Enhances Seismic Q-compensation I: Algorithm Formulation and Synthetic Application

The process of compensating for the effects of attenuation on seismic records is often marred by numerical instability that causes the introduction of artifacts and the amplification of seismic noise at the expense of the desired seismic signals. This often leads to poor seismic image resolution, especially in seismic traces representing deep-seated high-attenuating rock layers that are typical for hydrocarbon reservoirs. In an effort to compensate for the effects of attenuation in seismic records, I propose a frame-work for correcting amplitude diminution and phase distortion in seismic waves, using a recursive Q inverse filtering scheme. The time varying inverse Q filter has a Fourier integral representation in which the direction of propagation for the up-going and down-going waves is reversed, and the wavenumber is defined as a complex conjugate of the wave number in the forward propagating waves. To overcome the issue of instability, the wave number is replaced with slowness to limit the frequency dependence of the computation, and the Q-compensation algorithm is implemented in a layer-by-layer step wise approach. The compensation algorithm is tested with synthetic but realistic seismic records. Results show that the algorithm is suitable for correcting energy dissipation and phase dispersion that usually degrade the resolution of subsurface seismic images. The compensated traces give higher resolved images of the reflectors at accurate depth location.