[1] Recent works show that multichannel seismic (MCS) systems are able to provide detailed information on the oceans' fine structure. The aim of this paper is to analyze whether 1-D full waveform inversion algorithms are suitable to recover the extremely weak acoustic impedance contrasts associated to the oceans' fine structure, as well as their potential to image meso-scale objects such as meddies. We limited our analysis to synthetic, noise-free data, in order to identify some methodological issues related to this approach under idealistic conditions (e.g., 1-D wave propagation, noise-free data, known source wavelet). We first discuss the influence of the starting model in the context of the multi-scale strategy that we have implemented. Then we show that it is possible to retrieve not only sound speed but also salinity and temperature contrasts within reasonable bounds from the seismic data using Neural Network relationships trained with regional oceanographic data sets. Potentially, the vertical resolution of the obtained models, which depends on the maximum frequency inverted, is of the order of 5-10 m, whereas the root mean square error of the inverted properties is shown to be ∼0.5 m/s for sound speed, 0.1°C for temperature, and 0.06 for salinity. To conclude this study, we have inverted synthetic data simulated along an oceanographic transect acquired during the EU-funded Geophysical Oceanography (GO) project. The results demonstrate the applicability of the method for synthetic data, as well as its potential to define oceanographic features along 2-D transects at full ocean depth with excellent lateral resolution.Citation: Kormann, J., B. Biescas, N. Korta, J. de la Puente, and V. Sallarès (2011), Application of acoustic full waveform inversion to retrieve high-resolution temperature and salinity profiles from synthetic seismic data,
Water layer multiple seismic phases are recorded at ocean bottom seismometers and hydrophones as arrivals that correspond to the reflection of the primary phases at the sea-free air interface. In regions of low to moderate seabed relief, the shape of these phases mimics that of the primary phases with a traveltime delay that depends on the water layer thickness at the receiver location. Given their longer travel paths, multiple phases should have smaller amplitudes than their corresponding primary phases. However, depending on the geological context it can be relatively common to observe the opposite, which results in the identification of the multiple phases at longer offsets than the primary events. In this paper, we examine the origin of this apparently paradoxical phenomenon by analysing the combined effect of the major factors potentially involved: the source frequency content, the subsurface velocity distribution, the receiver-seafloor distance, the geometrical spreading and attenuation of sound waves and the ambient noise level. We use synthetic modelling to show that for certain combinations of these factors, the interference between the multiple and its reflection at the seafloor is constructive and has a higher amplitude than the primary wave. Our analysis indicates that in the most favourable cases the phases resulting from this interference can be observed at offsets some tens of kilometres longer than their corresponding primary phases, and thus they can provide useful information for velocity modelling.
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