RETRACTED: Application of variational mode decomposition to seismic random noise reduction (Retracted article. See vol. 17, pg. 924, 2020)

We have proposed a new denoising method for the simultaneous noise reduction and preservation of seismic signals based on variational mode decomposition (VMD). VMD is a recently developed adaptive signal decomposition method and an advance in non-stationary signal analysis. It solves the mode-mixing and non-optimal reconstruction performance problems of empirical mode decomposition that have existed for a long time. By using VMD, a multicomponent signal can be non-recursively decomposed into a series of quasi-orthogonal intrinsic mode functions (IMFs), each of which has a relatively local frequency range. Meanwhile, the signal will focus on a smaller number of obtained IMFs after decomposition, and thus the denoised result is able to be obtained by reconstructing these signal-dominant IMFs. Synthetic examples are given to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed approach and comparison is made with the complete ensemble empirical mode decomposition, which demonstrates that the VMD algorithm has lower computational cost and better random noise elimination performance. The application of on field seismic data further illustrates the superior performance of our method in both random noise attenuation and the recovery of seismic events.