Separation of Frequency-Dependent Scattering and Inelastic Absorption by Waveform Inversion of VSP Data Constrained by Well Logs

Abstract

This paper presents an approach to estimation of frequency-dependent attenuation of seismic waves that propagate in the earth’s subsurface. This approach is based on the waveform inversion of vertical seismic profiling data acquired in a borehole. The use of well log data (in particular, sonic and density logs) in the forward modeling routine makes it possible to separate two factors that cause frequency-dependent seismic attenuation. In particular, the inversion facilitates separation of 1D scattering versus inelastic absorption in the horizontally layered subsurface.