Application of multifocusing method for subsurface imaging

The multifocusing method consists of stacking seismic data with arbitrary s ource-receiver distribution according to a new paraxial moveout correction. This multifocusing moveout correction is based on a local spherical approx imation of the reflection wave fronts in the Vicinity of an observation sur face. The multifocusing method does not require any knowledge of the subsur face model and can produce an accurate zero offset section, even in cases o f a complex geological structure and/or low signal-to-noise ratio. The move out correction parameters are the emergence angle and the wavefront curvatu res for the normal wave and normal-incidence-point wave. The estimated sets of these parameters can be looked upon as new wavefield attributes contain ing important information regarding the subsurface model. Application of th e multifocusing algorithm to synthetic and real data examples demonstrates its advantages in comparison with conventional CMP processing. (C) 1999 Els evier Science B.V. All rights reserved.