Using Reflection Data to Generate a High-resolution Velocity Model with Full Waveform Inversion in the Santos Basin

Abstract

With the help of full waveform inversion (FWI), it is possible to achieve an accurate, detailed velocity model in a complex geological setting. The acoustic approximation for wave propagation is widely used for FWI velocity inversion. Many FWI studies have used refraction and diving waves to successfully achieve a detailed subsurface velocity model. Reflection data is prone to cycle skipping, which makes it more difficult to use in FWI. We investigated refraction and reflection FWI using a broadband data set from the Santos basin. Rich low-frequency content from broadband data enabled us to use reflections along with refractions for FWI. Our results show that reflection FWI can produce reliable updates even when the full physics is not completely taken into account.