Seismic Modeling and Imaging for Complex Structures

Seismic modeling expound the forward process of numerically simulating seismic
waves through the earth model to generate seismic data. Forward modeling includes
two steps which are velocity model building followed by numerical computation of
seismic response. Forward modeling uses either ray tracing or wave equation methods
depending on the geological model dimension. In this study, a 2D acoustic wave
equation method is used to model the salt dome. As for the accurate positioning of
geological events, prestack depth imaging is immensely capable to produce a realistic
image of the depth section which consist various geological structures. However,
developments to this method are necessary to improve the accuracy of the output
depth image in terms of image resolution and positioning. This research focuses on
the effect of the parameters of prestack depth imaging on complex structures such as
salt domes. We investigate the factors and their sensitivity that affect the accuracy of
Kirchhoff depth migration. In the preliminary test, we run a forward modeling of a
salt dome model with varying the acquisition geometry and migration aperture
distance. Our results show that the consideration of acquisition parameter and
migration aperture significantly improves the resolution and quality of the images.