Introduction to the modelling/tomography tools within REFLEXW

In the following the different modelling/tomography tools within the modelling menu of REFLEXW
are described. The main tools are:
2D and 3D Finite difference modelling for seismic and electromagnetic wave propagation (chap. II)
2D ray tracing (chap. III)
2D- and 3D- transmission and refraction tomography (chap. IV)
Chap. I includes the generation of a model. This chapter is a more general one because all tools need a
model to be generated first.
Please use in addition to this user’s guide the handbook instructions and the online help.

I. model generation

First the generation of a complete new model is

described.

1. Enter the module modelling

2. Choose the wavetype (e.g. electromagnetic

for a GPR-modelling or acoustic for a
raytracing).

3. Enter the min./max. borders of the model

(parameters xmin, xmax, zmin, zmax). To be
considered: z is going from top to bottom with
positive numbers (e.g. zmin=0 and zmax=20).

4. activate the option new. The layer nr. is

changed to 1.

5. The first boundary at z=0 has been

automatically created by setting two layer
points at the left and right upper corner point
of the model. Now you must set the
parameters for this boundary within the input
of model parameters window which has been
automatically opened. If this window is not on
front press the right mouse button in order to
bring it to the front.

6. You may set or change the parameters either by editing the corresponding fields of the table or by
using the general fields situated in the right upper corner.
Using the second possibility first you have to enter the parameters within these fields. These
parameters can be overtaken to selected points of the current layer. The selection is done by clicking on
the fields in the first column of the table (the fields, which indicate the number of the points) and is
indicated by a cross or by activating the option take over all. Clicking the take over button in the
ControlBox leads to the updating of the parameters at the selected points or at each point (option take
over all activated).

7. Use the button update for updating the model.

Sandmeier geophysical software - REFLEXW guide

8. You may include some new layer points by simply clicking within the main modelling menu. The
actual general model parameters of the fields within the right upper corner of the input of modelling
parameter menu are automatically taken over for these new layer points. You may change these
parameters like described under step 6.

9. Return to the main modelling menu by simply activating it or by closing the input of model
parameters menu.

10. activate the option new for the next layer. The layer nr. is changed to 2.

11. For that layer you have to define all layer points and the corresponding model parameters - see step
6 to step 9.

12. Additional layers are defined as described for layer 2.

13. All layers must be closed - this means they must start or end at the model border or at any other
layer boundary. It is not necessary to do this manually but the options extrapolate and hor.extrapol.
may be used for that purpose. The interfaces don't have to be entered exactly at the edge, intersection
with another interface, respectively, but in the vicinity because the option extrapolate makes the
automatic interpolation between two interfaces as well as the extrapolation of the interface to the
boundary possible. Therefore the program searches automatically the nearest border at the exposed end
and extrapolates in that direction (in the case of an edge, extrapolation in x-, z-direction, respectively,
in the case of an interface to the nearest layer point).

PLEASE NOTE: The layer points are sorted automatically from lower x-distance to higher x-distance,
i.e. the interface function is unequivocal. Should for example a convolution be given it has to occur by
giving several interfaces, like it is done by the predefined symbols circle and rectangle.

14. Enter a filename and save the model using the speedoption or the option file/save model.

15. For additional features like using predefined symbols, combining existing layers or adding a
topography please refer to the handbook instructions under the individual chapters or to the online
help.

Sandmeier geophysical software - REFLEXW guide

II. Finite Difference (FD) modelling

The Finite Difference (FD) modelling tool allows the simulation of electromagnetic or seismic wave
propagation, respectively by means of FD-method for different sources (plane wave, point source as
well as "Exploding-Reflector"-source). As a result a single line or the complete wavefield are stored
and can be displayed after.

In the following we are describing the GPR-simulation for a 2D zero-offset section (standard GPR-data
acquisition).

1. First a new model must be generated (see chap. I) or an already existing model must be loaded using
the option file/load model.

2. Activate the option FD

3. The FD-GroupBox opens in

addition (see figure on the right).
Within this group box you have to
enter the necessary FD-Parameters.

4. First you must enter the main

frequency for the simulation in Hz
(seismics) or MHZ (GPR).

5. enter the wanted source type - for

this example exploding reflector. The
exploding reflector type allows you a
simulation of a 2D zero offset section
within one calculation.

6. Enter the wanted DeltaX increment in space direction (equal in x- and z-direction). For the FD-
computation the layer model has to be rastered with a given increment in x- and z-direction (option
DeltaX). Just so, a time increment has to be given (option DeltaT). The size of the space- and time-
increment corresponds to the minimal wave length as well as the velocity. The program determines
automatically the critical value of the space-increment (1/8 of the min. wave length for FD-scheme 4-
space, 1/12 of the min. wave length for FD-scheme 2-space, respectively) and shows this one in the
calc. critical values box down right. This value should not be passed over. A too big chosen DeltaX
increment results in numerical dispersion of the wavelet. Therefore if the result shows such a
dispersion you have to decrease the DeltaX increment.

well as on the given space-increment DeltaX (approximately: )t <= 1./(%2V) for the el.magnetic
7. Enter the wanted timeincrement DeltaT. The max. time-increment depends on the max. velocity as

propagation and )t <= 1./(Vp+Vs) for the elastic propagation). The critical time-increment of the
current set DeltaX increment is shown in the calc. critical values box at the bottom. A too big chosen
DeltaT increment results in an instability, this means the amplitude increases exponentially with time.
Therefore if the result shows such an amplitude increase you have to decrease the DeltaT increment.

8. Enter the total time TMax for the simulation.

9. Enter the boundary conditions, e.g. lin.absorbing range for the GPR-simulation.

Sandmeier geophysical software - REFLEXW guide

10. Choose the wanted excitation and registration components. By default the EY-components are
activated.

11. Choose the output type - for this example single line.

12. Enter the output parameters for the single line (rec x start, rec x end, rec z start, rec z end). For
example: rec x start: 0; rec x end: 5; rec z start: 0; rec z end: 0 (registration line at the surface)..

13. Activating the option StartFD starts first the rastering of model (if the option raster is activated)
and then starts the external program FDEMSEIS.EXE which will normally be executed in the
background (option background activated), so that it is possible to go on with the work in REFLEXW.
If the option background is deselected, the computation is faster but there is no possibility to work with
REFLEXW until the FD-computation is finished.

14. After having finished the FD-computation you may display the simulation result within the 2D-
dataanalysis.

Sandmeier geophysical software - REFLEXW guide

III. ray tracing

The ray tracing modelling tool allows the traveltime simulation of electromagnetic or seismic wave
propagation, respectively by means of a finite difference approximation of the eikonal equation. The
calculation of the synthetic traveltimes is restricted to the first arrivals for an arbitrary 2-dimensional
medium. No reflections and secondary arrivals can be calculated. This can be done using the FD-
simulation (see chap. II).
The main application is the seismic refraction but it is also possible to simulate any transmission data.
The raytracing may be used for
- the control of an inverted model
- an iterative adaptation of the calculated and real data by stepwise changing the underground model

In the following the application to seismic refraction data is described.

1. first a new model must be generated (see chap. I) or an already existing model must be loaded using
the option file/load model.

2. activate the option ray

3. The Ray-GroupBox opens in

addition (see figure on the right).
Within this group box you have to
enter the necessary raytracing
parameters.

4. We want to simulate the observed

traveltimes of different shots along
the line. For that purpose we have to
load the observed traveltimes using
the option File/load data
traveltimes. Then the screen is split
vertically showing in the upper
window the model and in the lower
the data.

5. Now the ray tracing parameters

have to be chosen:
- enter the wanted raytracing type FD-Vidale.
- enter the gridding increment DeltaX (equal in x- and z-direction - should be in the range of the
receiver increment or less - depends on the model complexity).
- enter the output-scale, e.g. 4
- enter the calculate type - in this case data traveltimes because we want to simulate all loaded
observed traveltimes
- enter the outputfile name

6. Start the raytracing using the option start

7. the calculated traveltimes are shown in the lower picture in addition. Now you may check for the
mean traveltime difference using the option Analyse/calculate traveltime differences

Sandmeier geophysical software - REFLEXW guide

8. If the calculated and the observed raveltimes do not match you may make some changes wthin the
model and restart the raytracing in order to get a better match.

Sandmeier geophysical software - REFLEXW guide

IV. tomography

Tomographic methods have been well established for borehole-borehole or borehole-surface

measurements whereby the object will be directly transmitted (so called transmission tomography).

In the case of the 2D refraction vertical tomography all sources and receivers are located within one
line at the surface. In order to allow for a high data coverage within the medium vertical velocity
gradients should be present and a curved raytracing for the calculation of the traveltimes must be used.

REFLEXW supports a 2D- and 3D-transmission traveltime tomography and a 2D refraction

tomography. For the 2D-tomography both straight and curved raytracing is supported. For the 3D-
tomography only straight raytracing is supported.

Chapter IV.1 includes the format and the picking of the traveltime data.
In chapter IV.2 the 2D tomographic interpretation of borehole-borehole transmission tomography is
described.
In chapter IV.3 the 2D tomographic interpretation of a refraction tomography is described.

IV.1 picking the traveltime data and description of the format

Before performing the tomography the traveltime data to be inverted must be present.

REFLEXW uses a 2D or 3D ASCII-data format:

2D-data format:
travel time, code, transmitter_X, transmitter_Z, receiver_X, receiver_Z
F8.2 I8 F8.2 F8.2 F8.2 F8.2
example (2 travel times):
800.00 1 0.00 2.00 100.00 2.00
801.60 1 0.00 2.00 100.00 6.00

3D-data format:
travel time, code, transmitter_X, transmitter_Y, transmitter_Z, receiver_X, receiver_Y, receiver_Z
F8.2 I8 F8.2 F8.2 F8.2 F8.2 F8.2 F8.2
example (2 travel times):
800.00 1 0.00 2.00 1.00 100.00 2.00 5.00
801.60 1 0.00 2.00 1.00 100.00 6.00 5.00

These data can be created externally or within REFLEXW when picking the original wavedata.

In the following the picking of the original wavedata within REFLEXW is described.

The most important part is the definition of the source- and receiver-coordinates. These coordinates are
stored within the traceheader of each trace. There are two different possibilities for both the refraction
and the transmission data.
Either each shot is imported, filtered and picked separately (standard procedure for “normal” refraction
interpretation - see refraction guide, Import the data and pick the first onsets (done within the module
2D-dataanalysis).
Or one datafile contains all shots (standard procedure for the reflection seismic interpretation - see

Sandmeier geophysical software - REFLEXW guide

reflection guide, Import the data and setting the geometry (both done within the module 2D-
dataanalysis) and the data are filtered and picked in one step. If a very high data coverage is present the
refraction data may also be handled like the reflection data with one datafile containing all shots. In
that case the various possibilities of defining the geometry may be claimed.

To be considered: In any case the traceheader coordinates must be correctly defined before picking!

IV.1.1 single shot analysis

Enter the import menu and choose single shot for data type (see jpg on the right). Enter the geometry of
your shot (the lat. offsets describe the positions of the boreholes for the transmission tromography) and
convert your data.

The edit traceheader coordinates menu opens. If the traceheader coordinates are not correct there exist
different possiblities to change them. They can be manually entered or load from an ASCII-file or you
may use the option update from fileheader in order to update
the traceheader coordinates from the entered fileheader
coordinates. In the latter case the receiver positions are
assumed to be equidistant. By default the shoty and recy
positions describe the location of the boreholes for transmission
tomography. The shotx and recx positions describe the location
along the receiver line (along the surface or along the boreholes
transmission tomography). The option x <-> y allows to
exchange the x- and y-coordinates of the sources and the
receivers. After having used this option the borehole locations
can be found on the x-
coordinates and the positions
within the boreholes on the y-
coordinates. Close the menu with
saving the changes. Now the
geometry of this single shot is
ready and the shot may be processed or the first arrivals may
be picked. Do the same procedure for all subsequent
shots.

Examples:

1. the equidistant receivers (5 to 50 m depth) and the shot (25 m depth) are located within the borehole
1 (position 0 m) and borehole 2 (30 m)
! enter the rec.start (5 m) and rec.end (50 m) and the shot pos. (25 m) within the boreholes
(fileheader menu)
! Enter for lat.offset the position of the borehole containing the receivers (0 m) and for shot lat.offset
the position of the shot borehole (30 m).
! Use the option update from fileheader within the fileheader tabella
! activate the option x<-> y. Now the x-traceheadercoordinates contain the positions of the
boreholes and the y-traceheadercoordaintes contain the positions of the shot and of the receivers
along the borehole.

Sandmeier geophysical software - REFLEXW guide

2. the shot is located within the borehole 2 (position 30 m) at 25 m depth and the equidistant receivers
are located along the surface from 0 to 20 m
! enter the rec.start (0 m) and rec.end (20 m) along the surface and for shot pos. the lateral position
of the shot borehole (30 m) within the fileheader menu.
! Enter for lat.offset the depth of the surface line relative to the borehole top (e.g. 0 if the top of the
borehole is 0) and for shot lat.offset the shot position within the shot borehole (25 m).
! Use the option update from fileheader within the fileheader tabella. Now the x-
traceheadercoordinates contain the positions of the receivers along the surface and the position of
the shotborehole and the y-traceheadercoordaintes contain the postions of the surface line and of
the shot withinthe shotborehole.

It is possible to speed up the procedure of importing and setting the geometry for a simple geometry:
- All data can be imported within one step using the conversion sequence parallel lines. Then the edit
traceheader coordinates menu does not open.
- it is possible to redefine the geometry of the single shots within the edit several fileheaders menu (to
be found under file). Select the wanted filepath and open files. The following step by step procedure
refers to example 1: Choose all wanted files and enter the shot positions and the offsets of the
boreholes (rec.offs. and shot offs.). Choose "update trace headers" -> fileheader and click on save (see
jpg below). With the option offset -> x activated the shot and receivers offsets (borehole locations) are
written to the corresponding x_traceheadercoordinates and the shot and receiver positions (positions
along the borehole) are written to the y-coordinates. If deactivated the y-traceheadercoordinates are
used for the offsets and the x-coordinates are used for the positions. You may check your geometry
using the option file/edit traceheader.
It is only possible to redefine the geometry within one step for the same shot/receiver layout. Therefore
if you have two different layouts as described within example 1 and 2 you must redefine the geometry
for these two layouts separately.

Layout 1 (identical to example 1 with 3 shots at 20, 25 and 30 m depth).

! Select the wanted filepath and open files. Choose all data belonging to layout 1
! enter the rec.start (5 m) and rec.end (50 m) and the shot pos. (20, 25 and 30 m) within the
boreholes
! Enter for rec. offs. the position of the borehole containing the receivers (0 m) and for shot offs.the
position of the shot borehole (30 m).
! Activate the “option offset -> x” and choose for “update traceheaders” “fileheader” and click on
save. Now the fileheaders of the chosen files will be updates as well as the traceheaders.

Sandmeier geophysical software - REFLEXW guide

Layout 2 (identical to example 2 with 3 shots at 20, 25 and 30 m depth).

! Select the wanted filepath and open files. Choose all data belonging to layout 2
! enter the rec.start (0 m) and rec.end (20 m) along the surface and for shot pos. the lateral position
of the shot borehole (30 m)
! Enter for rec. offs.the depth of surface line relative to the borehole top (e.g. 0 if the top of the
borehole is 0) and for shot offs.the depths of the shots (20, 25 and 30 m).
! Deactivate the option “offset -> x” choose for “update traceheaders” “fileheader” and click on
save. Now the fileheaders of the chosen files will be updates as well as the traceheaders.

Sandmeier geophysical software - REFLEXW guide

IV 1.2 several shots analysis

Putting all shots together has several advantages:

- setting the geometry is easier
- picking is faster

You can put together the shots during the import (conversion
sequence combine lines/shots) or afterwards using a special
processing option. The shots must have the same sample number
if using the import option conversion sequence “combine
lines/shots”.

The step-by-step procedure:

1. Import your single shot data. Set datatype to several shots
because in step 2 all shots will be combined within one single
file. The order of the files must be correct (e.g. file001.sg2 and
not file1.sg2) because otherwise the sorting of the files is not
correct for step number 2.
If you are using the conversion sequence “combine lines/shots” it
is possible to load all shots within one import step (multiple file choice using the ctr or shft key). The
step number 2 can then be ignored.

2. load the first shot and put together all shots using the option
combine files f. CMP under processing/edit traces. Click on load
and choose all the other shots except the actually loaded file
(multiple file choice using the ctr or shft key). To be considered:
the sorting of the files is done automatically with ascending
alphabetic order of the filenames. Therefore a renaming of the
files e.g. 1.dat,...,9.dat to 01.dat,...,09.dat may be necessary.

3. do any filtering, e.g. bandpassfiltering and time cut (optional).

4. enter the geometry using the option CMP (see also chap.
1.12.4.1). Click on geometry and activate fixed line for standard
geometry. Enter the geometry within the standard geometry box.
The radio box standard line direction allows to define the direction of the standard geometry.
x-direction activated: the line (shots and receivers) is assumed to be orientated in x-direction. This is
the case for a seismic refraction dataset. Shot offset and receiver offset define the constant offset in y-
direction and should be set to 0 for seismic refraction data.
y-direction shots/rec. activated: the total line (receivers and shots) is assumed to be orientated in y-
direction. Use this option for example to define the geometry of a two boreholes transmission
measurement. Shot offset and receiver offset define the positions of the 2 boreholes along the x-axis
(surface).
y-direction shots activated: the shots are assumed to be orientated in y-direction. Use this option for
example to define the geometry of a borehole containing the shots and the receivers placed at the
surface.Shotoffset specifies the x-position of the shot borehole and receiver offset specifies the location
of the receivers in y-direction (normally 0 for surface).
y-direction rec. activated: the receivers are assumed to be orientated in y-direction. Use this option for
example to define the geometry of a borehole containing the receivers and the shots placed at the
surface. Receiver offset specifies the x-position of the receiver borehole and shot offset specifies the

Sandmeier geophysical software - REFLEXW guide

location of the shots in y-direction (normally 0 for surface).
Click on apply std. geometry - the geometry will be updated and save the geometry. It is recommended
to check the geometry of the individual traces using the edit single traces.
The standard geometry must be applied separately on each individual configuration. A new
configuration is given for example if the receiver line has been changed or if the shots and receivers
have been exchanged. The parameters first trace and last trace define the range for the individual
configuration.
The following example is a dataset containing two different configurations corresponding to layout 1
(the first 3 shots) and layout 2 (the last 3 shots) of chap. IV.1.1
The parameters for the borehole/borehole configuration (layout 1 of chap. IV.1.1 with 24 receivers) are
the following:

nr. channels: 24
first trace: 1
last trace: 72
shot start: 20
shot increment: 5
shot offset: 30
receiver increment: 2
receiver offset: 0
First receiver: 5
last receiver: 51
y-direction shots/rec. activated

The parameters for a borehole/surface configuration (layout 2 of chap. IV.1.1 with 24 receivers) are the
following:

nr. channels: 24
first trace: 72
last trace: 144
shot start: 5
shot increment: 5
shot offset: 30
receiver increment: 1
receiver offset: 0
First receiver: 0
last receiver: 23
y-direction shots activated

The rays of these two configurations are shown on the right.

Sandmeier geophysical software - REFLEXW guide

IV.1.3 picking the first arrivals

After having imported the data and having defined the traceheader geometry the traveltime data must
be picked.
For that purpose activate the option pick and pick the data using one of the picking options. Open the
pick save menu using the option save. The save picks menu opens (see figure on the right). In any case
the picks also should be saved using the Reflex Win format in order to
have the possibility to load them again in a later stage.
Use the format ASCII-2D tomography or ASCII-3D tomography in
order to generate the ASCII-file for a subsequent tomography. With
the option “export several existing picks into 1 ASCII-file” activated
you may export several existing pickfiles into 1 ASCII-file.
The pick-file will have the extension TOM and will be stored under the
path ASCII under the current projectpath.

Sandmeier geophysical software - REFLEXW guide

IV.2 performing the transmission tomography

1. First a starting model must be generated (see chap. I) or an already existing model must be loaded
using the option file/load model. Normally the starting model may be a simple homogeneous model
whereby the velocity should be within the expected range.

2. Activate the option Tomo

3. The TomographyGroupBox opens

in addition (see figure on the right).
Within this group box you have to
enter the necessary tomography
parameters.

- Load the data using the option load

data (see also item 1). If the 3D-data
format is used for the 2D-tomography
you have to deactivate the option use
2D-data and you have to specify the
second coordinate (y or z) within the
radiobox sec.coord. The first
coordinate is always x. The third
coordinate is neglected.

- Check the geometry of your loaded traveltimedata using the

option show rays

- Enter the wanted space increment (equal in x- and z-direction).

This increment should be within the range of the receiver or shot
increment.

- Activate the option curved ray if the curved raytracing shall be

used. If activated the option start curved ray specifies the
iteration step for which the curved raytracing will be used first.

- For a first tomographic result you may use the other default parameters. There are no general rules for
these parameters but you have to adapt the parameters to your data in order to get the best result.

- Enter a name for the final model. Please use not the same
name as for the starting model because this may lead to
problems.

- Start the tomography. The tomographic result is stored

using the “normal” REFLEXW format. You may display the
result within the 2D-dataanalysis.

Sandmeier geophysical software - REFLEXW guide

IV.3 performing the refraction tomography

In the case of the 2D refraction vertical tomography all sources and receivers are located within one
line at the surface. In order to allow for a high data coverage within the medium vertical velocity
gradients should be present and a curved raytracing for the calculation of the traveltimes must be used.
The curved rays are calculated using a finite difference approximation of the Eikonal equation (see
raytracing). A start model must be defined. No assignment to layers is necessary.
The start model should contain a quite strong vertical velocity gradient and the max. velocity variations
should be large enough (e.g. 200 % of the original values) in order to enable strong vertical gradients at
those positions where an interface is assumed. A smoothing in horizontal direction is often useful
because of the normally quite large receiver increments.

1. First a starting model must be

generated (see chap. I) or an already
existing model must be loaded using
the option file/load model. Normally
the starting model may be a simple
homogeneous model with a quite
strong vertical velocity gradient (dv/dz
= 50 1/m, e.g.) whereby the velocity at
the surface boundary should be within
the expected range (e.g. v=400 m/s).

2. Activate the option Tomo

3. The TomographyGroupBox opens

in addition (see figure on the right).
Within this group box you have to
enter the necessary tomography
parameters.

- Load the data using the option load data (see also item 1). If the 3D-data format is used for the 2D-
tomography you have to deactivate the option use 2D-data and you have to specify the second
coordinate (y or z) within the radiobox sec.coord. The first coordinate is always x. The third
coordinate is neglected.

- Enter the wanted space increment (equal in x- and z-direction). Normally this increment should be
small enough in order to allow small scale variations with depth. It may be significantly smaller than
the receiver increment.

- The following options must be set for the refraction tomography:

- activate the option curved ray.
- set the parameter start curved ray to 1.

- Enter a quite large value for max.def.change (%), e.g. 200 %

- Often it is useful to force the first iteration (option force 1.iter. activated) to generate a new model
even if the resulting residuals are larger than for the starting model.

- Enter a smoothing value in x-direction (parameter average x, e.g. 10).

Sandmeier geophysical software - REFLEXW guide

- Activate the option show result in order to display the tomography result

- For a first tomographic result you may use the other default parameters. There are no general rules
for these parameters but you have to adapt the parameters to your data in order to get the best result.

- Enter a name for the final model. Note: do not use the same name like for the starting model.

- Start the tomography. The tomographic result is stored using the “normal” REFLEXW format. You
may display the result within the 2D-dataanalysis.

4. Control the tomographic result by a forward raytracing. For that purpose activate the option ray.
The raytracing menu opens in addition.
Load the traveltime data using the option File/load data traveltimes. Then the screen is split vertically
showing in the upper window the model together with the tomographic result and in the lower the data.
Now the ray tracing parameters have to be chosen:
- enter the wanted raytracing type FD-Vidale.
- enter the gridding increment DeltaX - this increment must be equal to the increment used for the
tomography.
- enter the output-scale, e.g. 1
- enter the calculate type - in this case data traveltimes because we want to simulate all loaded
observed traveltimes
- enter the outputfile name
- deactivate the option raster
- start the raytracing using the option start. As the option raster is deactivated you are asked for the
raster file. Choose the tomography raster file.
- the calculated traveltimes are shown in the lower picture in addition. Now you may check for the
mean traveltime difference using the option Analyse/calculate traveltime differences

Sandmeier geophysical software - REFLEXW guide