CWP 2023 Research Statement

The Center for Wave Phenomena (CWP) collaborates with the petroleum industry, government agencies, and academic institutions to conduct leading research broadly focused on exploration seismology, including 3D seismic wave propagation, imaging, data acquisition, inversion and time-lapse monitoring. Founded in 1983, CWP combines mathematical and physical rigor with computational sophistication to address a wide range of data-driven topics. Our cultural and intellectual diversity and broad research interests strengthen the program and ensure that our students and visitors have the opportunity to choose and pursue industry-relevant research projects in which they thrive. This unique experience is made possible by financial support from, and collaboration with, our sponsors.

What significant industry-relevant challenges will CWP solve?

CWP is committed to carrying out a strong applied research program in:

  • 3D seismic modeling, imaging and inversion for complex marine and land geological environments using realistic heterogeneous elastic, anisotropic and attenuative models.
  • Real-time 3D seismic data acquisition, processing, and interpretation, including land geophone/seismometers and distributed acoustic sensing (DAS).
  • Time-lapse monitoring Time-lapse monitoring of hydrocarbon production, CO2 sequestration, hydraulic fracturing, and reservoir compaction using borehole, surface, and ocean-bottom seismic data.
  • Near-surface geophysics and geohazards taking advantage of novel sensing methods and exploiting synergy with the Geophysics field camp.
  • Exploration and exploitation of unconventional reservoirs including application of seismic methods to identify “sweet spots” for optimally designed drilling and to monitor hydraulic reservoir stimulation.  
  • Automated quantitative seismic interpretation with uncertainty quantification.

What tools will CWP develop to address these challenges?

Successfully addressing these topics over the next couple of years requires the development of a suite of analytic and computational tools that extend our traditional research strengths in new and complementary directions:

  • Elastic anisotropic waveform inversion supplemented with lithologic constraints for high-resolution reservoir characterization and model building.
  • Physics-based machine deep learning and data mining technologies including hybrid FWI/ML algorithms for reservoir characterization and time-lapse monitoring and multiple suppression.
  • Methodologies for high-quality dense seismic acquisition using single and multifiber DAS, interconnected sensor networks, and autonomous vehicles.
  • Geophysical applications of compressive sensing, including sparse and optimized 3D acquisition design, full-wavefield reconstruction including 5D interpolation, imaging and inversion.
  • Novel approaches to 3D and 4D multiphysics/multiparameter inversion using geological and petrophysical constraints.
  • Applications of Marchenko imaging and interferometry in complex geological environments.
  • A state-of-the-art HPC CPU/GPU toolbox of CWP codes to support geophysical research and

CWP is committed to advancing the state of knowledge in applied seismology in a rapidly changing economic and technological environment and to maintaining a close partnership with industry sponsors.