Wavelets and warping PS seismic images

Abstract

Many seismic processing techniques warp a seismic trace. This warping often results in wavelet distortion throughout the trace and needs to be reduced to prevent errors in future processing steps. I propose a new method to reduce wavelet distortion that deconvolves the wavelet from a trace to be warped, warps the resulting impulses without distorting them, and convolves with the wavelet in a reference trace. Moreover, this warping-with-wavelets algorithm can be used to estimate the required wavelets in the trace to be warped and in the reference trace. The primary advantage over previous methods is that this algorithm involves deconvolution of the wavelet from the trace to be warped before warping. I offer a specific example of where this method can be applied to reduce wavelet distortion by warping the reflectors in a PS seismic image to align with those in a PP seismic image. Not only is wavelet distortion reduced in the warped PS image, but PP and PS wavelets are also estimated.