Using a Poroelastic Theory to Reconstruct Subsurface Properties: Numerical Investigation

The quantitative imaging of the Earth subsurface is a major challenge in geophysics. In oil and gas exploration and production, aquifer management and other applications such as the underground storage of CO2 , seismic imaging techniques are implemented to provide as much information as possible on fluid-filled reservoir rocks. Biot theory (Biot, 1956) and its extensions provide a convenient framework to connect the various parameters characterizing a porous medium to the wave properties, namely, their amplitudes, velocities and frequency contents. The poroelastic model involves more parameters than the elastodynamic theory, but on the other hand, the wave attenuation and dispersion characteristics at the macroscopic scale are determined by the intrinsic properties of the medium without having to resort to empirical relationships.