oa From Zero-offset to Common-offset with Diffractions

The simulation of a zero-offset section leads to a first interpretable time image and is still one of the key processing steps. While recent works have indicated that common-offset stacking leads to improved resolution and illumination in complex settings, the zero-offset approximations are reasonably accurate, when lateral heterogeneity is moderate. Due to the increased dimensionality of the problem, the common-offset stack is computationally expensive, though. We suggest a hybrid scheme in which the zero-offset operators are locally refined by their common-offset counterparts. We show that for diffractions, the necessary connection between the attributes is achieved by simple geometrical reasoning. Synthetic examples indicate that due to the symmetry of raypaths, the zero-offset diffraction attributes can directly be used to perform a common-offset stack, promising a high potential for improved prestack separation and inversion.