Application of a linear finite-frequency theory to time-lapse crosswell tomography in ultrasonic and numerical experiments

Abstract

Time-lapse seismic monitoring is the geophysical discipline whereby multiple data sets recorded at the same location but at different times are used to locate and quantify temporal changes in the elastic parameters of the subsurface. We validate a time-lapse monitoring method by crosswell tomography using two types of wavefield-modeling experiments: (1) a 3D real ultrasonic waveform experiment and (2) 2D synthetic finite-difference wavefield simulations. For both wavefield experiments, a time-lapse structure simulating a fluid sweep in a reservoir layer is applied. The time-lapse tomographic monitoring approach is based on the standard ray theory and a finite-frequency wavefield theory, where the latter takes into account the finite-frequency properties of recorded wavefields. The inverted time-lapse models compiled with either the ray theory or the finite-frequency wavefield theory locate and correctly quantify the flooding zone in the simulated fluid sweep model. Both wavefield theories provide an adequate result because the flooding zone is comparable in size to the Fresnel volume.