Nonlinear seismic diffraction tomography using minimum structure constraints

Linear diffraction tomography represents a first attempt to include the effects of the seismic waveform in an inversion for acoustic velocity, but its applicability is limited due to the restrictions of the method. In this paper a method is introduced to numerically solve the nonlinear diffraction tomography problem for the acoustic crosswell seismic case. By combining a generalized inverse formulation and a numerical technique to solve the frequency‐domain scattering integral equation, the acoustic velocity in a medium can be reconstructed without the aproximations which hamper linear diffraction tomography. This method does not assume weak scattering (Born regime) and allows general acquisition geometries, which makes it a much more flexible technique than conventional diffraction tomography. These techniques are used to reconstruct a disk model from synthetic data produced using the exact Bessel function series solution. Results are generated for three cases: The disk has a strong velocity contrast, th...