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Enhancement and Sharpening the Migration Images of the Gravity Field and Its Gradients

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Abstract

Potential field migration represents a rapid technique for imaging the subsurface based on gravity data. However, migration transformation usually produces a smooth and unfocused image of the targets due to the diffusive nature of the potential fields. In this paper, we introduce a method of the migration image enhancement and sharpening based on the application of the hybrid focusing stabilizer, which combines the edge-preserving smoothing filter with the minimum support functional. The method is based on the model resolution matrix of the migration operator. We also improve the migration image with a novel target-oriented migration method. The developed method of migration image enhancement and sharpening is illustrated by synthetic model studies and case studies. The case study involves imaging the full tensor gravity gradient data collected in the Nordkapp Basin of the Barents Sea.

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Acknowledgements

The authors acknowledge the support of the University of Utah’s Consortium for Electromagnetic Modeling and Inversion (CEMI) and of TechnoImaging. This work was also supported by the RSF, project no. 16-11-10188. We are thankful to Dr. B. Farrelly for providing the FTG data.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Geology and Geophysics, University of Utah, 115 S 1460 E, Salt Lake City, UT, 84112, USA

    Xiaolei Tu & Michael S. Zhdanov

  2. TechnoImaging, 4001 South, 700 East, Suite 500, Salt Lake City, UT, 84107, USA

    Michael S. Zhdanov

  3. MIPT, Moscow, 141700, Russia

    Michael S. Zhdanov

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  1. Xiaolei Tu
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Correspondence to Michael S. Zhdanov.

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Tu, X., Zhdanov, M.S. Enhancement and Sharpening the Migration Images of the Gravity Field and Its Gradients. Pure Appl. Geophys. 177, 2853–2870 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00024-019-02397-9

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