Seismic inversion through Tabu Search¹

Abstract

Highly non-linear seismic trace inversion problems can be solved efficiently by an implementation of Tabu Search, a meta-heuristic method related to artificial intelligence. The implementation under consideration is a deterministic, global search that combines the advantages ofa local search, giving a quick descent to local misfit minima, with an ability to cross misfit barriers in the model space. Once Tabu Search has found an area of low misfit, it performs an extensive exploration of its deepest points. This property makes it possible to use Tabu Search for a semiquantitative resolution and uncertainty analysis of the inverse problem.

Reflection waveform inversion using local descent methods: Estimating attenuation and velocity over a gas‐sand deposit

“…Hence, it is not enough merely to precondition (filter) the standard gradient method updates to extract any low-wavenumber information [as suggested by Mora (1987b)]; rather, a new inversion approach is needed. Some authors advocate global, nonlinear search techniques to recover both high and low wavenumbers of velocity (Sen and Stoffa, 1991;Minshull et al, 1994;Vinther and Mosegaard, 1996). But because of the computational expense of such techniques, only simple (usually 1-D) models are obtainable.…”

Tabu for matched-field source localization and geoacoustic inversion

“…This is the process suggested in Ref. 27; a tabu list is formed containing N past moves that lead to improvements. These moves are not reversed.…”

“…27 To our knowledge, MFP results using Tabu have not previously been presented to the underwater acoustics community.…”

Comparison of Performance of Heuristic Search Methods for Phase Velocity Inversion in Shallow Surface Wave Method

“…Although it is regarded as one of the major approaches in heuristics, the method is not often used in seismology. A few applications were examined in exploration geophysics by Vinther and Mosegaard (1996).…”