Statics prediction from cross-correlations in orthogonal directions

Traditional reflection statics programs use model traces built from stacks of nearby traces. Using cross-correlations between nearby prestack traces avoids the problems associated with the model building process. Cross-correlations between trace pairs positioned in orthogonal directions with respect to structure, residual NMO, and the shot and receiver terms allow the full statics problem to be separated into three sets of problems. Crosscorrelations are performed in gathers that are independent of, or orthogonal to, one of three parts of the full problem. These simpler problems may be solved individually with greater ease and perhaps with more accuracy than traditional approaches. Since only one term is being predicted within each subset of the problem, this may be considered a signalprocessing problem rather than a matrix-inversion problem. The cross-correlations of neighboring traces may be supplemented with the creation of cross-correlations between traces that are widely separated. These extra cross-correlations may stabilize the problem. Preliminary results on synthetic data appear promising.