High Frequency Waveform Inversion: Is It Worth Doing?

Summary Full waveform inversion (FWI) is an essential tool for delineating the Earth’s interior using measurements of seismic data, for example acquired on the Earth’s surface (illuminating the medium in which waves propagate). It specifically provides the potential to admit high resolution models as it maps the scattering aspects of the recorded data. Such resolution also depends of the frequency band utilized in the inversion. Preferably, we would like to use the full band of data in FWI, however, the cost of FWI increases almost exponentially with the increase of frequencies used in the inversion. Also, at high frequencies the elastic nature of the Earth has a greater effect on data as scattering becomes more profound.