Target-oriented shot-profile one-way wave equation inversion

Alejandro A. Valenciano and Biondo Biondi

valencia@sep.stanford.edu, biondo@sep.stanford.edu

ABSTRACT

Least-squares shot-profile inversion could improve image amplitudes while remaining consistent with the data. This could be done efficiently by approximating the scalar two-way wave-equation operator by two one-way wave-equation operators: one for the source wavefield and the other for the receiver wavefield. In addition, a target-oriented scheme could help reduce the computation time. Instead of recursively computing the Green functions at each depth step for each inversion iteration, the Green functions from the surface to a target and from the target to the surface could be calculated and stored in the first iteration. In the subsequent iterations, the Green functions are retrieved from the disk.