Collaborative Research: CMG: Imaging Earth Structure with Elastic Waves by Application of the Inverse Scattering Series

Signals that are recorded on the earth's surface from earthquake and/or man-made source generated waves have encoded within their character information about the subsurface the waves have experienced. Recent advances in exploration seismology allow for both removal of reverberant events and mapping of the physical characteristics of subsurface targets without knowledge of the medium above those reflectors. This project investigates the feasibility of using an inverse scattering series approach to perform direct imaging of deeper subsurface structure with elastic waves recorded by passive seismic arrays. High performance computation at a level beyond that in current three dimensional seismic processing will be employed; ultimately, this extension and application of new seismic imaging and inversion concepts and algorithms will significantly advance understanding and knowledge of deep earth processes and structure.

The objective of this research is to extend and adapt recently developed seismic methods designed for hydrocarbon exploration and production, in the relatively shallow subsurface, to investigate and define much deeper earth structure using both earthquakes and man-made energy sources on or near the surface.