Practical challenges in adaptive Marchenko imaging

Abstract

Through the multidimensional Marchenko equation, seismic redatuming can be expressed as a series. Unlike in conventional redatuming, where only the first term of these series is evaluated, not only primary reflections, but all orders of internal multiples are taken into account by this approach. By crosscorrelation of the redatumed wavefields with their corresponding (direct) source wavefields, as computed in a macro velocity model, a seismic image can be obtained without artifacts from internal multiples. Unfortunately, this approach requires accurate knowledge of the source signature, which is not always available. Moreover, the method is sensitive for source / receiver ghosts, coupling effects, attenuation and other noise. In practice, the individual terms in the series can also be added adaptively. This procedure is successful if internal multiples don’t interfere with primary reflections, but has its limitations in more complex media. In this contribution, we analyze the feasibility of adaptive addition, using only the first two terms in the series. The result appears useful for internal multiple suppression, as we illustrate on synthetic data with severe event interfererence and on field data.