Dispersion and Cost Analysis of Some Finite Difference Schemes in One-Parameter Acoustic Wave Modelling

A systematic comparison is carried out between some standard finite difference schemes, regarding their costs and dispersion properties. To be more specific, given a precision threshold to be imposed on the velocity error and a finite difference scheme, it is possible to determine a time-step and a grid-spacing in an optimal manner, i.e. so as to minimize the computational cost. Using this optimal cost as a criterion, it becomes easy to single out the most economical scheme for the purpose of a synthetic seismic campaign. This survey represents the preliminary part of the larger project Marmousi 3-D, the purpose of which is to create a synthetic database corresponding to one-parameter media. In this paper, one's attention is focused on the 2-2m family of schemes. Since both homogeneous and heteregenous cases are investigated, the study is expected to provide realistic figures for future simulations. 1 Introduction The use of numerical methods to produce synthetic seismograms dates bac..