A Padé approximation to the scalar wavefield extrapolator for inhomogeneous media

Yanpeng Mi, Zhengsheng Yao, Gary F. Margrave

A seismic wavefield at depth z can be obtained by extrapolating the wavefield from zero depth. An exact analytical solution for the wavefield extrapolator does not exist for generally heterogeneous media. Relatively accurate solutions such as generalized eigenfunction transform can only be put into practice with sufficient computing power, which is generally unavailable for real seismic data processing. In this paper a Pad solution to the scalar wave extrapolator is presented, which is generally faster than the eigenvalue decomposition method without significant loss of accuracy.