Three-term amplitude-versus-offset (AVO) inversion revisited by curvelet and wavelet transforms

We present a new method to stabilize the three-term AVO inversion using Curvelet and Wavelet transforms. Curvelets are basis functions that effectively represent otherwise smooth objects having discontinuities along smooth curves. The applied formalism explores them to make the most of the continuity along reflectors in seismic images. Combined with Wavelets, Curvelets are used to denoise the data by penalizing high frequencies and small contributions in the AVO-cube. This approach is based on the idea that rapid amplitude changes along the ray-parameter axis are most likely due to noise. The AVO-inverse problem is linearized, formulated and solved for all (x, z) at once. Using densities and velocities of the Marmousi model to define the fluctuations in the elastic properties, the performance of the proposed method is studied and compared with the smoothing along the ray-parameter direction only. We show that our method better approximates the true data after the denoising step, especially when noise level increases. \copyright2004 Society of Exploration Geophysicists