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Development of efficient and robust Eikonal solver variants for first-arrival seismic modeling

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Abstract

We have developed and tested a new Eikonal first-arrival forward model scheme by combining a fast marching method (FMM) algorithm, an upwind Eikonal solver scheme first described by Sethian and Popovici in 1996, with a more accurate but less robust Eikonal scheme described by Vidale in 1990 as a finite difference method (VFD) in order to produce a robust forward model based in FMM, with application of VFD schemes for refinement of computed model times (FMM-VFD). The developed model was tested through a uniform velocity base case, and the Southern California Earthquake Center (SCEC) Harvard Velocity Model (CVM-H) of upper crust including the sedimentary basin under Los Angeles, CA. Its performance was evaluated by measuring error at different grid sizes against a set of reference times generated by an independent model. In comparison against first-order FMM (FMM-O1), second-order FMM (FMM-O2), and an improved FMM scheme known as factored FMM (FMM-F) against a set of generated reference times, FMM-VFD error was found to be significantly lower than first- and second-order FMM, and competitive with FMM-F, outperforming it in the presented scenarios.

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Code Availability

Code used in this study is freely available at https://github.com/abatchev/FMM-VFD.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of California, Los Angeles, 1703 Geology, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA

    Zagid Abatchev & Paul Davis

  2. Automated Seismics LLC, 18345 Sierra Hwy, Suite 7, Santa Clarita, CA, 91351, USA

    Zagid Abatchev & Gary Binder

Authors
  1. Zagid Abatchev
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  2. Gary Binder
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  3. Paul Davis
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Correspondence to Zagid Abatchev.

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Abatchev, Z., Binder, G. & Davis, P. Development of efficient and robust Eikonal solver variants for first-arrival seismic modeling. Comput Geosci 25, 1437–1453 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10596-020-10010-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10596-020-10010-5

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