MIGRATION BY EXTRAPOLATION OF TIME‐DEPENDENT BOUNDARY VALUES*

A bstract Migration of an observed zero‐offset wavefield can be performed as the solution of a boundary value problem in which the data are extrapolated backward in time. This concept is implemented through a finite‐difference solution of the two‐dimensional acoustic wave equation. All depths are imaged simultaneously at time 0 (the imaging condition), and all dips (right up to vertical) are correctly migrated. Numerical examples illustrate this technique in both constant and variable velocity media.