Wavelet-based multiscale adjoint waveform-difference tomography using body and surface waves

Abstract:

We present a multi-scale scheme for full elastic waveform-difference inversion. Using a wavelet transform proves to be a key factor to mitigate cycle-skipping effects. We start with coarse representations of the seismogram to correct a large-scale background model, and subsequently explain the residuals in the fine scales of the seismogram to map the heterogeneities with great complexity. We have previously applied the multi-scale approach successfully to body waves generated in a standard model from the exploration industry: a modified two-dimensional elastic Marmousi model. With this model we explored the optimal choice of wavelet family, number of vanishing moments and decomposition depth. For this presentation we explore the sensitivity of surface waves in waveform-difference tomography. The incorporation of surface waves is rife with cycle-skipping problems compared to the inversions considering body waves only. We implemented an envelope-based objective function probed via a multi-scale wavelet analysis to measure the distance between predicted and target surface-wave waveforms in a synthetic model of heterogeneous near-surface structure. Our proposed method successfully purges the local minima present in the waveform-difference misfit surface. An elastic shallow model with 100~m in depth is used to test the surface-wave inversion scheme. We also analyzed the sensitivities of surface waves and body waves in full waveform inversions, as well as the effects of incorrect density information on elastic parameter inversions. Based on those numerical experiments, we ultimately formalized a flexible scheme to consider both body and surface waves in adjoint tomography. While our early examples are constructed from exploration-style settings, our procedure will be very valuable for the study of global network data.