Angle gathers in wave-equation imaging for VTI media

Summary: Angles in common-image angle-domain gathers refer to the scattering angle at the reflector and provide a natural access to analyzing migration velocities and amplitudes. In the case of anisotropic media, the importance of angle gathers is enhanced by the need to properly estimate multiple anisotropic parameters for a proper representation of the medium. We extract angle gathers for each downward-continuation step from converting offset-space-frequency planes into angle-space planes simultaneously with applying the imaging condition in a transversely isotropic (VTI) medium. The analytic equations, though cumbersome, are exact within the framework of the acoustic approximation. They are also easily programmable and show that angle gather mapping in the case anisotropic media differs from its isotropic counterpart, difference depending mainly on the strength of anisotropy.