Optimal processing of marine high-resolution seismic reflection (Chirp) data

Chirp frequency-modulated (FM) systems offer deterministic, repeatable source-signatures for high-resolution, normal incidence marine seismic reflection data acquisition. An optimal processing sequence for uncorrelated Chirp data is presented to demonstrate the applicability of some conventional seismic reflection algorithms to high-resolution data sets, and to emphasise the importance of a known source-signature. An improvement of greater than 60dB in the signal-to-noise ratio is realised from correlating the FM reflection data with the transmitted pulse. Interpretability of ringy deconvolved data is enhanced by the calculation of instantaneous amplitudes. The signal-to-noise ratio and lateral reflector continuity are both improved by the application of predictive filters whose effectiveness are aided by the repeatability of the Chirp source.