Angle-dependent deghosting of seismic data

1. A method for generating a seismic image, comprising the steps of:

a) providing at least one input trace corresponding to seismic signals received at a receiver at a known receiver depth;

b) using the input trace to generate a series of angle traces, each having a known time dip (p x , p y )=(dT/dx, dT/dy);

c) for each angle trace, using

sin(θ)=√{square root over (1 −v w 2 ( p x 2 +p y 2 ))}

where v w is the propagation velocity in water to determine an angle θ and

H(ω)=2 i sin( iωz r cos(θ)/ v w )

where z r is the receiver depth and ω is the angular frequency to determine a filter H;

d) for each angle trace, correcting the data for ghosting by using the inverse of the filter H so as to generate a plurality of deghosted angle traces;

e) copying each deghosted angle trace over to a plurality of output locations, applying in each case the time dip for that angle trace, so as to generate a plurality of corrected angle traces;

f) at each output location, summing a plurality of the corrected angle traces at that output location so as to generate a replacement trace; and

g) using the replacement trace to generate a seismic image.

2. The method according to claim 1 , further including repeating steps a)-g) for a plurality of input traces, wherein step g) comprises

g1) at each output location, summing the replacement traces at that output location so as to generate an output trace; and

g2) using the output traces to generate a seismic image.

3. The method according to claim 2 wherein the output locations correspond to the input locations.

4. The method according to claim 2 , further including repeating steps a)-i) after a period of time so as to generate a second seismic image and comparing the seismic images so as to generate a time-lapse image.

5. The method according to claim 2 wherein the number of input traces is greater than 100.

6. The method according to claim 1 wherein step b) includes generating at least 30 angle traces from each input trace.

7. The method according to claim 1 wherein the seismic signals are received at a receiver selected from the group consisting of hydrophones, geophones, fiber optic sensors, ocean bottom sensors, streamers, and combinations thereof.

8. The method according to claim 1 wherein the seismic signals are received at a towed marine receiver.