Imaging the near surface using surface consistent prediction operators: examples from the Middle East

The scope of this paper is to illustrate how surface-consistent deconvolution operators can help to image the shallow subsurface on land data. Two case studies from modern, dense, wide-azimuth surveys recently acquired in Oman are presented. The predictive deconvolution operators were computed from an advanced simultaneous inversion of surface consistent scalars and autocorrelations. Source and receiver operator volumes were compared to the migrated stack of primary reflections. A significant improvement in the imaging of the shallow layers was achieved. Some structures that were almost invisible on the migrated stack were revealed and the shallow reflectivity was recovered in undershoot areas. These high resolution reflectivity volumes can be used as a guide for velocity model building of the shallow subsurface or as an input to internal or surface multiple modelling.