Patent Document ID: 8990053
Application ID: 13356342
Patent Flag: 1

Claim One:
1. A computer-implemented method for inversion of measured seismic data from a subsurface region, comprising: (a) selecting a shallow layer from the seismic data, with the layer's depth determined to include primary reflections (shallow primaries), but exclude first arrivals of multiple reflections of interest (multiples); (b) inverting the shallow primaries, using an estimated seismic source wavelet, to obtain a shallow model of a physical property affecting propagation of seismic waves; then simultaneously optimizing the shallow model and the seismic source wavelet in (c)-(e): (c) computer-simulating the multiples using the inverted shallow model and the estimated seismic source wavelet; (d) comparing the simulated multiples to corresponding multiples in the seismic data, and adjusting the estimated seismic source wavelet to reduce misfit; (e) repeating (b)-(d) at least once, or until the misfit is reduced below a predetermined level or other stopping condition is met; and (f) outputting a simultaneously optimized seismic source wavelet and shallow model.