Dispersion Removal From Marine Shallow Seismic Responses

In certain seismic processing operations, such as acoustic impedence estimation, it is desireable to compensate for the dispersion. J.C. Robinson has presented a convenient algorithm for dispersion removal, however, the algorithm requires either a priori knowledge of the sediment quality factor (Q value) or the ability to select the proper compensation if a series of Q values is used. In this paper, we show that for a symmetric pulse (or an arbitrary pulse which has been inverse filtered to a symmetric pulse), dispersion results in a distortion of the pulse symmetry. Furthermore, a correct dispersion compensation and appropriate Q value can be implied if the symmetry of the reflected pulses has been restored after Robinson's algorithm has been implemented.