Multiple attenuation in the plane-wave domain by match filtering

We present a method of multiple attenuation in the plane-wave domain that u ses a filter estimation procedure to match the angle dependent primaries to predict the observed multiples. The filter is obtained through the solutio n of an optimization problem. We use the primaries from the shallow part of the data (reflectivity) to estimate the multiples associated with these ev ents that are correct in traveltime, but not necessarily in amplitude. Afte rwards a filter related to the inverse of the source is estimated using adj acent plane-wave traces on either side of the trace of interest and a filte r is estimated for the target ray-parameter trace. Using this filter the am plitude and phase of the multiples are estimated and the predicted multiple s are subtracted from the data to obtain multiple free data. The applicatio n of this method is illustrated on synthetic and real data and the results demonstrate its effectiveness in attenuating multiples. The proposed method is computationally very efficient.