The role of reverse time migration in imaging and model estimation

Application of Iterative Reverse Time Migration Procedure on Transcranial Thermoacoustic Tomography Imaging

“…If the velocity model is precise, the reversed-time wave field should converge and be enhanced at the origins of the to-be-imaged structures. Previous studies [19], [27], [28] have compared back-projection method and RTM by using complex velocity structure models, and have confirmed better results by using RTM. However, with the advantage of RTM outlined previously, the barriers to RTM adoption are also evident.…”

“…Compared with back-projection, by applying full wave equation, RTM is capable of involving all wave field phenomenon including diffraction, aberration and multiple scattering. However it requires much higher usage of CPU time and memory [27].…”

“…Compared with back-projection, RTM appears to be more sensitive to accuracy of given velocity model. Once the velocity model is inaccurate, the quality of imaging results from RTM may be insignificant in comparison to back-projection [19], [27]. Consequently the solutions for creating accurate velocity model become extremely vital to guarantee the imaging quality of RTM.…”

Combined migration velocity model-building and its application in tunnel seismic prediction

“…Reverse time migration is extrapolated to image based on the two-way wave equation and, compared with other migration algorithms, it can deal with steeply dipping subsurface structure and strong lateral velocity variations and retain the wave vector characteristics. However, large computational cost and high memory requirements are the limitations of its application (Li et al, 2009;Farmer et al, 2009). …”

Elastic least-squares reverse time migration using the energy norm

“…The search for more reliable seismic images and additional subsurface information, such as fracture distribution, drives advances in seismic acquisition, such as larger offsets, wider azimuths, and multicomponent recording. All of these advances facilitate incorporating anisotropy and elasticity into wavefield extrapolation and reverse time migration (RTM), which is the state-of-art wavefield imaging algorithm suitable for complex geologic structures (Baysal et al, 1983;Lailly, 1983;McMechan, 1983;Levin, 1984;Chang and McMechan, 1987;Hokstad et al, 1998;Farmer et al, 2009;Zhang and Sun, 2009). Although seismic acquisition improves with such advances, it always involves practical limitations, such as finite and irregular data sampling, which negatively impact wavefield im-aging methods.…”