Wave equation based microseismic source location and velocity inversion

Abstract

The microseismic event locations and velocity information can be used to infer the stress field and guide hydraulic fracturing process, as well as to image the subsurface structures. How to get accurate microseismic event locations and velocity model is the principal problem in reservoir monitoring. For most location methods, the velocity model has significant relation with the accuracy of the location results. The velocity obtained from log data is usually too rough to be used for location directly. It is necessary to discuss how to combine the location and velocity inversion. Among the main techniques for locating microseismic events, time reversal imaging (TRI) based on wave equation avoids traveltime picking and offers high-resolution locations. Frequency dependent wave equation traveltime inversion (FWT) is an inversion method that can invert velocity model with source uncertainty at certain frequency band. Thus we combine TRI with FWT to produce improved event locations and velocity model. In the proposed approach, the location and model information are interactively used and updated. Through the proposed workflow, the inverted model is better resolved and the event locations are more accurate. We test this method on synthetic borehole data and filed data of a hydraulic fracturing experiment. The results verify the effectiveness of the method and prove it has potential for real-time microseismic monitoring.