Abstract:
Since streamer seismic data have no fixed receiver positions, regularization in the source–receiver domain is not feasible. To avoid migration smiles, 4D regularization in the CMP domain is conventionally applied to streamer data in practical production, which renders the fold more uniform, prior to Kirchhoff migration. However, data processed using this method cannot be directly sorted back into the shot domain for reverse time migration (RTM). Therefore, to enable streamer data RTM while avoiding migration smiles, this paper proposes a shot-domain regularization method. First, 4D regularization of the streamer data is performed in the CMP domain in polar coordinates, so that the fold over the entire survey area becomes more uniform. Second, an appropriate shot-point grid size is set, and the 4D-regularized data in the CMP domain are binned onto this shot grid. Third, the scattered shot coordinates within each grid cell are uniformly shifted to the center of the shot grid cell, while the receiver coordinates are simultaneously displaced in the opposite direction, thereby keeping the CMP coordinates of each seismic trace unchanged. Prior to the source–receiver displacement, normal moveout (NMO) correction is applied to the seismic traces, and inverse NMO is applied after the displacement is completed. These NMO and inverse NMO corrections ensure that the travel times and offsets of the reflected seismic samples both before and after the source–receiver displacement remain consistent with the reflection time–offset (hyperbolic moveout) equation. Finally, the seismic data are sorted into the shot domain for RTM. The proposed method yields good imaging results on field streamer data, overcoming the limitation of applying RTM to streamer data in actual production, and is therefore of great significance for high-precision imaging in hydrocarbon exploration.