P-SV stacking charts and binning periodicity

David W. S. Eaton, Donald C. Lawton

The use of multicomponent sources and geophones has stimulated an interest in the analysis of mode-converted reflections in the recent literature. Several schemes have been proposed for trace binning according to common-conversion-point (CCP), rather than common-midpoint (CMP), co-ordinates. We demonstrate that application of the asymptotic approximation to CCP sorting leads to a periodic fluctuation in stacking fold and offset range from one location to the next. In the worst-case scenario, certain combinations of acquisition parameters and P- and S-wave velocities lead to empty CCP bins, and consequently dead or missing stacked traces. To facilitate a better intuitive understanding of the relationships between survey parameters and CCP binning, we modify the conventional surface stacking chart by projecting onto it the CCP-bin boundaries. We also propose the use of additional binning parameters in order to improve the distribution of traces into CCP bins.