PART 3 - RECURSIVE INVERSION - THEORY

m•mmm•---' .• ,- - - ' •- - _ - - _- _

Part 3 - Recurstve Inversion - Theory Page 3 -

•ntroduct•on to SeJsmic Znversion Methods Brian Russell

PART 3 - RECURSIVE INVERSION - THEORY

3.1 Discrete
, ! ß
Inversion
, , •

In section 2.2, we saw that reflectivity was defined in terms of

acoustic impedancechanges. The formula was written:

Y•i+lV•+l
' •iV! 2i+1' Zi
ri--yoi'+lVi+l+
Y•iVi---Zi..+l
+ Zi
where r -- refl ecti on coefficient,
/0-- density,
V -- compressional velocity,
Z -- acoustic impedance,
and Layer i overlies Layer i+1.

If we have the true reflectivity available to us, it is possible to

recover the [Link] impedanceby inverting the above formula. Normally, the
inverse' formulation is simply written down,but here we will supply the
missing steps for completness. First, notice that:

Zi+l+Zi Zi+1- Zt 2 Zi+1

I +ri- Zi+l
+Zi + Zi+l
+2i Zi+l
+Zi
Also

Zi+l+Zi Zi+1- Zi 2 Zf[

I- ri-- Zi+l+ Zi Zi+l+Zi Zi+l+Zi
Ther'efore
l+r.
Zi+l 1

Zi 1

ill, ß , I

Page
Part 3 - RecursiveInversion- Theory
Introduction to Seismic Invers-•onMethods Brian Russell

pv-e-

TIME
(sec]

0.7

REFLECTION RECOVERED
COEFFICIENT ACOUSTIC
SERIES IMPEDANCE

Fig. 3.1, Applying

the recursiveinversionformulato a
simple,and exact, reflectivity.
, ! ß

Part 3 - Recursive Inversion - Theory Page 3 -

!ntroductt on to Se1 smJc ! nversi on Methods Brian Russell
•9r• ;• • •;• • • •-•• 9rgr•t-k'k9r9r• •-;• ;• .................................................

Or, the final •esult-

Zi+[=Z l+r i .
ß

This is called the discrete recursive inversion formula and is the basis
of many current inversion techniques. The formula tells us that if we know
the acoustic impedanceof a particular layer and the reflection coefficient at
the base of that layer, we may recover the acoustic impedance of the next
layer. Of course we need an estimate of the first layer impedanceto start us
off. Assumewe can estimate this value for layer one. Then

l+rl ,
Z2:
Zli r1 Z3=
Z2 11
+r2 - r
and so on ...

To find the nth impedancefrom the first, we simply write the formula as

Figure 3.1 shows the application of the recursive formula to the "
reflection coefficients derived in section 2.2. As expected, the full
acoustic impedance was recovered.

Problems • ß ,
encountered
m i
with
i •
real
i !
data
m

When the recursive inversion formula is applied to real data, we find

that two serious problems are encountered. These problems are as follows-

(i) FrequencyBandlimi ti ng _ ß

Referring back to Figure 2.2 we see that the reflectivity is severely

bandlimited when it is convolved with the seismic wavelet. Both the
low frequency componentsand the high frequency componentsare lost.

Part 3 - Recursive Inversion - Theory Page 3 - 4

Introduction to SeismicInversion Methods Brian Russell

0.2 0 V•) 'V,•

•R

Vo:1000
m Where:
{ASSUME
j•: l)
R = +0.2 --• V,•= 1000 i-o.t
-- 1500 •ec'.
m
(a)

- 0.1 '•0.2

R•
R=

Vo=1000m
R•=-0.1 -'+ ¾1
= 818ii•.m
R =+0.2

R: -0.1

Figure 3.2 Effect of banUlimitingon reflectivity, where(a) shows

single reflection coefficient, anU (b) showsbandlimited
refl ecti on coefficient.
i i m i m I
I __ ___ i _

Part 3 - Recursire Inversion - Theory Page 3 -

Introduction to Seismic Inversion Methods Brian Russell

(ii) Noise

The inclusion of coherent or random noise into the seismic 'trace will

makethe estimate• reflectivity deviate from the true reflectivity.

To get a feeling for the severity of the above limitations on recursire

inversion, let us first use simple models. To illustrate the effect of
bandlimiting, consider Figure 3.Z. It shows the inversion of a single spike
(Figure 3.2 (a)) anUthe inversion of this spike convolved with a Ricker
wavelet (Figure 3.2 (b)). Even with this very high frequency banUwidth
wavelet, we have totally lost our [Link] to recover the low frequency
componentof the acoustic impedance.

In Figure 3.3 the model derived in section Z.2 has been convolved with a
minimum-phase wavelet. Notice that the inversion of the data again shows a
loss of the low frequency component. The loss of the low frequency component
is the most severe problem facing us in the inversion of seismic data, for it
is extremely Oifficult to directly recover it. At the high end of the
ß

spectrum, we may recover muchof the original frequency content using

deconvolution techniques. In part 5 we will address the problem of recovering
the low frequency component.

Next, consider the problem of noise. This noise may be from many
sources, but will always tend to interfere with our recovery of the true
reflectivity. Figure 3.4 showsthe effect of adding the full multiple
reflection train (including transmission losses) to the model reflectivity.
As we can see on the diagram, the recovered acoustic impedancehas the same
basic shape as the true acoustic impedance, but becomesincreasingly incorrect
with depth. This problemof accumulatingerror is compoundeU
by the amplitude
problemnsintroduced by the transmission losses.

Part 3 - Recurslye Inversion - Theory Page 3 - 6

Introduction to Seismic Invers,ion Methods Brian Russell

pv-•,

TIME

0.?

REFLECTION RECOVERED SYNTHETIC INVERSION

COEFFICIENT ACOUSTIC (MWNUM-PHASE OF SYNTHETIC
SERIES IMPEDANCE WAVELET)

Fig. 3.3. The effect of bandlimiting on recurslye inversion.

TIME TIME

(see) (re.c)

0.7

REFLECTION RECOVERED R.C.S. RECOVERED

COEFFICIENT ACOUSTIC WITH ALL ACOUSTIC
SERIES IMPEDANCE MULTIPLES IMPEDANCE

Fig. 3.4. The effect of noise on recursive inversion.

Part 3 - Recursive Inversion - Theory Page 3 -

Introduction to Seismic Inversion Methods Brian Russell

3.3 Continuous Inversion

A logarithmic relationship is often used to approximate the above

formulas. This is derived by noting that we can write r(t) as a continuous
function in the following way:

r(t) -- Z(t+dt)
ß
Z(t+dt)+- Z{t) _ 1 d Z(t)
Z(•) - •' z'(t)
Or
! d In Z(t)
r(t) = • dt
The inverse formula is thus-

Z(t)=Z(O)
exp2y r(t)dt. 0

The precedingapproximation
is valid if r(t) <10.3• which is usually the
case. A paper by Berteussen and Ursin (1983), goes into muchmore detail on
the continuous versus discrete approximation. Figures 3.5 and 3.6 from their
paper showthat the accuracy of the continuous inversion algorithm is within
4% of the correct value between reflection coefficients of -0.5 and +0.3.

If our reflection coefficients are in the order of + or - 0.1, an even

simplerapproximation
maybe made
by dropp'ing
the logarithmicrelationship:

1d
r(t)--• Z(t)•_==•
-dr Z(t)--2'Z(O)
fr(t) dt
VO

Part 3 - Recursive Inversion - Theory Page 3 - 8

Introduction to Seismic Inversion Methods Brian Russell

m i ,, ,m I I IIIII

I +gt ½xp
(26•) Difference
-1.0 0.0 0.14 -0.14
-0.9 0.05 0. I? -0.12
-0.8 0.11 0.20 -0.09
-0.7 0.18 0.25 -0.07
-0.6 0.25 0.30 -0.05
-0.5 0.33 0.37 -0.04 '
-0.4 0.43 0.45 --0.02
-0.3 0.• 0.•5 --0.01
-0.2 0.667 0.670 -0.003
-0.1 0.8182 0.8187 --0.0005
0.0 1.0 1.0 0.0
0.1 1.222 1.221 0.001
0.2 1.500 1.492 0.008
0.3 1.86 1.82 0.04
0.4 2.33 2.23 o.1
0.5 3.0 2.7 0.3
0.6 4.0 3.3 0.7
0.7 5.7 4.1 1.6
0.8 9.0 5.0 4.0
0.9 19.0 6.0 13.0
1.0 co 7.4 •o

Fig. 3.5 Numericalc•pari son of discrete and continuous

i nversi on.
(Berteussen and Ursin, 1983)

$000
}m ) r-niL
MPEDANCE
(O
ISCR.
O

${300
-•O
IFFERENCE
o

SO0 OI FFERENCE( SCALEDUP)

T •'•E t SECONOS

Fig. 3.6 C•parisonbetween

impedance
c•putatins basedona
discrete and a continuousseismic •del.
(Berteussenand Ursin, 1983)

Part 3 - Recursire .Inversion - Theory Page 3 -