Detector coupling corrections for vector infidelity of multicomponent OBC data

Abstract

Differences in the frequency response of horizontal and vertical detectors (vector infidelity) in ocean bottom cable (OBC) surveys can cause problems for multicomponent processing, such as S-wave birefringence and amplitude variation with azimuth (AVA) analyses, and combining vertical and hydrophone data for water-born multiple suppression. One source of this problem is poor detector coupling with the seabed that produces resonances and phase distortions. Coupling and data quality are generally excellent for the inline component. However, the crossline component often exhibits low-frequency resonance compared to the inline. Also, OBCs are susceptible to rotational modes about the cable axis that produce spurious S-waves on the vertical component. I derive a method for correcting the crossline and vertical components based on a model of OBC detector coupling, and design vector operators in the frequency domain from shots over many offsets and azimuths. The crossline data are corrected,relative to the inline, assuming linear polarization of early, near-offset arrivals on the radial-horizontal component. Thus, the transverse-horizontal component provides a convenient error or objective function to be minimized for operator design. Using the corrected crossline, as a model of rotational modes, leads to an estimate of spurious S-waves on the vertical component, which are adaptively subtracted. Data examples from the Gulf of Mexico and offshore Nigeria are presented to illustrate improvements in crossline frequency content and match to inline data. Typically there is [Formula: see text] reduction in error using the rms ratio of transverse-to-radial component data computed in the time domain. Suppression of spurious S-waves from the vertical component without undesirable effects of low-cut or [Formula: see text] filters is shown for prestack and poststack data. Also, vector operators indicate they contain important information related to resonance modes of crossline coupling and rotational modes associated with seabed-deployed versus buried OBCs.