H036

INTERNAL MULTIPLE ATTENUATIO N

F .V . ARAUJO', A .B . WEGLEIN2, P .M . CARVALH03 and R .H . STOLT`
' Bahia University, Brazil
2 Schlumberger Cambridge Research, Madingley Road, Cambridge CB3 OEL, UK
3 Petrobras ' Conoco Inc .

In this paper we present a multidimensional method for attenuating internat multiples that derives from
an inverse scattering se ries . The method doesn ' t depend on periodicity or differential moveout, nor does it
require a model for the multiple generating re fl ectors .
The inverse scattering series approach to medium property determination is a direct multidimensional seismic
inversion method and can be written for acoustic , elastic anisotropic and anelastic media . Its usefulness as
an inversion tool is limited by the fact that it only converges for very small contrasts in medium properties .
However, a physical interpretation is given to the terras of the series that allows a separation into subseries
that perform different tasks in the inversion process : a) surface multiple attenuation ; b) internal multiple
attenuation ; and c ) spatial location of reflectors and parameter estimation . In contrast to the original
inversion series the two subseries for surface and internat multiple attenuation always converge . The idea
appears in Weglein and Stolt ( 1993 ) and the subseries for suppressing surface multiplee is developed and
described in Carvalho , Weglein and Stolt ( 1992) .
The construction of the inversion series ( Moses ( 1956 ), Prosser ( 1969), Razavy (1975)) for the scattering
potential ( or model perturbation ), V, can be written as
V =Vl+V2+V3-+ . . .

where Vi is ith order in the data, Dl,

D1 = GoV1Go .
Go is the homogeneous free space Green ' s function. The higher order terms are found in a recursive way
V2 = -V1GoV1

V3 = -V1GoV1GoV1 - V1GoV2 - V2GoV1 .

A multiple attenuated data, D , can be written in terms of V as foll ows :
D = GoVGo

= D1+D2 + D3+ . . .
where
Di =GoVGo .
In this paper, we present a subseries of the inversion series for V that performs internal multiple attenuation .
The internal multiple attenuating subseries is constructed from the pieces of the odd terms associated with
removing multiple reflections . All the even terms and pieces of the odd terms that represent the removal of
refractions are not included . The method is multidimensional, convergent, and always attenuates internal
multiples . For realistic earth contrasts, the multiples are essentially eliminated . In the examples, a plane
wave is normal incident on a 1D acoustic medium and the data, D1i is the reflection response .
The data and the data after multiple attenuation are shown for two models . The primaries are labeled P
and the multiplee M . The method is effective in the presence of interferring primary and multiple events
(example 2) .

EAEG - 56th Meeting and Technical Exhibition - Vienna, Austria, 6 - 10 June 1994

Acknowledgement s
The authors would like to express their appreciation to UFBA, Petrobrs, CNPq, Schlumberger Cambridge
Research, ARCO and Conoco for supporting various portions of this research project .
References
Weglein, A .B . and Stolt, R.H ., 1993, I . The wave physics of downward continuation, wavelet estimation, and
volume and surface scattering. II. Approaches to linear and non-linear migration-inversion, in "Mathematical
frontiers in reflection seismology", Ed . W .W . Symes, SIAM/SEG .
Carvalho, P .M ., Weglein, A .B ., and Stolt, R .H ., 1992, Non-linear inverse scattering for multiple suppression :
application to real data, Part I, SEG Expanded Abstracts, 1093-1095 .
Moses, H .E., 1956, Calculation of scattering potential from reflection coefficients, Phys . Rev ., 102, 559-567 .
Prosser, R .T ., 1969, Formal solutions of inverse scattering problems, J . Math . Phys ., 10, 1819-1822 .
Razavy, M ., 1975, Determination of the wave velocity in an inhomogeneous medium from reflection data, J .
Acoustic Soc . Am ., 58, 956-963 .

50
0 .00

0. 4 -

7 U ~! J1MI' o

0 .08-7

0.12 -

11

"Ij UIIIJBIJIJIJ
Om ------------------2 km/s

60 m
0.16 --

4 km/ s

~ ~i~ h l ~ ~ Ilhl

14 Om
.

6 km/ s
200m
0 .24 --

4 km/ s

Fig .1 Multiple attenuation for two layer model .

50

0 .00

1,0

0.00

-p

0 .08-

JWII I1WWII I

0 .12 --

0 .16 --

Om ------------------2 km/ s
40m
4 .6 km/ s
132m
2 .2 km/ s

0 .24 ---{

17 6m
2 .3 km/ s

Fig .2 Multiple attenuation for model with interferring primary and multiple events .