The Marchenko method for evanescent waves

Abstract

With the Marchenko method, Green's functions in the subsurface can be retrieved from seismic reflection data at the surface. State-of-the-art Marchenko methods work well for propagating waves but break down for evanescent waves. This paper discusses a first step towards extending the Marchenko method for evanescent waves and analyses its possibilities and limitations. In theory both the downward and upward decaying components can be retrieved. The retrieval of the upward decaying component appears to be very sensitive to model errors, but the downward decaying component, including multiple reflections, can be retrieved in a reasonably stable and accurate way. The reported research opens the way to develop new Marchenko methods that can handle refracted waves in wide-angle reflection data.