Improved full-waveform inversion of normalised seismic wavefield data

Abstract

The full-waveform inversion algorithm using normalised seismic wavefields can avoid potential inversion errors due to source estimation required in conventional full-waveform inversion methods. In this paper, we have modified the inversion scheme to install a weighted smoothness constraint for better resolution, and to implement a staged approach using normalised wavefields in order of increasing frequency instead of inverting all frequency components simultaneously. The newly developed scheme is verified by using a simple two-dimensional fault model. One of the most significant improvements is based on introducing weights in model parameters, which can be derived from integrated sensitivities. The model-parameter weighting matrix is effective in selectively relaxing the smoothness constraint and in reducing artefacts in the reconstructed image. Simultaneous multiple-frequency inversion can almost be replicated by multiple single-frequency inversions. In particular, consecutively ordered single-frequency inversion, in which lower frequencies are used first, is useful for computation efficiency.