3D waveform inversion of downhole microseismic data for transversely isotropic media

Abstract

3D anisotropic waveform inversion could provide high-resolution velocity models and improved event locations for microseismic surveys. Here we extend our previously developed 2D inversion methodology for microseismic borehole data to 3D transversely isotropic media with a vertical symmetry axis. This extension allows us to invert multicomponent data recorded in multiple boreholes and properly account for vertical and lateral heterogeneity. Synthetic examples illustrate the performance of the algorithm for layer-cake and ‘hydraulically fractured’ (i.e. containing anomalies that simulate hydraulic fractures) models. In both cases, waveform inversion is able to reconstruct the areas which are sufficiently illuminated for the employed source-receiver geometry. In addition, we evaluate the sensitivity of the algorithm to errors in the source locations and to band-limited noise in the input displacements. We also present initial inversion results for a microseismic data set acquired during hydraulic fracturing in a shale reservoir.