Attenuating pseudo S‐wave splitting caused by vector infidelity

Abstract

AbstractShear wave (S‐wave) splitting analysis can provide knowledge about, among other properties, principal stress directions and fracture orientation. It is an essential step in multi‐component, converted wave processing. Caution must be taken, however, when performing such analysis on ocean bottom cable seismic data, which is highly susceptible to different coupling of the two horizontal components with the seafloor. Receiver coupling correction methods attempt to balance the seismic response on all components and seek to minimize spurious resonance effects. We show on field data from an ocean bottom cable seismic dataset how these coupling effects that simulate S‐wave splitting behaviour can be attenuated to significantly improve PS‐wave stack images of the shallow seabed. Furthermore, corrected pre‐stack data of all azimuths may reveal true splitting effects for stress and fracture information.