Abstract
A finite difference method (FDM) is a very useful method in seismic wavefield estimation in laterally varying structures. Although the FDM has some advantages in its simple algorithm and applicability for complex medium, the calculation may become costly due to enlarged model space when there are zones of low velocity. The application of ray theory can calculate faster than the FDM in non-complex structures and there might be a method to exploit the advantages of both the FDM and ray theory.
We demonstrate the hybrid estimation combining the asymptotic ray theory and the finite difference method to solve these problems in FDM, which has both advantages in two different approaches. In this simulation, the ray theory is applied for non-complex part of medium and the FDM is for complex part of medium. This approach can be effective for explorations of resources, which are going to become more complicated in future.
