Whitepaper: 3D Reverse-time Shot Record Migration (RTM)

Press "play" below for a "tutorial" on our reverse-time migration (RTM). This video is narrated by WIT's CEO, Morgan Brown, and is excerpted from a talk given by Dr. Brown at the June, 2010 Denver Geophysical Society luncheon. It puts RTM into the context of other prestack depth migration methods, describes the algorithm in a step-by-step fashion, and illustrates RTM with two field data examples (Gulf Coast salt dome and Wyoming anticline). To view this tutorial at full-size, please visit ScreenCast.com.

WIT developed a shot record reverse-time migration (RTM) algorithm. Our RTM has both pseudospectral (Fourier) and finite-difference capabilities. Source and receiver wavefields are propagated in time and correlated to form an image at each (x,y,z). An anti-aliased imaging condition is employed to preserve high frequency content and suppress artifacts. Our RTM can be run from topography (this can imply land topography, OBC/nodes, or 3D VSP). We can optionally apply shot consolidation to reduce runtime without sacrificing data coverage.

Interested in reading more about WIT's WEM technology?

• We presented field data examples of WIT's RTM at the June, 2010 Denver Geophysical Society Luncheon. The presentation contains RTM examples from the Gulf Coast and Wyoming.