Multiple Removal in the Inverse Data Space

In practice, the data of a seismic survey is always discrete. Therefore, seismic data of a complete survey can be conveniently arranged in a so-called data matrix (P). After removing waves that have travelled along the surface (part of the preprocessing step), the data matrix contains signals that can be expressed in terms of wavefield operators describing propagation and reflection in the subsurface. <br>Considering the dominant role of multiple scattering in seismic data, it is proposed to replace data matrix P by its inverse P-1 before starting seismic processing. In the inverse data space, a natural separation between primaries and multiples occurs, leading to a new type of multiple removal algorithm.<br>