METHOD FOR RECONSTRUCTING SEISMIC WAVEFIELDS

A method for reconstructing (138) a selected wavefield at a designated commo n midpoint and offset location (132) from a set of prestack seismic data trace s (126). The method uses actual data traces from other common midpoint and offset locations to reconstruct the selected wavefield at the designated reconstruction location. The method may be used to reconstruct any selected wavefield, including both primary reflection wavefields and secondary wavefields such as water-bottom multiple wavefields, and may be used with bo th 2-D and 3-D seismic data. If the reconstructed wavefield is a secondary wavefield, it may be subtracted from the restack seismic data traces to eliminate interference between wavefields. The method may also be used to reconstruct data from missing shots to avoid spatial aliasing problems in other data processing operations.