Moveout-based geometrical-spreading correction for PS-waves in layered anisotropic media

Abstract

This paper is devoted to pre-stack amplitude analysis of reflection seismic data from anisotropic (e.g., fractured) media. Geometrical-spreading correction is an important component of amplitude-variation-with-offset (AVO) analysis, which provides high-resolution information for anisotropic parameter estimation and fracture characterization. Here, we extend the algorithm of moveout-based anisotropic spreading correction (MASC) to mode-converted PSV-waves in VTI (transversely isotropic with a vertical symmetry axis) media and symmetry planes of orthorhombic media. While the geometrical-spreading equation in terms of reflection traveltime has the same form for all wave modes in laterally homogeneous media, reflection moveout of PS-waves is more complicated than that of P-waves (e.g., it can become asymmetric in common-midpoint geometry). Still, for models with a horizontal symmetry plane, long-spread reflection traveltimes of PS waves can be well approximated by the Tsvankin–Thomsen and Alkhalifah–Tsvankin moveout equations, which are widely used for P-waves. Although the accuracy of the Alkhalifah–Tsvankin equation is somewhat lower, it includes fewer moveout parameters and helps to maintain the uniformity of the MASC algorithm for P- and PS-waves. The parameters of both moveout equations are obtained by least-squares traveltime fitting or semblance analysis and are different from those for P-waves. Testing on full-waveform synthetic data generated by the reflectivity method for layered VTI media confirms that MASC accurately reconstructs the plane-wave conversion coefficient from conventional-spread PS data. Errors in the estimated conversion coefficient, which become noticeable at moderate and large offsets, are mostly caused by the offset-dependent transmission loss of PS-waves.