Reverse Time Migration

Advanced two-way wave-equation prestack migration

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Image in and below areas with structural and velocity complexities

Reverse time migration is an ultrahigh-end prestack two-way wave-equation migration for accurate imaging in and below areas with both great structural and velocity complexities, such as sedimentary areas with steep salt inclusions. RTM has a proven track record for generating final images and is increasingly used for refining structural boundaries during velocity model building.

High-fidelity algorithm for imaging the most complex structures

RTM computes numerical solutions to the complete wave equation. As such, it has no dip limitation and handles all complex waveform multipathing, including caustics and prismatic waves. Historically, RTM was deemed impractical because of high computational costs and a greater sensitivity to velocity and reflectivity parameters than the more established one-way downward-continuation methods. However, our massive parallel compute clusters, coupled with more accurate velocity model building workflows, now make RTM a viable option in the imaging portfolio.

RTM has been extended to incorporate vertical transverse isotropy (VTI) and tilted transverse isotropy (TTI) and is fully compliant with the latest multi-, wide-, and full-azimuth geometries.

Reverse Time Migration (RTM) accurately images steep dips in complex sub-salt areas.
RTM accurately images steep dips in complex subsalt areas, as demonstrated here on the BP 2004 velocity benchmark dataset. (Data courtesy of BP.)