Patent ID: 7181347

Claim:
A method for predicting a plurality of surface multiples for a plurality of traces in a record of seismic data, comprising: (a) selecting a target subsurface line; (b) selecting an input subsurface line within an aperture of the target subsurface line; (c) selecting one or more points on a line twice the distance from the target subsurface line to the input subsurface line, wherein each point corresponds to a potential downward reflection point of the surface multiples for a trace in the record; (d) generating an inline of potential surface multiples for the trace corresponding to the one or more points on the line; (e) repeating steps (c) through (d) for each input subsurface line within the aperture of the target subsurface line to generate a plurality of potential surface multiples for the trace corresponding to each input subsurface line within the aperture; (f) adding the plurality of potential surface multiples corresponding to each input subsurface line within the aperture to generate a surface multiple for the trace; and (g) storing the surface multiple for the trace to memory.