得出了VTI介质中弹性阻抗反演的流程.最后,开展了从VTI介质弹性阻抗数据体中提取岩石物性参数的方法研究.数值测试表明,所讨论的参数提取方法具有一定的理论和应用价值.     

基于叠前地震纵横波模量直接反演的流体检测方法

流体因子是储层流体识别的重要方法,而叠前地震反演是获得流体因子的有效途径之一.本文从流体因子的构建出发,基于多孔弹性介质岩石物理模型,建立了流体因子与纵横波模量之间的直接关系,避免了流体因子计算所需的密度参数无法准确求取的问题,通过推导基于纵横波模量的Zeoppritz近似方程及弹性阻抗方程,探讨了基于弹性阻抗的纵横波模量直接反演方法,模型与实际应用表明,基于弹性阻抗的纵横波模量直接反演方法合理、可靠,减少了常规方法间接计算纵横波模量带来的累积误差,基于纵横波模量的流体因子计算方法有较好的实际应用效果.     

The use of low frequencies in a full‐waveform inversion and impedance inversion land seismic case study

Velocity model building and impedance inversion generally suffer from a lack of intermediate wavenumber content in seismic data. Intermediate wavenumbers may be retrieved directly from seismic data sets if enough low frequencies are recorded. Over the past years, improvements in acquisition have allowed us to obtain seismic data with a broader frequency spectrum. To illustrate the benefits of broadband acquisition, notably the recording of low frequencies, we discuss the inversion of land seismic data acquired in Inner Mongolia, China. This data set contains frequencies from 1.5–80 Hz. We show that the velocity estimate based on an acoustic full‐waveform inversion approach is superior to one obtained from reflection traveltime inversion because after full‐waveform inversion the background velocity conforms to geology. We also illustrate the added value of low frequencies in an impedance estimate.     

Joint viscoacoustic waveform inversion with the separated upgoing and downgoing wavefields in zero-offset vertical seismic profile data

The attenuation of seismic waves propagating in reservoirs can be obtained accurately from the data analysis of vertical seismic profile in terms of the quality-factor Q. The common methods usually use the downgoing wavefields in vertical seismic profile data. However, the downgoing wavefields consist of more than 90% energy of the spectrum of the vertical seismic profile data, making it difficult to estimate the viscoacoustic parameters accurately. Thus, a joint viscoacoustic waveform inversion of velocity and quality-factor is proposed based on the multi-objective functions and analysis of the difference between the results inverted from the separated upgoing and downgoing wavefields. A simple separating step is accomplished by the reflectivity method to obtain the individual wavefields in vertical seismic profile data, and then a joint inversion is carried out to make full use of the information of the individual wavefields and improve the convergence of viscoacoustic full-waveform inversion. The sensitivity analysis of the different wavefields to the velocity and quality-factor shows that the upgoing and downgoing wavefields contribute differently to the viscoacoustic parameters. A numerical example validates our method can improve the accuracy of viscoacoustic parameters compared with the direct inversion using full wavefield and the separate inversion using upgoing or downgoing wavefield. The application on real field data indicates our method can recover a reliable viscoacoustic model, which helps reservoir appraisal.     

Three‐term inversion of prestack seismic data using a weighted l2, 1 mixed norm

We present a new inversion method to estimate, from prestack seismic data, blocky P‐ and S‐wave velocity and density images and the associated sparse reflectivity levels. The method uses the three‐term Aki and Richards approximation to linearise the seismic inversion problem. To this end, we adopt a weighted mixed l_{2, 1}‐norm that promotes structured forms of sparsity, thus leading to blocky solutions in time. In addition, our algorithm incorporates a covariance or scale matrix to simultaneously constrain P‐ and S‐wave velocities and density. This a priori information is obtained by nearby well‐log data. We also include a term containing a low‐frequency background model. The l_{2, 1} mixed norm leads to a convex objective function that can be minimised using proximal algorithms. In particular, we use the fast iterative shrinkage‐thresholding algorithm. A key advantage of this algorithm is that it only requires matrix–vector multiplications and no direct matrix inversion. The latter makes our algorithm numerically stable, easy to apply, and economical in terms of computational cost. Tests on synthetic and field data show that the proposed method, contrarily to conventional l₂‐ or l₁‐norm regularised solutions, is able to provide consistent blocky and/or sparse estimators of P‐ and S‐wave velocities and density from a noisy and limited number of observations.