Do we really need a very accurate starting velocity model for Full Waveform Inversion?

Abstract

Full Waveform Inversion (FWI) has recently emerged as one of the most exciting new techniques in the seismic industry, with the potential to deliver incredibly detailed velocity models. We applied FWI to 2D lines from the Exmouth basin, Western Australia. Results showed that FWI can produce excellent high resolution velocity models even if the starting velocity model is far from perfect providing that the input data is rich in low frequencies