Optimizing survey design for diffracted multiple attenuation with 3D SRME

We describe a methodology that can be used in designing a survey suitable for subsequent application of advanced multiple attenuation methods for the purpose of tackling complex diffracted multiples. The problem of diffracted multiple attenuation is tackled through an application of surface-related multiple elimination in three dimensions (3D SRME). The impact of changes in acquisition geometry is assessed by performing multiple attenuation on synthetic data. We demonstrate that 3D SRME can successfully attenuate surface-related diffracted multiples, provided the necessary full wavefield is either acquired or reconstructed. We focus our study on the impact of acquisition geometry on the quality of multiple suppression and show that acquiring higher-density data can lead to significant improvements in diffracted multiple attenuation. Finally, we demonstrate that 3D SRME was able to achieve a high degree of diffracted multiple attenuation in a field survey acquired with the geometry studied in synthetic data experiments.