Full-waveform inversion in a shallow water environment: A North Sea 3D towed-streamer data example

We apply 3D vertical transversely isotropic (VTI) full-waveform inversion (FWI) to a towed-streamer dataset acquired in shallow water in the North Sea, offshore of Norway. We show that FWI yields a velocity model with much higher resolution below the water bottom compared to the starting model from reflection tomography. The lateral velocity heterogeneities revealed in the vertical and horizontal velocity profiles correlate with the local geology and seismic data. Pre-stack depth migration (PSDM) images with the FWI velocity model are much more continuous beneath those heterogeneities. The FWI velocity model also significantly improves the flatness of the common image offset gathers and the match between recorded and modeled data.