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Normal moveout for long offset in isotropic media using the Padé approximation

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Abstract

The normal moveout correction is important to long-offset observations, especially deep layers. For isotropic media, the conventional two-term approximation of the normal moveout function assumes a small offset-to-depth ratio and thus fails at large offset-to-depth ratios. We approximate the long-offset moveout using the Padé approximation. This method is superior to typical methods and flattens the seismic gathers over a wide range of offsets in multilayered media. For a four-layer model, traditional methods show traveltime errors of about 5 ms for offset-to-depth ratio of 2 and greater than 10 ms for offset-to-depth ratio of 3; in contrast, the maximum traveltime error for the [3, 3]-order Padé approximation is no more than 5 ms at offset-to-depth ratio of 3. For the Cooper Basin model, the maximum offset-to-depth ratio for the [3, 3]-order Padé approximation is typically double of those in typical methods. The [7, 7]-order Padé approximation performs better than the [3, 3]-order Padé approximation.

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Acknowledgments

We are grateful to Alexey Stovas, Andrea Tognarelli, and anonymous reviewers for insightful suggestions that greatly improved the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Earth and Planetary Physics, Institute of Geology and Geophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100029, China

    Han-Jie Song, Jin-Hai Zhang & Zhen-Xing Yao

  2. University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China

    Han-Jie Song

Authors
  1. Han-Jie Song
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  2. Jin-Hai Zhang
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  3. Zhen-Xing Yao
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jin-Hai Zhang.

Additional information

This research was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 41130418 and 41374061), the National Major Project of China (No. 2011ZX05008-006) and the Youth Innovation Promotion Association CAS (No. 2012054).

Song Han-Jie, received his PhD from the Institute of Geology and Geophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences. His main research interests are the long-offset seismic data processing, velocity analysis, and NMO. Email: songhj@mail.iggcas.ac.cn

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Song, HJ., Zhang, JH. & Yao, ZX. Normal moveout for long offset in isotropic media using the Padé approximation. Appl. Geophys. 13, 658–666 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11770-016-0587-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11770-016-0587-4

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