Statistical description of seismic reflection wavefields: A step towards quantitative interpretation of deep seismic reflection profiles

Abstract

Seismic modelling designed to compare the statistics of a realistic acoustic impedance field with a statistical description of the resulting backscattered wavefield demonstrates a strong correlation between the spatial properties of the impedance field and the resulting wavefield. Experiments in the weak- and strong-scattering regimes indicate significant and predictable differences in the spatial properties of the wavefield depending upon the scattering mode. Wavefields generated in a mixed-scattering regime with concurrent weak and strong scattering are dominated by the strong-scattering response. The results of these experiments suggest that the statistical description of reflection wavefields may provide a basis for the quantitative interpretation of the complex reflection wavefields most commonly observed in seismic reflection profiles across crystalline basement rocks, and a tool for extracting more of the information content of the seismic data.