The offset‐midpoint travel‐time pyramid for P‐wave in 2D transversely isotropic media with a tilted symmetry axis

For pre‐stack phase‐shift migration in homogeneous isotropic media, the offset‐midpoint travel time is represented by the double‐square‐root equation. The travel time as a function of offset and midpoint resembles the shape of Cheops’ pyramid. This is also valid for transversely isotropic media with a vertical symmetry axis. In this study, we extend the offset‐midpoint travel‐time pyramid to the case of 2D transversely isotropic media with a tilted symmetry axis. The P‐wave analytical travel‐time pyramid is derived under the assumption of weak anelliptical property of the tilted transverse isotropy media. The travel‐time equation for the dip‐constrained transversely isotropic model is obtained from the depth‐domain travel‐time pyramid. The potential applications of the derived offset‐midpoint travel‐time equation include pre‐stack Kirchhoff migration, anisotropic parameter estimation, and travel‐time calculation in transversely isotropic media with a tilted symmetry axis.     

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.     

Out‐of‐plane geometrical spreading in anisotropic media

Two-dimensional seismic processing is successful in media with little structural and velocity variation in the direction perpendicular to the plane defined by the acquisition direction and the vertical axis. If the subsurface is anisotropic, an additional limitation is that this plane is a plane of symmetry. Kinematic ray propagation can be considered as a two-dimensional process in this type of medium. However, two-dimensional processing in a true-amplitude sense requires out-of-plane amplitude corrections in addition to compensation for in-plane amplitude variation. We provide formulae for the out-of-plane geometrical spreading for P- and S-waves in transversely isotropic and orthorhombic media. These are extensions of well-known isotropic formulae.
For isotropic and transversely isotropic media, the ray propagation is independent of the azimuthal angle. The azimuthal direction is defined with respect to a possibly tilted axis of symmetry. The out-of-plane spreading correction can then be calculated by integrating quantities which describe in-plane kinematics along in-plane rays. If, in addition, the medium varies only along the vertical direction and has a vertical axis of symmetry, no ray tracing need be carried out. All quantities affecting the out-of-plane geometrical spreading can be derived from traveltime information available at the observation surface.
Orthorhombic media possess no rotational symmetry and the out-of-plane geometrical spreading includes parameters which, even in principle, are not invertible from in-plane experiments. The exact and approximate formulae derived for P- and S-waves are nevertheless useful for modelling purposes.     

Physical constraints on c13 and δ for transversely isotropic hydrocarbon source rocks

Based on the theory of anisotropic elasticity and observation of static mechanic measurement of transversely isotropic hydrocarbon source rocks or rock‐like materials, we reasoned that one of the three principal Poisson's ratios of transversely isotropic hydrocarbon source rocks should always be greater than the other two and they should be generally positive. From these relations, we derived tight physical constraints on c₁₃, Thomsen parameter δ, and anellipticity parameter η. Some of the published data from laboratory velocity anisotropy measurement are lying outside of the constraints. We analysed that they are primarily caused by substantial uncertainty associated with the oblique velocity measurement. These physical constraints will be useful for our understanding of Thomsen parameter δ, data quality checking, and predicting δ from measurements perpendicular and parallel to the symmetrical axis of transversely isotropic medium. The physical constraints should also have potential application in anisotropic seismic data processing.     

Moveout approximation for horizontal transversely isotropic and vertical transversely isotropic layered medium. Part II: effective model‡

We use residual moveouts measured along continuous full azimuth reflection angle gathers, in order to obtain effective horizontal transversely isotropic model parameters. The angle gathers are generated through a special angle domain imaging system, for a wide range of reflection angles and full range of phase velocity azimuths. The estimation of the effective model parameters is performed in two stages. First, the background horizontal transversely isotropic (HTI)/vertical transversely isotropic (VTI) layered model is used, along with the values of reflection angles, for converting the measured residual moveouts (or traveltime errors) into azimuthally dependent normal moveout (NMO) velocities. Then we apply a digital Fourier transform to convert the NMO velocities into azimuthal wavenumber domain, in order to obtain the effective HTI model parameters: vertical time, vertical compression velocity, Thomsen parameter delta and the azimuth of the medium axis of symmetry. The method also provides a reliability criterion of the HTI assumption. The criterion shows whether the medium possesses the HTI type of symmetry, or whether the azimuthal dependence of the residual traveltime indicates to a more complex azimuthal anisotropy. The effective model used in this approach is defined for a 1D structure with a set of HTI, VTI and isotropic layers (with at least one HTI layer). We describe and analyse the reduction of a multi‐layer structure into an equivalent effective HTI model. The equivalent model yields the same NMO velocity and the same offset azimuth on the Earth's surface as the original layered structure, for any azimuth of the phase velocity. The effective model approximates the kinematics of an HTI/VTI layered structure using only a few parameters. Under the hyperbolic approximation, the proposed effective model is exact.     

横向各向同性介质中地震波走时模拟

横向各向同性介质是地球内部广泛分布的一种各向异性介质.针对这种介质,我们对各向同性介质的最小走时树走时模拟方法进行了推广,推广后的方法可适用于非均匀、对称轴任意倾斜的横向各向同性介质模型.为保证计算效率,最小走时树的构建采用了一种子波传播区域随地震波传播动态变化的改进算法.对于弱各向异性介质,我们使用了一种新的地震波群速度近似表示方法,该方法基于用射线角近似表示相角的思想,对3种地震波（qP, qSV和qSH）均有较好的精度.应用本文地震波走时模拟方法对均匀介质、横向非均匀介质模型进行了计算,并将后者结果与弹性波方程有限元方法的模拟结果进行了对比,结果表明两者符合得很好.本文方法可用于横向各向同性介质的深度偏移及地震层析成像的深入研究.     

Research Note: Insights into the data dependency on anisotropy: an inversion prospective

While velocity contrasts are responsible for most of the events recorded in our data, the long wavelength behavior of the velocity model is responsible for the geometrical shape of these events. For isotropic acoustic materials, the wave dependency on the long (wave propagation) and short (scattering) wavelength velocity components is stationary with the propagation angle. On the other hand, in representing a transversely isotropic with a vertical symmetry axis medium with the normal moveout velocity, the anellepticity parameter η, the vertical scaling parameter δ, and the sensitivity of waves vary with the polar angle for both the long and short wavelength features of the anisotropic dimensionless medium parameters (δ and η). For horizontal reflectors at reasonable depths, the long wavelength features of the η model is reasonably constrained by the long offsets, whereas the short wavelength features produce very week reflections at even reasonable offsets. Thus, for surface acquired seismic data, we could mainly invert for smooth η responsible for the geometrical shape of reflections. On the other hand, while the δ long wavelength components mildly affects the recorded data, its short wavelength variations can produce reflections at even zero offset, with a behavior pattern synonymous to density. The lack of the long wavelength δ information will mildly effect focusing but will cause misplacement of events in depth. With low enough frequencies (very low), we may be able to recover the long wavelength δ using full waveform inversion. However, unlike velocity, the frequencies needed for that should be ultra‐low to produce long‐wavelength scattering‐based model information as δ perturbations do not exert scattering at large offsets. For a combination given by the horizontal velocity, η, and ε, the diving wave influence of η is absorbed by the horizontal velocity, severely limiting the η influence on the data and full waveform inversion. As a result, with a good smooth η estimation, for example, from tomography, we can focus the full waveform inversion to invert for only the horizontal velocity and maybe ε as a parameter to fit the amplitude. This is possibly the most practical parametrization for inversion of surface seismic data in transversely isotropic with vertical symmetry axis media.     

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.     

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.     

Scanning anisotropy parameters in horizontal transversely isotropic media

The horizontal transversely isotropic model, with arbitrary symmetry axis orientation, is the simplest effective representative that explains the azimuthal behaviour of seismic data. Estimating the anisotropy parameters of this model is important in reservoir characterisation, specifically in terms of fracture delineation. We propose a travel‐time‐based approach to estimate the anellipticity parameter η and the symmetry axis azimuth ? of a horizontal transversely isotropic medium, given an inhomogeneous elliptic background model (which might be obtained from velocity analysis and well velocities). This is accomplished through a Taylor's series expansion of the travel‐time solution (of the eikonal equation) as a function of parameter η and azimuth angle ?. The accuracy of the travel time expansion is enhanced by the use of Shanks transform. This results in an accurate approximation of the solution of the non‐linear eikonal equation and provides a mechanism to scan simultaneously for the best fitting effective parameters η and ?, without the need for repetitive modelling of travel times. The analysis of the travel time sensitivity to parameters η and ? reveals that travel times are more sensitive to η than to the symmetry axis azimuth ?. Thus, η is better constrained from travel times than the azimuth. Moreover, the two‐parameter scan in the homogeneous case shows that errors in the background model affect the estimation of η and ? differently. While a gradual increase in errors in the background model leads to increasing errors in η, inaccuracies in ?, on the other hand, depend on the background model errors. We also propose a layer‐stripping method valid for a stack of arbitrary oriented symmetry axis horizontal transversely isotropic layers to convert the effective parameters to the interval layer values.     

正交各向异性介质P波走时分析及Thomsen参数反演

对于包含有垂向裂缝的横向各向同性地层或含有多组正交裂缝的各向同性地层，正交各向异性介质模型是最简单的与实际地层相符的方位各向异性模型.本文对单层水平反射界面正交各向异性模型采用射线追踪法计算了全方位角变化的P波走时，时距曲线表现出强方位各向异性.采用小生境遗传算法，对三条成一定角度的测线的走时信息进行速度和各向异性参数反演.模型算例表明，此方法可以得到高精度的裂缝方位角、P波垂直速度和较高精度的Thomsen各向异性参数.     

Analysis of the traveltime sensitivity kernels for an acoustic transversely isotropic medium with a vertical axis of symmetry

In anisotropic media, several parameters govern the propagation of the compressional waves. To correctly invert surface recorded seismic data in anisotropic media, a multi‐parameter inversion is required. However, a tradeoff between parameters exists because several models can explain the same dataset. To understand these tradeoffs, diffraction/reflection and transmission‐type sensitivity‐kernels analyses are carried out. Such analyses can help us to choose the appropriate parameterization for inversion. In tomography, the sensitivity kernels represent the effect of a parameter along the wave path between a source and a receiver. At a given illumination angle, similarities between sensitivity kernels highlight the tradeoff between the parameters. To discuss the parameterization choice in the context of finite‐frequency tomography, we compute the sensitivity kernels of the instantaneous traveltimes derived from the seismic data traces. We consider the transmission case with no encounter of an interface between a source and a receiver; with surface seismic data, this corresponds to a diving wave path. We also consider the diffraction/reflection case when the wave path is formed by two parts: one from the source to a sub‐surface point and the other from the sub‐surface point to the receiver. We illustrate the different parameter sensitivities for an acoustic transversely isotropic medium with a vertical axis of symmetry. The sensitivity kernels depend on the parameterization choice. By comparing different parameterizations, we explain why the parameterization with the normal moveout velocity, the anellipitic parameter η, and the δ parameter is attractive when we invert diving and reflected events recorded in an active surface seismic experiment.     

Traveltime computation with the linearized eikonal equation for anisotropic media

A linearized eikonal equation is developed for transversely isotropic (TI) media with a vertical symmetry axis (VTI). It is linear with respect to perturbations in the horizontal velocity or the anisotropy parameter η. An iterative linearization of the eikonal equation is used as the basis for an algorithm of finite-difference traveltime computations. A practical implementation of this iterative technique is to start with a background model that consists of an elliptically anisotropic, inhomogeneous medium, since traveltimes for this type of medium can be calculated efficiently using eikonal solvers, such as the fast marching method. This constrains the perturbation to changes in the anisotropy parameter η (the parameter most responsible for imaging improvements in anisotropic media). The iterative implementation includes repetitive calculation of η from traveltimes, which is then used to evaluate the perturbation needed for the next round of traveltime calculations using the linearized eikonal equation. Unlike isotropic media, interpolation is needed to estimate η in areas where the traveltime field is independent of η, such as areas where the wave propagates vertically.
Typically, two to three iterations can give sufficient accuracy in traveltimes for imaging applications. The cost of each iteration is slightly less than the cost of a typical eikonal solver. However, this method will ultimately provide traveltime solutions for VTI media. The main limitation of the method is that some smoothness of the medium is required for the iterative implementation to work, especially since we evaluate derivatives of the traveltime field as part of the iterative approach. If a single perturbation is sufficient for the traveltime calculation, which may be the case for weak anisotropy, no smoothness of the medium is necessary. Numerical tests demonstrate the robustness and efficiency of this approach.     

Traveltime approximation in vertical transversely isotropic layered media

The well‐known asymptotic fractional four‐parameter traveltime approximation and the five‐parameter generalised traveltime approximation in stratified multi‐layer transversely isotropic elastic media with a vertical axis of symmetry have been widely used for pure‐mode and converted waves. The first three parameters of these traveltime expansions are zero‐offset traveltime, normal moveout velocity, and quartic coefficient, ensuring high accuracy of traveltimes at short offsets. The additional parameter within the four‐parameter approximation is an effective horizontal velocity accounting for large offsets, which is important to avoid traveltime divergence at large offsets. The two additional parameters in the above‐mentioned five‐parameter approximation ensure higher accuracy up to a given large finite offset with an exact match at this offset. In this paper, we propose two alternative five‐parameter traveltime approximations, which can be considered extensions of the four‐parameter approximation and an alternative to the five‐parameter approximation previously mentioned. The first three short‐offset parameters are the same as before, but the two additional long‐offset parameters are different and have specific physical meaning. One of them describes the propagation in the high‐velocity layer of the overburden (nearly horizontal propagation in the case of very large offsets), and the other characterises the intercept time corresponding to the critical slowness that includes contributions of the lower velocity layers only. Unlike the above‐mentioned approximations, both of the proposed traveltime approximations converge to the theoretical (asymptotic) linear traveltime at the limit case of very large (“infinite”) offsets. Their accuracy for moderate to very large offsets, for quasi‐compressional waves, converted waves, and shear waves polarised in the horizontal plane, is extremely high in cases where the overburden model contains at least one layer with a dominant higher velocity compared with the other layers. We consider the implementation of the proposed traveltime approximations in all classes of problems in which the above‐mentioned approximations are used, such as reflection and diffraction analysis and imaging.     

横观各向同性岩土材料的应变局部化分析

为分析横观各向同性岩土材料的应变局部化行为,推导对应于Lade横观各向同性屈服准则向前欧拉算法的迭代格式及本构矩阵,通过有限元软件ABAQUS的UMAT接口实现相应的程序代码。数值算例调查分析材料主方向对横观各向同性岩土结构的极限承载力和变形局部化模式的影响。结果表明该模型能较好地模拟横观各向同性岩土结构的应变局部化行为。     

Effective wavefield extrapolation in anisotropic media: accounting for resolvable anisotropy

Spectral methods provide artefact‐free and generally dispersion‐free wavefield extrapolation in anisotropic media. Their apparent weakness is in accessing the medium‐inhomogeneity information in an efficient manner. This is usually handled through a velocity‐weighted summation (interpolation) of representative constant‐velocity extrapolated wavefields, with the number of these extrapolations controlled by the effective rank of the original mixed‐domain operator or, more specifically, by the complexity of the velocity model. Conversely, with pseudo‐spectral methods, because only the space derivatives are handled in the wavenumber domain, we obtain relatively efficient access to the inhomogeneity in isotropic media, but we often resort to weak approximations to handle the anisotropy efficiently. Utilizing perturbation theory, I isolate the contribution of anisotropy to the wavefield extrapolation process. This allows us to factorize as much of the inhomogeneity in the anisotropic parameters as possible out of the spectral implementation, yielding effectively a pseudo‐spectral formulation. This is particularly true if the inhomogeneity of the dimensionless anisotropic parameters are mild compared with the velocity (i.e., factorized anisotropic media). I improve on the accuracy by using the Shanks transformation to incorporate a denominator in the expansion that predicts the higher‐order omitted terms; thus, we deal with fewer terms for a high level of accuracy. In fact, when we use this new separation‐based implementation, the anisotropy correction to the extrapolation can be applied separately as a residual operation, which provides a tool for anisotropic parameter sensitivity analysis. The accuracy of the approximation is high, as demonstrated in a complex tilted transversely isotropic model.     

由VSP反射波旅行时重建各向异性层速度结构

本文提出-种利用有偏VSP资料反射波旅行时信息重建椭圆各向异性介质中水平向与垂直向速度的方法。其中,地下介质假定为层状椭圆各向异性介质。反射波旅行时间采用射线追踪理论及几何关系计算得到,反演中的线性方程组采用奇异值分解(SVD)技术进行求解。 方法检测时,我们对各向同性介质及椭圆各向异胜介质情况下有限差分法正演模拟的深井有偏移距VSP地震资料分别进行各向同性和各向异性方法反演成像。结果表明,本文所述方法较之各向同性介质模型反演方法对介质类型有很好的适用性,同时也说明了本方法的司行性。最后,我们分别介绍了对实际有偏VSP资料反演得到的地下介质的速度结构图像。     

Migration velocity analysis for tilted transversely isotropic media

Tilted transversely isotropic formations cause serious imaging distortions in active tectonic areas (e.g., fold‐and‐thrust belts) and in subsalt exploration. Here, we introduce a methodology for P‐wave prestack depth imaging in tilted transversely isotropic media that properly accounts for the tilt of the symmetry axis as well as for spatial velocity variations. For purposes of migration velocity analysis, the model is divided into blocks with constant values of the anisotropy parameters ε and δ and linearly varying symmetry‐direction velocity V_P0 controlled by the vertical (k_z) and lateral (k_x) gradients. Since determination of tilt from P‐wave data is generally unstable, the symmetry axis is kept orthogonal to the reflectors in all trial velocity models. It is also assumed that the velocity V_P0 is either known at the top of each block or remains continuous in the vertical direction. The velocity analysis algorithm estimates the velocity gradients k_z and k_x and the anisotropy parameters ε and δ in the layer‐stripping mode using a generalized version of the method introduced by Sarkar and Tsvankin for factorized transverse isotropy with a vertical symmetry axis. Synthetic tests for several models typical in exploration (a syncline, uptilted shale layers near a salt dome and a bending shale layer) confirm that if the symmetry‐axis direction is fixed and V_P0 is known, the parameters k_z, k_x, ε and δ can be resolved from reflection data. It should be emphasized that estimation of ε in tilted transversely isotropic media requires using nonhyperbolic moveout for long offsets reaching at least twice the reflector depth. We also demonstrate that application of processing algorithms designed for a vertical symmetry axis to data from tilted transversely isotropic media may lead to significant misfocusing of reflectors and errors in parameter estimation, even when the tilt is moderate (30°). The ability of our velocity analysis algorithm to separate the anisotropy parameters from the velocity gradients can be also used in lithology discrimination and geologic interpretation of seismic data in complex areas.     

S-wave in 2D acoustic transversely isotropic media with a tilted symmetry axis

In an acoustic transversely isotropic medium, there are two waves that propagate. One is the P-wave and another one is the S-wave (also known as S-wave artefact). This paper is devoted to analyse the S-wave in two-dimensional acoustic transversely isotropic media with a tilted symmetry axis. We derive the S-wave slowness surface and traveltime function in a homogeneous acoustic transversely isotropic medium with a tilted symmetry axis. The S-wave traveltime approximations in acoustic transversely isotropic media with a tilted symmetry axis can be mapped from the counterparts for acoustic transversely isotropic media with a vertical symmetry axis. We consider a layered two-dimensional acoustic transversely isotropic medium with a tilted symmetry axis to analyse the S-wave moveout. We also illustrate the behaviour of the moveout for reflected S-wave and converted waves.