Migration to multiple offset and velocity analysis¹

The stacking velocity best characterizes the normal moveout curves in a common‐mid‐point gather, while the migration velocity characterizes the diffraction curves in a zero‐offset section as well as in a common‐midpoint gather. For horizontally layered media, the two velocity types coincide due to the conformance of the normal and the image ray. In the case of dipping subsurface structures, stacking velocities depend on the dip of the reflector and relate to normal rays, but with a dip‐dependent lateral smear of the reflection point. After dip‐moveout correction, the stacking velocities are reduced while the reflection‐point smear vanishes, focusing the rays on the common reflection points. For homogeneous media the dip‐moveout correction is independent of the actual velocity and can be applied as a dip‐moveout correction to multiple offset before velocity analysis.

Migration to multiple offset is a prestack, time‐migration technique, which presents data sets which mimic high‐fold, bin‐centre adjusted, common‐midpoint gathers. This method is independent of velocity and can migrate any 2D or 3D data set with arbitrary acquisition geometry. The gathers generated can be analysed for normal‐moveout velocities using traditional methods such as the interpretation of multivelocity‐function stacks. These stacks, however, are equivalent to multi‐velocity‐function time migrations and the derived velocities are migration velocities.