Reverse Time Migration Using the Pseudospectral Time-Domain Algorithm

Abstract

We propose a pre-stack reverse time migration (RTM) seismic imaging method using the pseudospectral time-domain (PSTD) algorithm. Traditional pseudospectral method uses the fast Fourier transform (FFT) algorithm to calculate the spatial derivatives, but is limited by the wraparound effect due to the periodicity assumed in the FFT. The PSTD algorithm combines the pseudospectral method with a perfectly matched layer (PML) for acoustic waves. PML is a highly effective absorbing boundary condition that can eliminate the wraparound effect. It enables a wide application of the pseudospectral method to complex models. RTM based on the PSTD algorithm has advantages in the computational efficiency compared to traditional methods such as the second-order and high order finite difference time-domain (FDTD) methods. In this work, we implement the PSTD algorithm for acoustic wave equation based RTM. By applying the PSTD-RTM method to various seismic models and comparing it with RTM based on the eighth-order FDTD method, we find that PSTD-RTM method has better performance and saves more than 50% memory. The method is suitable for parallel computation, and has been accelerated by general purpose graphics processing unit.