Direct Observation of a p-tau Curve in a Slant Stacked Wavefield
, by Geroge A. McMechan and Richard Ottolini
The well-known Wiechert-Herglotz technique for computing a
velocity-depth profile from refraction seismograms uses data in the form
of ray parameter as a function of intercept time (a p-tau curve).
The technique of slant stacking used by reflection seismologists automati-
cally produce a p-tau curve form a common shot profile, thereby bypassing
the arbitrary picking of traveltime and the several intermediate calcu-
lations of previous methods. Successful preliminary results are presented
for both synthetic and real data. This method deteriorates for widely
separated geophones and where a number of apparent sources with low inter-
source coherency coexist in a single profile, but is capable of completely
sorting out triplications in data with less extreme contrasts with human
intervention.
STANFORD