Amplitude-versus-offset analysis using the vertical seismic profile

Craig A. Coulombe, Robert R. Stewart, Michael J. Jones

The use of a walkaway vertical seismic profile (WVSP) geometry is shown to have application to amplitude versus offset (AVO) analysis of reflected P-waves and mode-converted (P-SV) waves. Three-component processing of a synthetic WVSP data set results in true amplitude P-wave and SV-wave gathers. The amplitudes of these gathers are shown to correlate with the theoretical Zoeppritz equation solution suggesting that an inversion of the WVSP amplitudes can be used to obtain the Poisson's ratio contrast across an elastic boundary.