Sensitivity of linearized seismic inversion to attenuation (Q)

Joakim O. Blanch; William Woodbury Symes

doi:10.1117/12.218493

1 September 1995 Sensitivity of linearized seismic inversion to attenuation (Q)

Joakim O. Blanch, William Woodbury Symes

Proceedings Volume 2571, Mathematical Methods in Geophysical Imaging III; (1995) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.218493
Event: SPIE's 1995 International Symposium on Optical Science, Engineering, and Instrumentation, 1995, San Diego, CA, United States

Abstract

The objective of seismic inversion is to estimate Earth parameters, such as velocity and density, from seismic data. The inversion scheme (algorithm) depends on a physical model of wave-propagation/reflection, which often is linearized. Such a linearized inversion scheme is highly dependent on a fixed reference model, i.e. propagation velocity of and amount of attenuation in the medium. Hence, it is necessary to investigate the reliability of linearized inversion results when the reference model is incorrect. To investigate sensitivity of seismic linearized inversion to attenuation (Q), we set up a very simple example of linearized reflection from a plane in an attenuating medium. The simplicity of the model allows the study of singular (eigen) values, eigenvectors of the physical model, and error sensitivity of the inversion results with easily understandable results. The model should yield at least qualitative results, even though it naturally is a substantial simplification of a realistic seismic inverse problem. The analysis shows that exact amplitudes of parameter estimates are highly dependent on an accurate reference attenuation (Q), whereas ratios between different parameters (AVO results) can be estimated with roughly 20 percent error in attenuation (Q).

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Joakim O. Blanch and William Woodbury Symes "Sensitivity of linearized seismic inversion to attenuation (Q)", Proc. SPIE 2571, Mathematical Methods in Geophysical Imaging III, (1 September 1995); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.218493

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