Integrated kinematic time-lapse inversion workflow leveraging full-waveform inversion and machine learning

We demonstrate that a workflow combining emergent time-lapse full-waveform inversion (FWI) and machine learning technologies can address the demand for faster time-lapse processing and analysis. During the first stage of our proposed workflow, we invert long-wavelength velocity changes using a tomographically enhanced version of multiparameter simultaneous reflection FWI with model-difference regularization. Short-wavelength changes are inverted during the second stage of the workflow by a specialized high-resolution image-difference tomography algorithm using a neural network. We discuss application areas for each component of the workflow and show the results of a West Africa case study. © 2019 by The Society of Exploration Geophysicists.