Chapter 5: PS common-azimuth migration

I presented the converted-mode PS 3-D common-azimuth migration operator. The difference between this operator and the single-mode PP operator is the use of two different velocity fields. The stationary path approximation for converted waves was proved through geometrical meanings, where the stationary-path was represented with ray parameter. The PS common-azimuth downward-continuation operator was validated using a theoretical derivation for the impulse response of a point-scatterer. These validation was done through the four dimensions of the prestack image.

The real data applications combined the solutions for the irregular geometry and the migration cost using the PS-AMO operator followed by the PS-CAM operator. The results suggest that the method proposed in this section of the thesis, the PS-AMO geometry regularization followed by PS common-azimuth migration (PS-AMORe), produces results significantly better than the conventional process (PS-NoMoRe).

The PS-AMORe method enhances the main events in the final image, improveing the continuity of the reflectors and recovering geological features that were lost with the traditional method (PS-NoMoRe).