Topographic scattering effects on seismic data: from seismic numerical modeling to field data

Abstract

Using synthetic seismograms, we study the influence of the widely observed strong scattered noises in complex near-surface areas. Our studies show that an intense scattering occurs in near surface regions, especially in the near-source and near-receiver regions. The scattering is dominated by rugged topography. These strong near-surface scatterings can seriously decrease the energy of valid signals and significantly increase noise levels that mask the interesting reflections. The study of simulating wave scattering by a low-velocity topographic structure in the western areas of China shows that the topographic effect is the most important factor to degrade the quality of seismic data in these areas.