Weak anisotropy-attenuation parameters

Velocity anisotropy and attenuation in weakly anisotropic and weakly attenuating structures can be treated uniformly using weak anisotropy-attenuation (WAA) parameters. The WAA parameters are constructed in a way analogous to weak anisotropy (WA) parameters designed for weak elastic anisotropy. The WAA parameters generalize WA parameters by incorporating attenuation effects. They can be represented alternatively by one set of complex values or by two sets of real values. Assuming high-frequency waves and using the first-order perturbation theory, all basic wave quantities such as the slowness vector, the polarization vector, propagation velocity, attenuation, and the quality factor are linear functions of WAA parameters. Numerical modeling shows that perturbation equations have different accuracy for different wave quantities. The propagation velocity usually is calculated with high accuracy. However, the attenuation and quality factor can be reproduced with appreciably lower accura...