Modeling the impact of wide-azimuth acquisition on subsalt imaging

Abstract Wide-azimuth towed streamer (WATS) acquisition improves the subsalt seismic image by suppressing multiples, improves the results of 3D surface-related-multiple elimination (SRME) processing, and provides more uniform seismic illumination of subsalt targets. A simple model shows that the additional suppression of multiples in the case of WATS acquisition is the result of a natural weighting of the traces going into the stack due to the areal nature of the acquisition. This simple model also shows that the extent of the additional multiple suppression is strongly dependent on the acquisition effort. A sparse acquisition effort will result in little additional multiple suppression. The use of 3D SRME processing is shown to be more accurate in predicting multiples, given input data with multiple azimuths, compared to making similar predictions from narrow-azimuth data. Three-dimensional SRME has the potential to reduce the residual multiples to the same extent as WATS acquisition with a higher acquisition effort. A complex model demonstrates that WATS acquisition does reduce the multiple-generated noise in subsalt images, but 3D SRME processing further reduces the residual multiple noise. The use of 3D SRME may reduce the multiples more than that achieved by increasing the cable half-aperture in the WATS acquisition effort. Finally, ray trace modeling is used to investigate the effect of WATS acquisition on subsurface illumination for subsalt imaging. We show that narrow-azimuth acquisition produces irregularities in subsalt illumination perpendicular to the acquisition direction which are a potential cause of migration noise. WATS acquisition results in higher and more uniform subsalt illumination and, hence, improves the subsalt image by reducing subsalt migration noise.