Constraints versus penalties for edge-preserving full-waveform inversion

Full-waveform inversion is challenging in complex geological areas. Even when provided with an accurate starting model, the inversion algorithms often struggle to update the velocity model. Contrary to other areas in applied geophysics, including prior information in full-waveform inversion is still relatively in its infancy. In part this is due to the fact that incorporating prior information that relates to geological settings where strong discontinuities in the velocity model dominate is difficult, because these settings call for non-smooth regularizations. We tackle this problem by including constraints on the spatial variations and value ranges of the inverted velocities, as opposed to adding penalties to the objective as is more customary in main stream geophysical inversion. By demonstrating the lack of predictability of edge-preserving inversion when the regularization is in the form of an added penalty term, we advocate the inclusion of constraints instead. Our examples show that the latter lead to more predictable results and to significant improvements in the delineation of Salt bodies. This is joint work with Bas Peters.

https://slim.gatech.edu/Publications/Public/Conferences/SINBAD/2016/Fall...