Wave equation processing using finite-difference propagators, Part 2: Deghosting of marine hydrophone seismic data

Abstract

We have developed a new and simple method for deghosting of conventional hydrophone streamer data towed at arbitrary variable depths. The method uses a time-space domain finite-difference (FD) solution to the wave equation with pressure field boundary conditions to predict and remove ghosts. Because it operates in the time domain, our method is unaffected by any number of notches in the frequency spectrum of the data and therefore will deghost “through notches.” Apart from the acquired hydrophone data, the method relies on the depth profile of the streamer recording the data beneath a sea surface with a known reflection coefficient as well as the propagation velocity in the water above the streamer. The method was applied to simple and more complex synthetic data, which illustrated its ability to deal with complex data and any acquisition geometry.