Patent ID: 7764573

Claim:
A method of increasing the resolution of an image produced from seismic data, the method comprising the steps of: (a) providing an input digital seismic trace comprising at least one seismic loop; (b) on a computer, obtaining a selected discrete wavelet transform of the first digital seismic trace, as a function of scale s j and shifted sample time t k ; (c) on a computer, obtaining a singularity spectrum from the discrete wavelet transform for each seismic loop; (d) on a computer, estimating from the singularity spectrum at least two subsurface scaling parameters that are controlled exclusively by earth properties and at least one parameter associated with a seismic wavelet; (e) on a computer, fitting to the singularity spectrum a selected analytic function that depends on said at least two subsurface scaling parameters and said parameter associated with a seismic wavelet (f) on a computer, removing the seismic wavelet parameter and using the subsurface scaling parameters to construct wavelet transforms at scales lower than that found in the input seismic trace; (g) on a computer, inverse transforming the wavelet transform constructed in step (f) to obtain a second seismic trace having a higher resolution than the input seismic trace.