Multi-datum based estimation of near-surface full-waveform redatuming operators

A complex near surface can impact the quality of land data, despite the fact that the geology below the near surface complexities can be laterally smooth. Redatuming with operators based on a high-frequency parameterization in terms of traveltimes and simple geometric spreading factors will fall short if there are large lateral and vertical variations in propagation velocity and buried anomalies in the near surface layer. Recently, a method was introduced that can estimate the involved redatuming operators in a full-waveform sense. Application to synthetic data shows an uplift to the redatuming quality, but residual imprint is still observed. In this paper an extension is introduced that estimates redatuming operators based on two datum reflections simultaneously.In this way the full-waveform estimation process becomes more robust and shows another level of improvement for synthetic data. This conclusion is further amplified by the results obtained on field data from an area with a severe near-surface problem.

► Datuming operators are directly estimated simultaneously from two shallow reflection events in the surface data.
► A wave-equation-based redatuming result, beyond the traditional statics solution, is obtained.
► The use and estimation of a near-surface velocity model is avoided.
► Datuming operators are determined in full waveform sense, carrying detailed propagation effects.
► The proposed methodology is successfully demonstrated on field data with a complex near-surface problem.