A practitioner's approach to full waveform inversion

A modular and interpretive approach to full waveform inversion (FWI) processing is proposed that allows customization of individual parts of the FWI workflow and use of viable geologic information. This flexible workflow design makes it possible to respond to challenges that are specific to a given data set, guide the inversion, and develop custom quality control (QC) measures. From test cases, it was concluded that detailed understanding of the input dataset and the geologic setting, combined with a skillful application of the processor’s toolkit, are paramount for a successful inversion.