Controlled-order multiple waveform inversion

Abstract

Traditional full-waveform inversion (FWI) seeks to find the best model by minimizing an objective function defined as the difference between the model-predicted and observed data in amplitude and phase. In principle, FWI should fit all wave types including direct waves, diving waves, primaries, and multiples. However, when an initial model is far from the true model, FWI will encounter difficulties in matching multiples. Physically, multiples may contain more subsurface information compared to primary and diving waves. Multiples cover a wide range of reflection angles during wave propagation and offer the advantage of imaging the shadow zones that cannot be reached or are poorly illuminated by primary reflections. We have developed a new method of waveform inversion using multiples. We first separate the multiples into different orders. The objective function we seek to minimize consists of the data difference between the modeled data using a lower order multiple as the source and the higher order multiple as data. This method is called controlled-order multiple waveform inversion (CMWI). Our numerical examples determined that the CMWI is a promising method to improve velocity updates.