Least Squares Wave Equation Migration of Elastic Data

Least squares migration compensates for the effects of missing data, noise, and illumination by imposing various constraints on an image while ensuring the model fits the observed data. Multicomponent seismic data are well suited for least squares migration as they generally suffer from many of the same complications as single component data. This article extends least squares wave equation migration to two component elastic data in isotropic media. Forward and adjoint operators are written using Helmholtz recomposition/decomposition operators implemented in the Fourier domain, while extrapolation is carried out using a split-step operator. Poynting vectors calculated using source and receiver side P-wave potentials are used to calculate angle gathers. We regularize the inversion by dip filtering in the angle domain to reduce the effect of source/receiver sampling, noise, and PP/PS crosstalk artifacts.