Seismic numerical modeling is an important tool not only to the sampling
processing and interpretation of seismic data in complex area
but also to the investigation of the accurate structure of the earth’s interior.The seismic numerical modeling methods are mainly of three types
including ray tracing method
integral equation method and wave equation method.In this paper
firstly the basic principles are introduced
the theoretical basis and the contents as well as the characteristics of various seismic numerical modeling methods are then described. The developments of ray tracing method and various seismic numerical modeling methods since 1990s are also briefly reviewed.Since the wave equation includes abundant information and offers more evidences to the propagation mechanism of seismic waves and to the interpretation of complex stratum
emphasis is focused on the wave equation modeling methods.In the end of this paper
we give out our evaluation to various numerical modeling methods are evaluated and the prospect for the future development of various numerical modeling methods is provided.