Reply by author to the discussion by William A. Schneider

Abstract

I appreciate Schneider’s comments on the subject paper, and it would appear that we are in complete agreement concerning the relative importance of diffraction effects in the recordings of reradiated wave fields. The point in question, however, is the importance of this diffracted energy in the inverse problem as applied in petroleum exploration. In other words, in the wave field reconstruction step described in Appendix B of the paper, do those hydrophones which record specular energy from a given subsurface point contribute more or less information to the final geologic picture than those hydrophones recording possible diffraction energy from the same subsurface point? A related question is whether the diffracted energy alone is sufficient for imaging moderately complex geology. Schneider suggests that diftraction energy alone is sufficient. I would like to discuss some observations which have led me to the opinion that diffraction energy alone is insufficient.