SeisFlows—Flexible waveform inversion software

• Published in: Computers & geosciences Vol. 115; pp. 88 - 95
• Main Authors: Modrak, Ryan T., Borisov, Dmitry, Lefebvre, Matthieu, Tromp, Jeroen
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier Ltd 01.06.2018
• Subjects: Exploration geophysics; Full-waveform inversion; High-performance computing; Seismology; Ultrasound; Exploration geophysics; High-performance computing; Seismology; Ultrasound; Full-waveform inversion
• ISSN: 0098-3004; 1873-7803
• DOI: 10.1016/j.cageo.2018.02.004

SeisFlows is an open source Python package that provides a customizable waveform inversion workflow and framework for research in oil and gas exploration, earthquake tomography, medical imaging, and other areas. New methods can be rapidly prototyped in SeisFlows by inheriting from default inversion or migration classes, and code can be tested on 2D examples before application to more expensive 3D problems. Wave simulations must be performed using an external software package such as SPECFEM3D. The ability to interface with external solvers lends flexibility, and the choice of SPECFEM3D as a default option provides optional GPU acceleration and other useful capabilities. Through support for massively parallel solvers and interfaces for high-performance computing (HPC) systems, inversions with thousands of seismic traces and billions of model parameters can be performed. So far, SeisFlows has run on clusters managed by the Department of Defense, Chevron Corp., Total S.A., Princeton University, and the University of Alaska, Fairbanks. •New methods can be tested on inexpensive 2D examples prior to full-scale application.•Flexibility and portability are key design goals.•Adaptable to geophysical imaging, medical imaging, nondestructive testing and other problems.•Use of the package is illustrated through a challenging exploration geophysics example.