System and method for generating images of subsurface structures

Abstract

A system and method for generating images of a subsurface region of interest is provided. In one embodiment, a computer-implemented method of generating images related to a subsurface region of interest includes: accessing, via a central processing unit (CPU), seismic data and an earth model related to the subsurface region of interest; forward propagating a source wavefield using the earth model at a first time interval via at least one external co-processor coupled to the CPU; transferring, at a second time interval, the forward propagated source wavefield to the CPU for compression and external storage; backward propagating the seismic data at the first time interval via the external co-processor to derive backward propagated receiver wavefield; and transferring, at the second time interval, the backward propagated receiver wavefield to the CPU. Via the CPU, the method further includes retrieving the stored forward propagated source wavefield; decompressing the retrieved forward propagated source wavefield; and applying imaging conditions to the decompressed forward propagated source wavefield and backward propagated receiver wavefield to construct image data representative of the subsurface region of interest.