Parametric inversion of viscoelastic media from VSP data using a genetic algorithm

Viscoelastic parameters are becoming more important and their inversion algorithms are studied by many researchers. Genetic algorithms are random, self-adaptive, robust, and heuristic with global search and convergence abilities. Based on the direct VSP wave equation, a genetic algorithm (GA) is introduced to determine the viscoelastic parameters. First, the direct wave equation in frequency is expressed as a function of complex velocity and then the complex velocities estimated by GA inversion. Since the phase velocity and Q-factor both are functions of complex velocity, their values can be computed easily. However, there are so many complex velocities that it is difficult to invert them directly. They can be rewritten as a function of c₀ and c_∞ to reduce the number of parameters during the inversion process. Finally, a theoretical model experiment proves that our algorithm is exact and effective.