Patent ID: 9063248
Filing Date: 2015-06-23
Classification: G01V

Abstract:
1. A computer-implemented method for creating an image of sub-surface formations in a defined 2D or 3D volume of a geological structure comprising: partitioning a velocity model domain representing a sub-surface structure of the earth in said defined volume into a plurality of blocks, each block having an associated processing task for processing wave data associated with a shot; partitioning a velocity model domain representing geophysical wavefield propagation characteristics of a sub-surface structure of the earth in said defined volume into a plurality of blocks, each block having an associated processing task for processing wave data associated with a shot; receiving, at local receiver devices, data representing measurement each wave produced by a shot of a sequence of plural shots; and assigning each partitioned domain block to one or more processing nodes of a distributed processing parallel computer device having a plurality of processing nodes interconnected through one or more communication networks; combining, at a respective partitioned node, receiver data of two or more shots to form a metashot, said associated processing tasks operating on said formed metadata at each said processing node; computing, in parallel, using said associated processing tasks at each said processing node, contributions of forward wave propagation data and reverse wave propagation at that node using said metashot data; configuring each node for pipelined processing wherein said forward or reverse wave propagation data contributions are computed at the processing node and stored at an associated local memory storage device for current metashot data while new data for a next metashot is loaded into the associated local memory storage device at each node; and using said computed forward wave propagation data and reverse wave propagation data contributions to form an imaging condition from which an image of sub-surface formations is created.