1-1 4

D . J . VERSCH U UR', K . H . MATSON2, A.J. BERKHOUTI,

A. B . WEGLEIN2, C .Y . Y OUNG 2 an d H . JAK UBOWfC Z3
Del ft Unive rsity of Technology, Laboratory of S e ism ics an d Acousti cs,
PO Box 5046 , 2 600 G A Delft, T h e N etherla nds
2 Arco EP T
3 Verft as DGC Lt d

Summary
Method s for removal of free -surface and internat muhiples have been developed Erom bath a feedback model ap p ro ac h a nd i n v er se scatte rin g th eory. Whit e th ese tw o fo rmul a ti on s d erive Erom diffe re nt ma th em ati ca) v i ew p oi nts,
the r esulting al g orithm s for fre e- surface multiplee are very similar. By contra s t , [he fe e db ack and inverse s cattering
methode for intergul multiplee are to ta lly different and have d i fferent requiremenis for sub s urface information or
interpretiv e int e rvention . The former removes all multiplee related to a certain bounda ry with the a f d of a s urface
integral a lo n g thi s b o un d ar y ; [he ) a lter wilt predi ct a nd att e nua t e a ll int e rna t multipl ee a t the sam e tim e . In th is pa pe r, we continue our compari s on study of these internat mu l tiple atte nuatio n m e thode ; s pecifically , we eiamine two
diffe re nt realizations of the feedback method and the inverse scatterin g t ec hnique .
Introduction
Free-s urface an d interna t m u ltiplee are defi ne d as multipl y reflected eve nt s th a t experie n ce t wo o r m ore up ward
reflecti o n s in th e sub s ur face . Th e form e r con s ists o f all multiple e that have experienced one or more reflections a t the
earth 's s urface . The laff e r are ev e nts that have all of their downward reflection .points below the free -s urface .
Th e r e are c urre ntl y two compre h en s i v e a pproac h es for a tte n ua tin g free-s u rface a nd inte rn at m ultiplee th a t a re spe cific a lly d e signed to a c comodate a multi-dimensional Barth . The firs t i s th e fee d-ba c k method that de rives Erom a view
of th e ge n era ti o n a nd in ve rs i o n o f data in t e rm e o f a fr ee-s u rface, i nterfaces, a n d actual propagation b etwee n these
re fle c tors . The second is the inverse scatte ri ng method that derives Erom a vi ew of the g eneration and roversion of
data in terms of a free -swface , water propagation, and point s catte re rs whose s tren g th depends on the local differente
between Barth proporties and water. The first method derives from B e rkh o ut 's feedback model (Berkhout , 1982 ) that
re moves a ll free s ur face multipl ee and intern at multipl ee (sec Versc huur, 199 1 ; B erkh o ut a nd Ver sc huur, 1 997 ; Ver schuur and Werkhout , 1 997) . The second appr oach derives from a ta s k- s ep arated inverse stalt e rin g s eri e s (sec e . g .
Wegs e in e t al ., 1997 ; Carv alho , 1992 ; Araujo et al ., 1994 ; Mats on and Weglein, 1996 ). Th ese tw c ompre h ensiv e
methode provid e s imilar algorithms for free-surface multiple removal hut totally different methode for i nt ernat multiple attenuation . These two me thode for int ernat multiplee veere c o mpared in a recent s erie s of p ape rs (Verschuur
et al ., 1998 ; Mat so n et al ., 1998 ; Wegl e in , 1999b , a ; Berkhout , 1999 ) . These papers de s cribe and illu strate how th ese
two method e have diffe re nt re quire m e nts for a-priori subsurface informati o n or interpretive intervention a s veel) as
different computational de ma nds . In this paper, this study continues with a compari s on of two re ali z at ions of the
feed-back model for int e raal multiplee and the inverse scattering method .
Surface- re lated multiple remova l
We wi ll consider two layer-related interaal multiple r e moval sc h eur es . Both of thes e scheures are extensions of the
surface - related multiple approache s of Kenne tt (1979 ), W e rkhout (1982) and Verschuur et al . (1 9 92) . In particular,
following Werkhout and Vers chuur (1997) , surface-r elated multipl ee c an b e rem o v ed using a fast- converging iterative
method which , usin g Berkhout ' s notation , can be written as :
P op+') = P - Ao(w) P ) P .
(1)
'
The phy s ical interpr e tation i s that multiple reflections can be considered
a s a combination of primary ev ent s that are
conne cte d at the interface where the downward reflection takes pace . Fo r example , th e firs t o rde r s urface multiple
o i' Figure 1 a (SR) c an be constructed by laktag two p ri mary wavefield compon e nts ( SR ' and S ' R) . With equation
(1 ) re flection point A at the s urface i s considered as a secondary so urc e point wh e re the wave fie ld SR ' is used as
illum i nating so urce wave field in S' to obtain the multiple SR . Althou g h the mathematica] sta rt tag points for the
inver se stal le rin g a pproac h a re differen t, th e predi cti on re du ces to int egrale al o n g the s urface, and s imil a r ex pressl o n s
are fo und (s ee e . g . Ca rva lh o e t a l ., 1 99 1 ; Weg l e in e t al ., 1 997) .
Interface- related interaal multiple removal method 1 : operator drive n
Simi l arly , inte rn at multiples can be described as combination s of primary w a ve fi e ld c ompon e nt s . Howeve r, in this
ca se th e downward reflectioa(s) take place below the surface (e . g . in Figure tb thi s is point B) . H e n ce, th e equival ent
EA GE Gist Conference and Tec h n i cal E x h ibi tion -He l sink i, Finland , 7 - 11 June 199 9

R' S'

a) Barface mult iple

b) ! rternul nuu ltipl e

Figure . L a ) A surface multi ple can be c o n s idered as tbc co mbinati o n of two .primarie s . b ) An internal multipl a s can
be considered as the combination o f two primary wave fields, b ei n g conn ec t e d at int e race k .
prediction require s mea sur e m e nt s on the corresponding inte rfa c e . On e way in whi ch the fee dback mode l lor wa velet
estimation and surfa ce-re late d multiple removal can be e xtend ed to tre st int e r na l multipl as i s bas erf on th e work
o f (Berkh out , 1982 , p . 188) . In parti c ular, after downward-extrapolatin g the s hot record s to a r e He c tin g boundary , all
multiplas related to thi s inte rn at interfac e c an be removed by the surfac e- re lated algorithm . In Werkhout and Ve rschuur
(1997) the i ter ativ e v e rsion ha s be en propo sed . For the a boundary k th e e xpre s ion i s give n by :
P(~+`) = P o

Po~(2 )

where F - and F ' contain tbc inve rs e e xtr apolation operators from the surface up t o multiple -ge n era tin.- inte rface
k . In Pact the [wo ope rators F~ and F~ describe the p roces of applyin g the two das hed arrow s in Fi g ure lb as a
ereproce ss ing step to the surFace data . The data with multiplas remov e dfrom all reflectors down to k i s now written
,s Pk, the s ubscript me anin g [he l ev e l up t o whi c h multipl e r e moval bas be e n a ppli e d . Additionaly , all primary
re flec tions re laied to all int e rface abo v e and inclduing k Weed be muted in th e s urfa ce data , indic at ed by the bar s : Pk
and P o . Nota that for th e s ituation o f the s urfa ce -re lat ed multiplas we h av e a comparab l e pr oc es : th e direct wave
W ee d b e mut ed prior to predi ction . Thu s, tbc ope rato r s F ~ and F~ ta k e (he s urface d a ta and brin g it t o multipl e ,ge ne ratin g inte rfa ce k at (he so urce o r [he r ece ive r s ide, s u c h that a convolution along this interfase can b e nppli e d .
Exampl es of thi s proces on s ynthe t ic a nd fi e ld data h ave a lr ea dy b ee n sh own in Ver schuur and W e rkh o ut (1996),
Ha d idi and Verschuur (1997) and Ver sc huur et al . (1998) .

The practical implementation of thi s pr o cedure c on s ists of four s t eps : 1) Obtain tbc redatuming ope ra tor s for [he
int erface of intere st . Thi s c an b e v e ry acc urately don e usin g tbc CFP ope rator updating tec hnique (sec Scrkhout ,
1997 ; Thorbec k e, 1997 ; B o tte and Ve r sc huur , 1998 ) . In thi s way acc urate o pe rators c an b e o btain e d without pr ecis e
knowl edge of th e vetocity de pth stru c tur es a bove th e multipl e -ge n eratin g inte rface ; 2) apply th e r e d atumin g to the
shot r ec ords and mat e the r e fl ec tion s abov e th e reflector ; 3) calculat e th e interface - c on si s t ent co nvolution s to predi c t
th e multipla s and 4) subtrac t them Erom th e orig ina l surfac e data .
Interface-related internat multiple removal method II : data driven
Jakubowicz (1998) recognized that the combination of the two inverse propa ;ation matrices F - and F+ in equation(2)
can be constructed from the time-revers of the primary reflection from that interface . In ferms of Figure 1 h it means
that the two dashed arrows constitute (he primary reflection S'BR', which is also present in the data . These geometrical considerations ware also observed by Keydar et al . (1997) . By extracting the required primary reflection trom the
data, the interbed multiple prediction proces can then be rewritten in a full data-drieen approach :

k-

where the * means complex conjugation . Again the bar above the quantities indicates the mate of all events related
to reflectors above and including multiple-generating interface k . In a practical implementation, the following steps
Weed be taken : 1) Select primary reflection related to tee multiple-generating boundary from the shots ; 2) apply two
surface consistent convolutions of this perator with the (muted) surface data and 3) subtract the predicted multiplas
from [he original input .
Inverse scatteri ng i ntern at mul ti pl e el i min at io n
Fo r the appro ac h b aserf on th e inverse staf te rin g se ri es, as described by Weg l e in et a l . ( 1 997 ) , Arauj o e t a l . (1994) a nd
Coates and Weglein (1996), one proce dure pre dic t s all poss ible interna t multiplas whi c h c an tie n be subtrac te d from
the input data . Thi s procedure i s d e ri ve d Erom an inve rs e sc attering sub seri e s and c an be inte rpretec3 a s a s um over
all po s sible combination s of three ima ge d data po int s that hav e a con s tra in e d l o w er-high er-lower relationship . These
imaged data are the orig i nal pre- s tac k d a t a mi g rated u s in g the water v e t oc i ty . The multipl e uttenuatior7 s ub s eri e s
1 -1 4

is a first order appro ximation to an internap multiple reneo v af seri es . Al[hou~h app roximate , thi s s ub series properly
predict s the iravel tim e of all internat multiplee , even c onve rted phas e s (Coate s and Weglein , 1996 ) . F or typical
s ei s mic evenre , th e a mplitudes of the predicted multipl e e a re 80-95 % of the actual multiple .
Internat multiple attenuation is performed by using the origina l prestack data to calculatie a series of terme each of
which attenuates a different order of multiple . The equation for first order multipees in 2-D marine data is (Weglein
et al ., 1997 : Araujo et al ., 1994 )
I

X47 ~'g +- s)

l 2_) -

-oo
1 _ ~

-i~91

t4 2 ~=~ 4n~= E=s~

. 2+ e

d .a6 l( ~2,~s, :a~el I 9 2 + 9 .~ )= a (4)

Here, ky, k_G are the Fourier transform variables over geophone and source locations respectively, qy and qs are vertical
ks }) where co is the water vetocity and w is
wavenumbers biven by qg = f ( W /eo) ' - k9)) and qs
the angular temporal freq u ency . The source and receiver depths are given by z9 and zs respectively . The parameter
e ensures that zl is always greater than and not equal to z2 and simitarly for z3 . The quantity 61(kg, kl, zi) is an
uncollapsed migration which has been transformed to pseudo-depth using the water vetocity (sec, e .g . Wegsein et al .,
1997) . To compute the multiple estimate, bi is input into an a l gorithm for equation 4 which then outputs the estimated
inter nat multiplee, b3l A f . When added to 61, b3lnf s u ppresses all first order internat multiplee . Notie t h at the l imits in
the integrale over zl, z2, and z3 limit the different portions of the data that are combined together. These limits are
such that zi > zz and z -, < z3 which is a direct consequence of the way mu l tiplee are cata loged according to the
number of reflections the multiple has experienced and the re l ative geometry of chose reflections . The first term in
the interna t mu l tiple attenuation series attenuates a 1 1 first order internat multiples for all depths and omes and altere
higher order i n terna t multipree . Successively higher order ferms in the series attenuate higher order internat multiplee
(see, e .g . Weglein et al ., 1997) .
In practise, (he main strength of this procedure is that al t internat multiplee are handled at the same time, witho u t the
Weed for any a-priori subsurface information, i .e ., no description of the reflecting boundaries is required .
lateral Bistance (m) Synthetic data exampl e
2000 30 00
4000

o In Figure 2 a subsurface model is shown that has been used as

input for an acoustic finite differente modeling experiment . 101
shots have been modeled with the shot positions rangmg from
1800 to 4800 m with steps of 30 m . The surface has been choiooo

n on-reflective, so that only primary and i n ternat mu l tiple resen

ftections have been be simulated . To test the three methode on

this dataset, first a stack of the input data is produced . As this

- - - "' test was done by three different groups, three slightly different
stacking procedures have been followed . I n this paper, effort bas
2000 been p u t to display them in (roughly) the same amplitude levels, as shown in Fig u re 3a . The last primary reflection (Erom the
reflector at about 2700 m depth in the mode l) is visible at 2 .0
seconde . It is noticeable that especially in the l ower h alf (be low
.0 s) internap mul tiplee are present, especially below th e lateral
30002
position of the sync linal sfruct u re . The two verslons of the interFigure 2 : Subsurface vetocity model . face method have been app l ied for the first interfce o nl y.
. ..

3
2
0

3
0

,~r f

u
' sp

~r!+" '
.'_ ?
'tFFI ~u~ .th41 t$~~f, : t

1 .0

~~

ira

I '` -~

~H(i
_Ry ~! ~PtAM +Wy

'h~ ' 1~

1 .0

40
1 .5

1 .5

~r ~ . ry

/ ~ qH

~t
~ ~ e ~y~?~" ~~'* ~Y a~

~C
2 .0 r~~

' ` .^ }
.yr;

~.iM

".
.;

'

ep4+1 ~4

!"~

.~ : . . .

2.0 F fi7j~' 5~

~j lf uki ~`~ 'J

n i,,~~~t~
r AMY
~

~ v" ~ ' ~

. . T ..~~' .

~ J ,
A .1
_

T
~,

~~
,`~^ ti

,4,~.y w r

.fit

~4'~~

I~,~N~ ~ n~1~ ,'

:om
.r

!' .

a) Input stacks b) Output stacks

c) Different e
Figure 3 : Compariso n of three internal multiple removal methode at stack l evel . a) Three input sections . b) Ouptut
stacks after internal m u ltiple removal . e) Stacks of mu l tiplee on l y .
SAGE 61 et Conference and Technical Exhibition - Helsinki, Finland, 7 - 11 June 1999

Of course, the inverse sacattering method (numbered 3 in Figure 3) wilt predict all possible internat multiples . After
stacking the effect of the multiple removl can be obeserved in Figure 3 for all three methods . To further analyse the
results, the different plots are produced (Figure 3c), all in the same amplitude level . The first two interface-related
methods (numbered 1 and 2 in Figure 3) have strongly related implementations, which is confirmed by the first two
difference plots in Figure 3e . Although exact amplitudes of removed multiple vary between tho two, clerly the
same multiple events are addressed . When inspecting the inverse scattering result (labeled with 3) it appears that the
character of the removed multiplas is different : the method has predicted alt possible internat multiple reflections and
is not lied to any particular interface .
ConCluslon

s Method Interface Interface Inverse

The inverse scattenng method and two realizations Feature method 1 method II scanering
of the feedback method for attenuating internat
multiplas are compa Ced using synthetic data ex- Type of internat One interface, all One interface, all All interfaces, one
amples to illustrate theirrelative stengths and waak- multiplas orders at a time orders at a time order at a time
nessen . In FiLure 4 some specific features of (he Frameworcl data driee n an d

three algorithms are summarized . Both the feed- subsurface implicit model rata driven tata drieen
)
back and inverse scatteing methods operala by pre- information (CFP operators
dicting and subtracting the internat multiplas . How- idemificasion and identification !
User interaction operator updating isolation reftection none
ever, the two approaches are distinclly different in on time sectio n

the way multiplas are cataloged and their requir-

ments for a-priori information . The feed-back method Cost 2 SMA - 2 SMA - 10 SM A
catalogs multipes according to a subsurface inter- per inter face per interface all interfaces
face which is responsible for the existence of [he Figure 4
: Comparison of the characteristics for three types of
internat mulitples
. To predict thern, operators are internal multiple removal schames ,

required teat describe the propagation from th e

surface to the interface method . The two feedback algorithms differ in the way these operators are achieved, either by antimaling these propagation operators Erom traveltimes (model drieen) or by selecting primary reflections
from the seisrnic data itsel (data-drieen) . The inverse scattering method provides a procedure that does not require
any subsurface information i .e ., it requires no avant picking, interpretation or description of the reflection boundaries .
The method attenuates all internat multiplas for a given order for all subsurface reflectors, one order at a time . The
feedback and inverse scattering methods could complement Bach other : the choice degending on the type of multiple
and the complexity of the interface and its overborden .
Separate field data tests of internat multiple attenuation using bots the feedback interface method and inver se scattering me thod are encouraging . Our fotore plans inc lude field data comparisons of the se methods .
Referen ce s

Arauj o, F. V, Weglein, A' B ., Carvalho. P. M . . and S c ot t, R . H ., 1994, I nverse scattering series for mul tip le attenuation: a n examp le wilh s udace a nd iniernal mult ipl as :
64th An n. I nternat . Mrg ., Soc. Expl . Geoph ys., Ezpanded ab stracts . 1 039 -1 041 .
Herkhom . A . J ., and verschoot, D. J ., 1997, Estimation of m ultiple sca[te ri ng by i te rative inversion, part i : t heoretical consi de rations : Geophysics, 6 2 , no, 5, 1596-1595
.
Werkhom, A . J ., 1 982, Sei smi c migraton, imagi ng of aco u stic e ne r gy by wave field ex t rapolalion, u: theoret ical aspects : E lsevie r.
Ber kh out , A. 1, 1 997, Pushing the limi ls of seis mic im agi n g, part ii~ integralion a (p restac k migr ation , vetoc ity estimation and avo anal ysis : Ceoph ysics, 62 , no . 3,
954-96 9.

W erkh ou t, A. J ., 1999, Multiple removal based on the feedback model : The Lesding Edge, 18, no . 1 , 1 27- 1 31 .

B o lre, J . F. B ., and Verschoor, D. 1., 1 998, Aspects of focusing o perator updaiing : 68th Ann. I n[emat . Mig ., Soc. Ex pl . Geophys ., Expanded abstracts, 1604--1607
.
Car valho, F. M ., Weglei n , A . B ., and Stolt . R . H ., 1 99 1 , Exa m p les of a nonlinear inversion method based o n th e t matrix of scaueriog theory: upplica i io n to mu lti p le
suppressio n : l st An n. Iniernat M i g., Soc . Ex pl . Geoph ys ., Ex pa n ded abst racts. 13 1 9- 1 322 .
Carva lho. P. M., 1992 . Free-Badace m ultip le elimi natio n met hod b ased an no nlinear inversion of seismic data : Ph . D. th esis, Universidade Federal da Bahia
. Brazil . ( in
Po nuguese) .
Coaten . R . T., and Weg lein , A . B ., 1 996, In terna t mul ti ple attenuation using i nv ers e scantering : Resulu Goro pres i ack 1 and 2-D acoustic an d clastic sy nah et
ics : 66th
Annua l M eeting af the Soci ety of Exp lora t ion Geop hysic i sts, Expanded Abstrac l s . I522-1525 .
H ad idi, M . T., and Verschuur. D. 3 1 997, Removal of internat multip l as : fiel d data examples: 59th Ann . l mernat . M tg .
. Eur. Ass . of Geosc . a nd Eng ., Expanded
abstracta .

J akubow cz, H ., 1 998, Wave eq uation predic [io n and rem oval of interbed multiples : 68th Ann . Internat . Mig ., Soc . ExpL Geophys ., Expan ded ab s[racts, 1527-1530 .
K e nn ee, S. L. N., 1979 . 'ne suppressio n of surface mu lri p ]es on seismic record s : Geoph ys. Prosp., 27 , no. 3, 584-600 .

K eydar, S., Landa, E .. G u revic h . B., and Gelch i nsky, B ., 1997, Multiple reflect i on u s in g wavefront c haracteristics of primary reft
ections : 591 h Ann . In tern at M tg ., Eur,
A ss . of Geosc . and E ng., Ex p ande d abs[ racts .

M aison, K ., and Weg l e i n, A. B. . 1 996. Removal of elas ric interface mul tip les trom land and ocean bott o m data us i ng inverse scatteri n g : bth A nn . In t e rn at
. Mtg ., Soc .
Expl . Geophys., Expand ed abstracts, 1 526-1529.
Maison, K . H ., Weglei s, A . B ., Young, C . Y. ., Vetsc huur, D. J ., and B erkhoui, A . J ., 1948 . Comparing the i nterface and p
oint scatterer methods (or a t [en u aiing intern at
mul tipl as : a st ud y w t h synghetic data - part ii : 68t h Ann. ]s te m ar . Mtg . . Soc . Exp L Geophya, Expanded ab s[racts, 1 523- 1 526 .
T horbecke, J . T., 1 997, Comrnon focus po i nt technol ogy: Ph . D , t hesis, D 1 Fl University of Technology .
Ve tschuu r, D. 7., and Berkhoui, A . J . . 1 996, R e mova l of inter bed multiplas : i$(h Ann . I nternat . Mig ., Eur. Ass. of Geosc. and ing .. Exp
anded abstracts.
Ve tschuur, D . ] ., and Werkhou t . A . ] .. 1 997, Fsti mation o f multip le scat t eri n g by iterative inversion, part 2 : prac t
ical aspects and exa mples: Geophysics, 62, no . 5,
]596-1611 .
Vetsc hu ur , D. J., W erk hout . A . J ., and Wapen ast C. P. A, 1992, Adaptive s urface-re l a[ed m u ltiple eli m i nat ion : Geophysics .57 , no . 9, 1166
-I 177 .
Vetschuur, D. J ., Berk ho ut. A . 1 ., M aison, K . N ., Weg l eis, A . B ., and Young, C . Y. .. 1998, Compari ng the interface and
point scatterer m e ih ods for artenuating interral
m ulti plas : a study witti symhet ic d a t a - part i : 68th Ann . ]sternat. M og ., Soc . Expl . Geophys ., Expanded abstracta, 1 519- I S??.

Vetsc huur, D. 1 1 991, 5urfact re lated mult ip le e l imina t ion . an roversio n approach : Ph.D . thesis, Delft University of Technology.

Weg leis, A . B ., Gasparotto, E A ., Car val ho, P. M., an d Stolt, R. H ., 1997, A n inverse scattering series method (o r a[ n
[e uat i ng m uhi ples in seismic reflection da ta :
Geophys i cs, 62 , 1975-1989.
Wegleis , A . 6 ., 1999a, Huw ca s tbc i mer sescat teri n g method really predici and subtract al l mult i plas from a multidi mension al Barth witti absol
uiely no subsurface
in(ortn a[i o n': Tlie Lesding Edge, 18, n o. 1 , 1 32 - 136.

- 1999b, Multiple auenuation : aa ove rv i ew of recent advances and the roa d ahea d ( 1 999): 7Tie Lesdi ng Ed ge, t6 , no. I . 40 - .
44

1-14