On the use of multicomponent streamer recordings for reconstruction of pressure wavefields in the crossline direction

Abstract

Abstract Three-component measurements of particle motion would bring significant benefits to towed-marine seismic data if processed in conjunction with the pressure data. We show that particle velocity measurements can increase the effective Nyquist wavenumber by a factor of two or three, depending on how they are used. A true multicomponent streamer would enable accurate data reconstruction in the crossline direction with cable separations for which pressure-only data would be irrecoverably aliased. We also show that conventional workflows aimed at reducing these aliasing effects, such as moveout correction applied before interpolation, are compatible with multicomponent measurements. Some benefits of velocity measurements for deghosting data are well known. We outline how the new measurements might be used to address some long-standing deghosting challenges of particular interest. Specifically, we propose methods for recovering de-ghosted data between streamers and for 3D deghosting of seismic data at the streamer locations.