Simulated annealing statics computation using an order-based energy function

The residual statics problem in seismic data analysis is treated by introducing an optimization function that emphasizes the coherence of neighboring common depth point (CDP) gathers within a nonlinear simulated annealing technique. This optimization criterion contrasts with stack power optimization which only considers the coherence between traces within a single CDP. Emphasizing coherence between CDPs removes many of the phase space degeneracies that result from stack‐power based optimization techniques. We have applied the method to both synthetic and real data sets, and initial results display significant improvement over the input data in the coherence of reflections, even in structurally complex areas.