AVO Inversion of Long-offset Synthetic PP Data Based on Effective Reflection Coefficients

Conventional AVO inversion is based on the application of plane-wave reflection coefficients or their linearizations for pre-critical incidence angles in media with almost flat, weak-contrast reflecting interfaces. Since AVO inversion should account for the real curvature and contrast at the interfaces, the search of a more adequate mathematical apparatus for the correct description of wave reflection in real media remains an open seismic problem. We propose an improved AVO inversion based on replacement of the plane-wave reflection coefficients with the effective reflection coefficients. The improved inversion is free of the drawbacks discussed above and can be applied in pre-, near- and post-critical domains. We present the results of the improved AVO inversion of long-offset PP data for a test model. To estimate the validity of the improved AVO inversion, its results are compared with the results of the AVO inversion based on the plane-wave reflection coefficients