Noise‐adaptive filtering of seismic shot records

Abstract

Ambient noise can obscure reflections on deep crustal seismic data. We use a spectral subtraction method to attenuate stationary noise. Our procedure, called noise‐adaptive filtering, is to Fourier transform the noise before the first arrivals, subtract the amplitude spectrum of the noise from the amplitude spectrum of the noisy data, and inverse Fourier transform. The phase spectrum is not corrected, but the method attenuates noise if the phase shift between the signal and noise is random. The algorithm can be implemented as a frequency filter, as a frequency‐wavenumber filter, or as two separate frequency and wavenumber filters. Noise‐adaptive filtering is often superior to conventional frequency or frequency‐wavenumber filtering because it adapts to spatial variations in the noise without parameter testing. Noise‐adaptive filters can achieve noise rejection ratios of up to 45 dB; their dynamic range is about 25 dB. These filters work best when the input signal‐to‐noise ratio is on the order of 0 dB and there are significant differences between the frequency‐wavenumber amplitude spectra of the signal and noise. Application of the method to field data can enhance events that are not visible in the input data.