Improving the virtual source method by wavefield separation

Abstract The virtual source method has recently been proposed to image and monitor below complex and time-varying overburden. The method requires surface shooting recorded at downhole receivers placed below the distorting or changing part of the overburden. Redatuming with the measured Green's function allows the reconstruction of a complete downhole survey as if the sources were also buried at the receiver locations. There are still some challenges that need to be addressed in the virtual source method, such as limited acquisition aperture and energy coming from the overburden. We demonstrate that up-down wavefield separation can substantially improve the quality of virtual source data. First, it allows us to eliminate artifacts associated with the limited acquisition aperture typically used in practice. Second, it allows us to reconstruct a new optimized response in the absence of downgoing reflections and multiples from the overburden. These improvements are illustrated on a synthetic data set of a complex layered model modeled after the Fahud field in Oman, and on ocean-bottom seismic data acquired in the Mars field in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico.