3-D acoustic wave equation forward modeling with topography

In order to model the seismic wave field with surface topography, we present a method of transforming curved grids into rectangular grids in two different coordinate systems. Then the 3D wave equation in the transformed coordinate system is derived. The wave field is modeled using the finite-difference method in the transformed coordinate system. The model calculation shows that this method is able to model the seismic wave field with fluctuating surface topography and achieve good results. Finally, the energy curves of the direct and reflected waves are analyzed to show that surface topography has a great influence on the seismic wave’s dynamic properties.