Digital generation of accurate synthetic seismograms

A point source insonifies a one mile deep, 200 layer, compressional velocity earth model, and the backscattered response is computed at surface receiver elements. The computational method is based on a plane wave decomposition of the spherical wave emanating from the source. Cylindrical symmetry is assumed in computing the surface responses. Physical and numerical phenomena affecting accuracy are illustrated: aliasing, critical angle effects, absorption and a new phenomenon we call tunneling. The accuracy is demonstrated by comparison with real field seismograms for an area consistent with the computational assumptions. This research is directed toward improving accurate seismic inversion techniques for geophysical data.