From Exploration to Development: Scalable FWI Model Building with Sparse OBN and Towed-Streamer Reimaging

Paper submitted to IMAGE 2026, by Jon Burren, Richard Huang, Hao Xing, Armando Sosa, Ronaldo Florendo, Bertrand Caselitz (TGS).

Abstract

Full-waveform inversion (FWI) is widely used to deliver data-driven velocity models that improve imaging in complex settings, with its success closely tied to the acquisition configuration. Long offsets, broad azimuthal sampling, and usable low frequencies materially improve the stability and depth penetration of FWI updates, particularly in salt-affected provinces where velocity uncertainty dominates interpretation risk. Ocean-bottom node (OBN) acquisition has therefore become a benchmark input for high-fidelity FWI, but dense node programs can be difficult to justify when uncertainty is highest, during early exploration and prospect maturation.

Read the full article here.