Can we image complex structures with first-arrival traveltime?

Abstract

Abstract We experienced difficulties when attempting to perform seismic imaging in complex velocity fields using prestack Kirchhoff depth migration in conjunction with traveltimes computed by finite-differencing the eikonal equation. The problem arose not because of intrinsic limitations of Kirchhoff migration, but rather from the failure of finite-differencing to compute traveltimes representative of the energetic part of the wavefield. Further analysis showed that the first arrival is most often associated with a marginally energetic event wherever subsequent arrivals exist. The consequence is that energetic seismic events are imaged with a kinematically incorrect operator and turn out mispositioned at depth. We therefore recommend that first-arrival traveltime fields, such as those computed by finite-differencing the eikonal equation, be used in Kirchhoff migration only with great care when the velocity field hosts multiple transmitted arrivals; such a situation is typically met where geological structure creates strong and localized velocity heterogeneities, which partition the incident and reflected wavefields into multiple arrivals; in such an instance, imaging cannot be strictly considered a kinematic process, as it must be performed with explicit reference to the relative amplitudes of multiple arrivals.