Least-squares reverse time migration via linearized waveform inversion using a Wasserstein metric

Least-squares reverse time migration (LSRTM), an effective tool for imaging the structures of the earth from seismograms, can be characterized as a linearized waveform inversion problem. We have investigated the performance of three minimization functionals as the [Formula: see text] norm, the hybrid [Formula: see text] norm, and the Wasserstein metric ([Formula: see text] metric) for LSRTM. The [Formula: see text] metric used in this study is based on the dynamic formulation of transport problems, and a primal-dual hybrid gradient algorithm is introduced to efficiently compute the [Formula: see text] metric between two seismograms. One-dimensional signal analysis has demonstrated that the [Formula: see text] metric behaves like the [Formula: see text] norm for two amplitude-varied signals. Unlike the [Formula: see text] norm, the [Formula: see text] metric does not suffer from the differentiability issue for null residuals. Numerical examples of the application of three misfit functions to LSRTM on synthetic data have demonstrated that, compared to the [Formula: see text] norm, the hybrid [Formula: see text] norm and [Formula: see text] metric can accelerate LSRTM and are less sensitive to non-Gaussian noise. For the field data application, the [Formula: see text] metric produces the most reliable imaging results. The hybrid [Formula: see text] norm requires tedious trial-and-error tests for the judicious threshold parameter selection. Hence, the more automatic [Formula: see text] metric is recommended as a robust alternative to the customary [Formula: see text] norm for time-domain LSRTM.