UFAZ L2 Geosciences

Principle of geophysical Imaging

Exam (1h30)
No document or electronic devices allowed

Exercise 1 (4 points)

Indicate the good connections between the 3 columns of the following table
(Give your answer in the form : 1 – c – b … this is an example …)

Type of inverse
problem
a) Model null space
1) Equi- a) Single best solution /
* * * * not empty / Data null
determined Perfect data fitting
space empty
b) Model null space
2) Under- b) Single best solution /
* * * * empty / Data null
determined No perfect data fitting
space not empty
c) Model null space
3) Over- c) Several best solutions
* * * * not empty / Data null
determined / perfect data fitting
space not empty
d) Model null space
4) Mix- d) Several best solutions
* * * * empty / Data null
determined / No perfect data fitting
pace empty

Exercise 2 (4 points)

(no more than 5 lines per question please)

Consider a general linear problem in the canonical form 𝑑 = 𝐺𝑚 (𝐺 may not be a square
matrice).
Whatever the type of inverse problem (Equi/Under/Over/Mix – determined) we note 𝐺% the
“generalized” inverse of 𝐺 such that the estimated solution model is 𝑚&'( = 𝐺% . 𝑑

1. For a purely over-determined problem, indicate the formula for 𝐺% and the quantity
that is minimized by the estimated solution
2. For a purely under-determined problem, indicate the formula for 𝐺% and the quantity
that is minimized by the estimated solution
3. For a mix-determined problem, explain how 𝐺% can be computed from the singular
value decomposition of 𝐺 and explain the principle and main objective of the
truncated singular value decomposition.

@J. Vergne 1
UFAZ L2 Geosciences

Exercise 3 (10 points)

Figure 1a presents the set-up of a vertical seismic profiling in a vertical borehole. A shot is
made at the surface on the edge of the borehole and recorded by seismic sensors installed in
the borehole located at depth 𝒛𝒊 (𝑖 = 1 … 𝑁, with 𝑁 the number of sensors). We consider
that 1) the seismic rays propagates in straight vertical lines in the ground along the borehole
between the source and each sensor (red lines with arrows on Fig.1) and 2) using a camera
in the borehole we know that the underground is made of 4 horizontal homogeneous layers
and we consider we know perfectly their thickness 𝒉𝒋 (𝑗 = 1 … 𝑀 − 1, with 𝑀 the number of
layers).
We want to estimate the slowness of seismic P waves 𝒏𝒋 in each layer based on the
measured travel time 𝒕𝒊 of this wave at each of the sensors.

1. Write the complete matrice 𝐺 (with the correct expression of each 𝐺78 element)
relating the data (travel times 𝑡7 ) and the model (seismic slowness 𝑛8 ) for the set-up
presented on figure 1a.
2. Indicate to what kind of problem (Equi/Under/Over/Mix – determined) corresponds
the set-up of figure 1a. How can you prove that based on the determinant (not asked
to compute it) of your matrice 𝐺 ?
3. Assuming that the errors on the measurements of travel time are identical for each
sensor (for example 𝜎 = 0.01𝑠), give the formula of the model covariance matrice.
Try to guess which elements of this covariance matrice are strictly positive, negative
or equal to 0.

Now consider the set-up presented on Figure 1b.

4. To what kind of problem (Equi/Under/Over/Mix – determined) corresponds the set-

up of figure 1b. Explain briefly your reasoning.
5. Indicate how many singular values of the SVD (Singular Values Decomposition) are
equal to 0 for this set-up (not asked to compute the SVD). Explain briefly your
reasoning.
6. Estimate the resolution matrice on the model parameters (with estimated values for
each element of this matrice) for this set-up and explain briefly your reasoning. If
needed you can consider the relative thickness of the layers as presented on Figure
1b.

Exercise 4 (2 points)

Considering a non linear problem of the form 𝑑 = 𝑔(𝑚).

Give one main advantage and one main drawback of computing a solution with :
- a linearized Newton approach based for example on a Taylor series approximation.
- a Monte-Carlo type (exploration of the whole data space) inversion approach.

@J. Vergne 2
UFAZ L2 Geosciences

Figure 1 : 2 set-up of a vertical seismic profiling. The gray rectangle indicates the borehole
and the blue triangles the seismic sensors installed in the borehole. Red arrows illustrate
the propagation path for the P waves

@J. Vergne 3