Application of deconvolution interferometry to receiver ghost reflection in vertical cable seismic survey

Abstract

Marine vertical cable seismic is to probe targets near the submarine with use vertical hydrophone array suspending in deep sea water. Despite imaging of primary reflections from vertical cable seismic data can provide seismic profiles with high resolution, its submarine illumination is much narrower than that of conventional towed-streamer seismic owing to the irregular geometry. In view of the fact that imaging of multiples can provides better subsurface illumination with fine resolution, we present a strategy for imaging of receiver ghost reflections from vertical cable seismic data, based on seismic interferometry by deconvolution. This method can convert first-order receiver ghosts into virtual primaries from the towed-streamer data without velocity model and sourcereceiver position. We illustrate the deconvolution interferometry for the receiver ghost reflections with the real vertical cable seismic data in Shenhu area, South China Sea and further obtain virtual primary reflections. Finally, we use these virtual primaries to successfully construct a stacked image and obtain a post-stack migration image with conventional seismic data process method. This stacked and migrated image significantly extends the submarine illumination with higher resolution and it is useful in characteristics recognition of hydrate-bearing sediments and free gas.