Applications of single-iteration Kirchhoff least-squares migration

It is well-known that standard migration is not a true inverse operation and is based on the adjoint of the forward modeling operator. Due to this approximation the resulting migrated image can often suffer from various artifacts and uneven illumination issues, especially in regions of complex geology. Least-squares depth migration approximates the inverse of the forward modeling and can be used to reduce these problems. We show two real data applications of a single-iteration (non-iterative) Kirchhoff least-squares depth migration process to highlight the benefits of this technique. Our first example demonstrates improved amplitude behavior of the least-squares migration results on an offshore Gabon data set. In the second example we show an efficient way to include attenuation in the least-squares migration process, and highlight a stable uplift in resolution and illumination compensation of the final image using a Central North Sea data set.