Internal multiple prediction using inverse-scattering series with sparsity promotion — Part 1: Background, analysis, and synthetic modeling

Abstract

The presence of internal multiples in seismic data can lead to artefacts in subsurface images ob-tained by conventional migration algorithms. This problem can be ameliorated by removing themultiples prior to migration, if they can be reliably estimated. Recent developments have renewedinterest in the plane wave domain formulations of the inverse scattering series (ISS) internal multipleprediction algorithms. We build on this by considering sparsity promoting plane wave transformsto minimize artefacts and in general improve the prediction output. Furthermore, we argue forthe usage of demigration procedures to enable multidimensional internal multiple prediction withmigrated images, which also facilitate compliance with the strict data completeness requirementsof the ISS algorithm. We believe that a combination of these two techniques, sparsity promotingtransforms and demigration, pave the way for a wider application to new and legacy datasets.