Residual extrapolation operators for efficient wavefield construction

Abstract

Solving the wave equation using finite-difference approximations allows for fast extrapolation of the wavefield for modelling, imaging and inversion in complex media. It, however, suffers from dispersion and stability-related limitations that might hamper its efficient or proper application to high frequencies. Spectral-based time extrapolation methods tend to mitigate these problems, but at an additional cost to the extrapolation. I investigate the prospective of using a residual formulation of the spectral approach, along with utilizing Shanks transformbased expansions, that adheres to the residual requirements, to improve accuracy and reduce the cost. Utilizing the fact that spectral methods excel (time steps are allowed to be large) in homogeneous and smooth media, the residual implementation based on velocity perturbation optimizes the use of this feature. Most of the other implementations based on the spectral approach are focussed on reducing cost by reducing the number of inverse Fourier transforms required in every step of the spectral-based implementation. The approach here fixes that by improving the accuracy of each, potentially longer, time step. ©The Author 2013.Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The Royal Astronomical Society.