Patent ID: 8892410

Claim:
A method for transforming seismic data traces corresponding to at least one source position and a plurality of receiver positions in a seismic survey of a subsurface region into a near-surface earth model of elastic shear wave propagation velocity or other physical property of the earth derivable therefrom including shear modulus, said method comprising: (a) dividing a near surface part of the subsurface region into one or more cells, and computing source-to-receiver ray path distances for each cell for a plurality of the seismic data traces; (b) using the ray path distances, simultaneously solving, using a computer, for at least two types of surface-consistent components of the seismic traces, as functions of x and y location and frequency, wherein a surface-consistent component characterizes filtering effects either of propagation of a seismic surface wave mode across a cell (a propagation filter), or due to generation of surface wave energy at a source location (a source filter) or due to receiving of source wave energy at a receiver location (a receiver filter), and wherein a “type” of surface-constant component is one of (i) a propagation filter for one surface wave mode, evaluated at all cells crossed by any of the seismic traces; (ii) a source filter, evaluated at all source locations for the seismic traces, or (iii) a receiver filter, evaluated at all receiver locations for the seismic traces; and (c) choosing one or more of the surface-consistent components, and using them to compute by numerical inversion, using a computer, a near-surface earth model of shear wave velocity or other physical property of the earth derivable therefrom as a function of (x,y,z) location.