The wave equation applied to the migration of seismic data

Abstract

In recent years Jon Claerbout and his colleagues at Stanford University have published several articles on numerical studies of approximations to the wave equation. These techniques have been applied to the migration of stacked seismic data, wherein a seismic wave field measured at the earth's surface is extrapolated downward into the subsurface. A simplified description of the method will be given, together with an account of some of the practical computer programming problems and the types of inaccuracies encountered. Routine production results are considered to be comparable or superior to the results derived from alternative migration techniques. Particular advantages are as follows: one, the possibility of using a detailed velocity model of the earth for the migration and two, the preservation of the amplitude and character of the seismic events.