Open AccessSimulated annealing ray tracing in complex three‐dimensional media
Author(s) -
Velis Danilo R.,
Ulrych Tadeusz J.
Publication year - 2001
Publication title -
geophysical journal international
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.302
H-Index - 168
eISSN - 1365-246X
pISSN - 0956-540X
DOI - 10.1046/j.1365-246x.2001.01401.x
Subject(s) - ray tracing (physics) , tracing , simulated annealing , computer science , algorithm , optics , physics , operating system
SUMMARY Simulated annealing has been applied to seismic ray tracing to determine the minimum traveltime ray path connecting two points in complex 3‐D media. In contrast to conventional ray tracing schemes such as shooting and bending, simulated annealing ray tracing (SART) overcomes some well‐known difficulties regarding multipathing and take‐off angle selection. These include local convergence (that is, failing to obtain the ray path with absolute minimum traveltime) and divergence of the take‐off angle selection strategy. Under these circumstances, shooting and bending methods may not provide reliable results in highly variable 3‐D media. A flexible model representation is used to accommodate a large class of velocity models.