Paper Summary
Both number and size of OBN surveys have been increasing in recent years. This requires efficient processing solutions for both demultiple and deghosting to prepare the seismic data for imaging. One approach that meets this requirement is up-down wavefield separation of the hydrophone and geophone records followed by up/down deconvolution or downgoing wavefield deconvolution. The combination of wavefield separation and deconvolution attenuates free surface effects and removes the source signature. In this study, we demonstrate that up/down deconvolution and downgoing wavefield deconvolution can be implemented in a single processing flow, which simplifies the processing sequence required for imaging with both the up- and downgoing wavefields. This simplification greatly reduces human effort and processing turn-around. In addition, the combination of the two techniques allows the construction of complimentary images from both wavefields. Most importantly, the mirror image using the downgoing wavefield offers superior resolution in the shallow subsurface, which may have significant impact for the characterization of shallow targets.