Book Description

The purpose of this book is to provide the information required for understanding the fundamental aspects of the elaborate computer processing schemes prevalent in exploration geophysics. Basic Wave Analysis has three parts. Part 1 addresses velocity analysis. The correct determination of velocity is the most important problem in seismic exploration, and an understanding of velocity analysis is a valuable asset for a geophysicist. Part 2 discusses raypath analysis. Raypaths provide a geometrical picture of how waves travel, so that a person can visualize raypaths in their imagination. Geometrical pictures are as important in seismology as they are in optics. Part 3 addresses wavefront analysis. A person cannot easily visualize traveling wavefronts in their imagination; however, a computer can follow their motion, and give the geophysicist the final outcome. Knowledge of wavefront analysis helps a geophysicist understand many modern computer methods. This book has not been written to address advanced subjects. Rather, it concentrates on the basic concepts of Fermat and Huygens to explore and understand basic wave analysis. This book is based upon inventive science. It deals with ideas, and not with numerical algorithms. It does not explain the details the many migration and inversion methods use, but it does provide readers with the tools needed to make those topics more understandable. The three parts of this book are in the order of increasing difficulty, and the most important part is Part 1, because velocity analysis is central to every seismic investigation.