Estimation of reflection coefficients from zero‐offset field data

Abstract

The classical one‐dimensional (1-D) inverse problem consists of estimating reflection coefficients from surface seismic data using the 1-D wave equation. Several authors have found stable solutions to this problem using least‐squares model‐fitting methods. We show that the application of these plane‐wave solutions to seismic data generated with a point source can lead to errors in estimating reflection coefficients. This difficulty is avoided by using a least‐squares model fitting scheme describing vertically traveling waves originating from a point source. It is shown that this method is roughly equivalent to deterministic deconvolution with built‐in multiple removal and compensation for spherical spreading. A true zero‐offset field data set from a specially designed seismic experiment is then used as input to estimate reflection coefficients. Stacking velocities from a conventional seismic survey were used to estimate spherical spreading. The resulting reflection coefficients are shown to correlate well with an available well log.