Application of the topographic datuming operator to a data set from the Eastern Arabian Peninsula

We apply a redatuming methodology, designed to handle rugged topography and the presence of high-velocity layers near the acquisition surface, to a 2D land seismic data set acquired in Saudi Arabia. This methodology is based on a recently developed prestack operator, which we call the topographic datuming operator (TDO). The TDO, unlike static corrections, allows for the movement of reflections laterally with respect to their true locations, corresponding to the new datum level. Thus, it mitigates mispositioning of events and velocity bias introduced by the assumption of surface consistency and the time-invariant time shifts brought about by static corrections. Using the shallow velocities estimated from refracted events, the TDO provides a superior continuity of reflections and better focusing than that obtained from conventional static corrections in most parts of the processed 2D line. The computational cost of applying the TDO is only slightly higher than static corrections. The marginal additional computational cost and the possibility of estimating, after TDO redatuming, stacking velocities that are not affected by a spurious positive bias, as in the case of static corrections, are further advantages of the proposed methodology. The likelihood of strong heterogeneities in the most complex part of the line limits the applicability of any approach based upon geometrical optics; however, the TDO produces results that are slightly better than those obtained from static corrections because of its ability to partially collapse diffractions generated in the near surface.