This paper has presented an inversion scheme that uses steering filters as a preconditioning operator. These steering filters tend to create dips along chosen reflectors. We presented a 1-D scheme in which the steering filters simply tried to act horizontally along the ph axis and a 2-D scheme in which the tendency to create horizontal dips along the ph axis was cascaded with steering filters tending to create dips along picked reflectors in the CMP-depth plane. Both of these methods increased the signal-to-noise ratio and helped to fill in the shadow zones.
We also examined the effect of variation in the picked reflectors for the 2-D scheme. This was done by picking a variety of reflectors based on both the correct and the incorrect dips. This experiment showed that the inversion will reject dips that are incorrectly picked where data exists. This can even indicate areas where faulting has occurred. The inversion assures that picked dips that generate an event which interferes with the data are rejected. Picked dips that generate an event that doesn't interfere with existing data are allowed. Picked dips that cross, or meet at a point can be accommodated by the inversion. It is necessary to pick reflectors wherever the dominant dip changes.