A fast, modified parabolic Radon transform

We propose a fast and efficient frequency-domain implementation of a modified parabolic Radon transform (modified PRT) based on a singular value decomposition (SVD) with applications to multiple removal. The problem is transformed into a complex linear system involving a single operator after merging the curvature-frequency parameters into a new variable. A complex SVD is applied to this operator and the forward transform is computed by means of a complex back-substitution that is frequency independent. The new transform offers a wider curvature range at signal frequencies than the other PRT implementations, allowing the mapping in the transform domain of low-frequency events with important residual moveouts (long period multiples). The method is capable of resolving multiple energy from primaries when they interfere in a small time interval, a situation where most frequency-domain methods fail to discriminate the different wave types. Additionally, the method resists better to amplitude variations with offset (AVO) effects in the data than does the iteratively reweighted least-squares (IRLS) method. The proposed method was successfully applied to a deep-water seismic line in the Gulf of Mexico to attenuate water-bottom multiples and subsequent peg-legs originating from multiple paths in the water column. Combining the suggested method with the surface-related multiple elimination (SRME) has led to the best attenuation results in removing residual multiple energy in the stack.