Inverse Q filtering to enhance seismic resolution

Due to medium absorption, the resolution of a seismic profile gradually decreases as seismic waves propagate in the earth, known as the attenuation effect. In order to obtain high-resolution seismic profiles which are desirable for characterization of the subsurface formation, we have to quantify the medium absorption effect with medium quality factor Q. After Q is estimated, an inverse Q filter can be designed to enhance the resolution of the seismic profile. Estimation Q from surface seismic data can be difficult since the spectra of the reflected seismic waves are often distorted by thin beds in the formation. In order to remove the influence of thin beds, we apply our HOS based wavelet extraction method here for reliable Q estimation and inverse Q filtering. Synthetic examples verified the effectiveness of the proposed method.