Joint full waveform inversion and source localization of virtual and actual passive source seismic data

Joint full waveform inversion and source localization of virtual and actual passive source seismic data | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article Joint full waveform inversion and source localization of virtual and actual passive source seismic data Xujia Shang, Liguo Han, Pan Zhang, Wensha Huang, Donghao Zhang This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-7523315/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Under Review Version 1 posted 12 You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Full waveform inversion (FWI) using passive seismic data offers potential advantages in obtaining deep subsurface structural information. However, its application depends on a reliable background model and accurate source locations. Here, we introduce a joint inversion framework that uses virtual and actual passive seismic data to achieve velocity modeling and source localization. This method first retrieves the broadband virtual reflection responses at the surface by seismic interferometry. Then, the virtual responses are used as the basis for multiscale FWI to recover the subsurface velocity structures without knowing the actual passive source locations. Finally, using the inversion result as the initial model, reverse-time wavefield scanning and FWI are alternately performed based on actual passive source data to simultaneously invert for source locations and velocity information, and compensate for deep illumination. Numerical examples show that the proposed method can robustly recover the subsurface velocity structures using only passive seismic data, even when the initial model is rough, while accurately locating passive seismic events. Physical sciences/Engineering Earth and environmental sciences/Solid earth sciences Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Under Review Version 1 posted Editorial decision: Revision requested 23 Mar, 2026 Reviews received at journal 22 Mar, 2026 Reviewers agreed at journal 04 Mar, 2026 Reviews received at journal 03 Mar, 2026 Reviews received at journal 02 Mar, 2026 Reviewers agreed at journal 29 Jan, 2026 Reviewers agreed at journal 23 Sep, 2025 Reviewers invited by journal 23 Sep, 2025 Editor invited by journal 10 Sep, 2025 Editor assigned by journal 08 Sep, 2025 Submission checks completed at journal 06 Sep, 2025 First submitted to journal 03 Sep, 2025 You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-7523315","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":520732595,"identity":"3bc5811b-4593-4e6e-8891-c765847bd57b","order_by":0,"name":"Xujia Shang","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Jilin University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Xujia","middleName":"","lastName":"Shang","suffix":""},{"id":520732597,"identity":"08488722-1b85-4532-a4af-5b32a71e5e73","order_by":1,"name":"Liguo Han","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAA1klEQVRIie3OuwrCMBSA4VMEXQpd42CfoVLwQl8mmboUZweHA0In0dXHEATnEwJOFdeOujs4FiliUvcaN8H8kAshHwmAy/WDRQAecb0JQKFeOlYEGtJH+Q1pNuRZknHvRHR5qDCWMmcwTwTqk1YyXc04ibWKR2RIkQr0Z7z9Y5RFJFZKHAzxciWQ+VE7Od/eZI+GPG1IqV/hlRI7MAStiHkF05iRXE74MY1zP/v0sWx4reokDLZKlvdFMtj0inbS5OV6YgTA9dr9fN9U6xGg3V2Xy+X6v15+Q1IWGiN7XQAAAABJRU5ErkJggg==","orcid":"","institution":"Jilin University","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Liguo","middleName":"","lastName":"Han","suffix":""},{"id":520732599,"identity":"8836f177-4eff-48c6-b005-fff0f11203df","order_by":2,"name":"Pan Zhang","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Jilin University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Pan","middleName":"","lastName":"Zhang","suffix":""},{"id":520732601,"identity":"213fd3b6-77c0-4db2-82cf-ec53b87ba0d7","order_by":3,"name":"Wensha Huang","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Jilin University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Wensha","middleName":"","lastName":"Huang","suffix":""},{"id":520732603,"identity":"4a0e2a31-0897-46e6-a742-7d26ccc08d21","order_by":4,"name":"Donghao Zhang","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Jilin University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Donghao","middleName":"","lastName":"Zhang","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2025-09-03 06:23:10","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-7523315/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-7523315/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":92824988,"identity":"f2d10fd8-9714-45eb-96f2-e5f33d0809f1","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-10-06 04:02:59","extension":"docx","order_by":0,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"acdc-reference","size":2139002,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"shangxj.docx","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-7523315/v1/ab77aff9c4864fcdf2d74224.docx"},{"id":92825572,"identity":"21b27494-b4bc-493f-ba66-d80b1a840d48","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-10-06 04:10:59","extension":"json","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"acdc-reference","size":6219,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"864bd636c19746c6baad960ec68a3884.json","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-7523315/v1/7d2809f7f0185d2373676d59.json"},{"id":92824991,"identity":"b6590a17-c6c0-4c31-bf6a-0542593a4364","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-10-06 04:02:59","extension":"xml","order_by":2,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"acdc-reference","size":78730,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"864bd636c19746c6baad960ec68a38841enriched.xml","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-7523315/v1/6abda2bb639e17596241ef6b.xml"},{"id":92824992,"identity":"23af03f5-a760-4ed7-9dc1-0bb154937968","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-10-06 04:02:59","extension":"png","order_by":3,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"acdc-reference","size":217366,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"floatimage1.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-7523315/v1/4003605c05b0246c6e02b750.png"},{"id":92824990,"identity":"afb2fd7e-5ecc-4aa3-825c-2e5b0e8cb076","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-10-06 04:02:59","extension":"png","order_by":4,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"acdc-reference","size":74881,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"floatimage2.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-7523315/v1/2de49fd0fb8a755f1f80c5f6.png"},{"id":92825002,"identity":"c2779425-0a12-40cd-9c05-b29fc846592f","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-10-06 04:02:59","extension":"png","order_by":5,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"acdc-reference","size":342421,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"floatimage3.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-7523315/v1/60c734579fb0efb0a6b85539.png"},{"id":92825792,"identity":"a9967bd3-50cc-4c45-9da0-f671e43a1f0a","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-10-06 04:18:59","extension":"png","order_by":6,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"acdc-reference","size":415075,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"floatimage4.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-7523315/v1/e9741e094ba28aca5bf9f27c.png"},{"id":92825573,"identity":"cb462630-3f7d-4553-b1fb-83511656d4e0","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-10-06 04:10:59","extension":"png","order_by":7,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"acdc-reference","size":216489,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"floatimage5.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-7523315/v1/809bfd01d7710cd69bbf6d1f.png"},{"id":92825575,"identity":"bc8c995f-7096-47bd-8b76-ff38cb57422b","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-10-06 04:10:59","extension":"png","order_by":8,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"acdc-reference","size":442302,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"floatimage6.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-7523315/v1/4ffa524395e6f67b1d48dab4.png"},{"id":92825004,"identity":"463b40d3-b4e6-4df2-852f-b9669bbdbe19","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-10-06 04:02:59","extension":"png","order_by":9,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"acdc-reference","size":384851,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"floatimage7.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-7523315/v1/9205cfbe9a655bc4c956fcc6.png"},{"id":92824993,"identity":"f87d3b4a-a62f-4714-a28a-a37c803419b3","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-10-06 04:02:59","extension":"png","order_by":10,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"acdc-reference","size":54303,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"Onlinefloatimage1.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-7523315/v1/4c617ad59582e29ba8ad3ef2.png"},{"id":92824999,"identity":"557387c5-8873-40c4-b741-d6260d212ed1","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-10-06 04:02:59","extension":"png","order_by":11,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"acdc-reference","size":17961,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"Onlinefloatimage2.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-7523315/v1/58a80bbc0ee8c9071606ac4e.png"},{"id":92825005,"identity":"5d4c6e95-922a-403a-bb6d-812a01028710","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-10-06 04:02:59","extension":"png","order_by":12,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"acdc-reference","size":64730,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"Onlinefloatimage3.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-7523315/v1/1b5b812f616b6e2e8f56f4ad.png"},{"id":92825000,"identity":"fc25dff6-97c6-40b6-9a6f-e0ee636d6a04","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-10-06 04:02:59","extension":"png","order_by":13,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"acdc-reference","size":59899,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"Onlinefloatimage4.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-7523315/v1/631830d10cb383a91b7a3e2c.png"},{"id":92825001,"identity":"3b166510-4af6-4299-b2d9-9b740d2d7219","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-10-06 04:02:59","extension":"png","order_by":14,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"acdc-reference","size":29762,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"Onlinefloatimage5.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-7523315/v1/4633dea62b03ad625987ed60.png"},{"id":92824994,"identity":"5c4bc38c-6384-4510-991c-15e38c1167db","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-10-06 04:02:59","extension":"png","order_by":15,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"acdc-reference","size":109063,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"Onlinefloatimage6.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-7523315/v1/ecb065520d80c02e551ce031.png"},{"id":92824997,"identity":"417fcd26-873a-47a2-99e8-d92c14552f8e","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-10-06 04:02:59","extension":"png","order_by":16,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"acdc-reference","size":52800,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"Onlinefloatimage7.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-7523315/v1/11d3525fa4f113d12c4a556f.png"},{"id":92825006,"identity":"ea618ee3-d28c-48d7-bae0-209d3744b00c","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-10-06 04:02:59","extension":"xml","order_by":17,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"acdc-reference","size":78530,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"864bd636c19746c6baad960ec68a38841structuring.xml","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-7523315/v1/326d732475c8c87339043f4a.xml"},{"id":92825576,"identity":"f26f485c-a925-4984-b5d0-87f1c033bb81","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-10-06 04:10:59","extension":"html","order_by":18,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"acdc-reference","size":88488,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"earlyproof.html","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-7523315/v1/58cfabaf5a4910da0cbc52d7.html"},{"id":92826275,"identity":"a5a52b09-d163-40ec-9bfb-ff859fec0e62","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-10-06 04:27:00","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":956008,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"shangxj.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-7523315/v1_covered_ad9d1266-99df-41fc-b23f-454515e43a6c.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"No competing interests reported.","formattedTitle":"Joint full waveform inversion and source localization of virtual and actual passive source seismic data","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":false,"hideJournal":false,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":true,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"scientific-reports","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"scirep","sideBox":"Learn more about [Scientific Reports](http://www.nature.com/srep/)","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"","title":"Scientific Reports","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":true,"editorialSystem":"stoa","reportingPortfolio":"Scientific Reports","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-7523315/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-7523315/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003eFull waveform inversion (FWI) using passive seismic data offers potential advantages in obtaining deep subsurface structural information. However, its application depends on a reliable background model and accurate source locations. Here, we introduce a joint inversion framework that uses virtual and actual passive seismic data to achieve velocity modeling and source localization. This method first retrieves the broadband virtual reflection responses at the surface by seismic interferometry. Then, the virtual responses are used as the basis for multiscale FWI to recover the subsurface velocity structures without knowing the actual passive source locations. Finally, using the inversion result as the initial model, reverse-time wavefield scanning and FWI are alternately performed based on actual passive source data to simultaneously invert for source locations and velocity information, and compensate for deep illumination. Numerical examples show that the proposed method can robustly recover the subsurface velocity structures using only passive seismic data, even when the initial model is rough, while accurately locating passive seismic events.\u003c/p\u003e","manuscriptTitle":"Joint full waveform inversion and source localization of virtual and actual passive source seismic data","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2025-10-06 04:02:54","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-7523315/v1","editorialEvents":[{"type":"communityComments","content":0},{"type":"decision","content":"Revision requested","date":"2026-03-23T06:42:08+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorInvitedReview","content":"","date":"2026-03-22T20:26:40+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"43661441161620697772178257957145100084","date":"2026-03-04T05:26:56+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorInvitedReview","content":"","date":"2026-03-03T18:31:18+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorInvitedReview","content":"","date":"2026-03-02T06:05:58+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"296002760730614784813034366170943698081","date":"2026-01-29T16:36:59+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"46605954092201900290870473110670930140","date":"2025-09-23T18:40:09+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewersInvited","content":"","date":"2025-09-23T13:56:49+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorInvited","content":"","date":"2025-09-10T04:45:30+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorAssigned","content":"","date":"2025-09-08T13:27:31+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"checksComplete","content":"","date":"2025-09-06T07:22:05+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"submitted","content":"Scientific Reports","date":"2025-09-03T06:07:51+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""}],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"scientific-reports","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"scirep","sideBox":"Learn more about [Scientific Reports](http://www.nature.com/srep/)","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"","title":"Scientific Reports","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":true,"editorialSystem":"stoa","reportingPortfolio":"Scientific Reports","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"edcb8703-b98c-4ac7-98ed-efb91fe8f8c3","owner":[],"postedDate":"October 6th, 2025","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"under-review","subjectAreas":[{"id":55355410,"name":"Physical sciences/Engineering"},{"id":55355411,"name":"Earth and environmental sciences/Solid earth sciences"}],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2026-05-19T06:10:13+00:00","versionOfRecord":[],"versionCreatedAt":"2025-10-06 04:02:54","video":"","vorDoi":"","vorDoiUrl":"","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-7523315","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-7523315","identity":"rs-7523315","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"8U1c8b4HqxoKbykW_rLl7","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}