Multi-channel estimate of the seismic wavelet

In the stochastic deconvolution process, the assumption of a random reflectivity function can be replaced by the NMO curve and a CDP gather record. With this information, the seismic wavelet can be compressed. This compression method operates in a manner opposite to the NMO correction stretch. Shaping filters are iteratively computed either in the time domain or in the frequency domain which subsequently compress the seismic wavelet. Based on the principle of the wavelet compression technique, the seismic wavelet can be extracted without making any assumption about the shape of the seismic wavelet. From an initial estimate of the seismic wavelet, the method computes iteratively new estimates of the seismic wavelet by minimizing the energy error between the predicted seismic trace at various offsets and the field traces at the same offsets. The NMO-curve provides the information to predict the far traces from the near traces. Stability problems limit the process to wideband source signatures.