Uncertainty Quantification in Seismic Inversion Through Integrated Importance Sampling and Ensemble Methods

Abstract: Seismic inversion is essential for geophysical exploration and geological assessment, but it is inherently subject to significant uncertainty. This uncertainty stems primarily from the limited information provided by observed seismic data, which is largely a result of constraints in data collection geometry. As a result, multiple plausible velocity models can often explain the same set of seismic observations. In deep learning-based seismic inversion, uncertainty arises from various sources, including data noise, neural network design and training, and inherent data limitations. This study introduces a novel approach to uncertainty quantification in seismic inversion by integrating ensemble methods with importance sampling. By leveraging ensemble approach in combination with importance sampling, we enhance the accuracy of uncertainty analysis while maintaining computational efficiency. The method involves initializing each model in the ensemble with different weights, introducing diversity in predictions and thereby improving the robustness and reliability of the inversion outcomes. Additionally, the use of importance sampling weights the contribution of each ensemble sample, allowing us to use a limited number of ensemble samples to obtain more accurate estimates of the posterior distribution. Our approach enables more precise quantification of uncertainty in velocity models derived from seismic data. By utilizing a limited number of ensemble samples, this method achieves an accurate and reliable assessment of uncertainty, ultimately providing greater confidence in seismic inversion results.