Recovering diffractions in CRS stacked sections

Abstract

The common reflection surface (CRS) method has been proposed as an alternative to the classical common midpoint method to further improve the signal-to-noise ratio, as well as to obtain additional kinematic parameters that are useful for a number of imaging purposes. In the CRS method, reflected events are enhanced by stacking along a generalized hyperbolic moveout, referred to as the CRS moveout. However, during the process of CRS stacking, diffractions are likely to be attenuated or even suppressed. Diffracted events are important since they carry high-resolution information about the subsurface structure. By the use of a modified version of the CRS technique, diffractions can be enhanced in the same way as reflections. This paper proposes a combined approach where the CRS stack is superimposed on the CRS diffraction-enhanced stack. In this way we can recover the diffractions in CRS stacked sections. The potential of the method has been demonstrated using marine seismic data acquired offshore Brazil.