Three-dimensional elastic reverse-time migration using a high-order temporal and spatial staggered-grid finite-difference scheme

Abstract

Three-dimensional (3D) elastic reverse-time migration (ERTM) can image the subsurface 3D seismic structures, and it is an important tool for the Earth’s interior imaging. A common simulation kernel used in 3D ERTM is the current staggered-grid finite-difference (SGFD) method of the first-order elastic wave equation. However, the mere second-order accuracy in time of the current SGFD method can bring non-negligible time dispersion, which reduces the simulation accuracy and further leads to the distortion of the imaging results. This paper proposes a vector-based 3D ERTM using the high-order accuracy SGFD method in time to obtain high-accuracy images. This approach is a new high-resolution ERTM workflow that improves the imaging accuracy of conventional ERTM from numerical simulation. The proposed ERTM workflow is established on a quasi-stress–velocity wave equation and its vector wavefield decomposition form. Advanced SGFD schemes and their corresponding coefficients with fourth-order temporal accuracy solve the quasi-linear wave equation system. The normalized dot product imaging condition produces high-quality images using high-accuracy vector wavefields solved using the SGFD method. Through the numerical examples, we test the simulation efficiency and analyze how temporal accuracy in numerical simulations affects migration imaging quality. We include that the proposed method obtains highly accurate images.