Target-oriented acquisition geometry design based on full-wavefield migration

Abstract

The ultimate goal of survey design is to find the acquisition parameters that enable acquiring high-quality data suitable for optimal imaging. This, while fulfilling budget, health, safety and environmental constraints. We propose a target-oriented acquisition design algorithm based on Full-Wavefield Migration. The algorithm optimizes a receiver density function that indicates the number of receivers per unit area required for obtaining the best possible image quality. The method makes use of available seismic data to create a reference model which is included in the proposed objective function. To make the design target-oriented, the objective function is multiplied with a mask that gives more weight to the target areas of interest. The results of the 2D and 3D implementations show an optimized receiver density function with higher values at the zones where more data is needed for improving image quality. The corresponding receiver geometries have more receivers placed at these areas. We validate the results by computing the images of the target zone using uniform and optimized geometries. The use of the latter shows an improvement in the image quality at the target zone. Additionally, we compute the number of receivers required for achieving a certain signal-to-noise ratio after imaging based on the optimized receiver density function.