Systematic literature review on seismic diffraction imaging

Abstract

The diffractive component of the wavefield is often treated as noise during traditional preprocessing workflows. However, it possesses valuable information for imaging faults, fractures, wedges, and other small-scale structures, which have significant implications across diverse fields and industrial applications. Furthermore, seismic diffraction imaging methods have the potential to achieve the superresolution, enabling the recovery of subsurface details beyond the Rayleigh limit. In this study, we conduct a systematic literature review to provide a comprehensive overview of the state-of-the-art techniques in seismic diffraction imaging. Our analyzes include a quantitative assessment of selected articles, aimed at identifying the main applied techniques, emerging techniques, and potential areas for future research. The majority of studies focuses on the application of proposed methods in seismic sections to delineate faults, fractures, and other discontinuities, thereby enhancing subsurface resolution. Notably, these techniques find wide-ranging applications in the oil and gas industry, near-surface investigations, and velocity analysis for migration kernels. We observe a growing demand for practical applications and interpretation, with a specific emphasis on showcasing the ability of diffraction imaging to delineate structures using exclusively field data. Additionally, there is a growing trend in studies related to coal mining, the utilization of ground-penetrating radar data, applications related to the energy transition context, and the forward modeling problem of diffraction. Further research is necessary to fully assess the potential and limitations of seismic diffraction imaging in these emerging topics.