Lateral velocity variation related correction in asymptotic true‐amplitude one‐way propagators

It was mathematically proved that the asymptotic true‐amplitude one‐way wave equation could provide the same amplitude as the full‐wave equation in heterogeneous lossless media in the sense of high‐frequency asymptotics. Much work has been done on the vertical velocity variation related amplitude correction term but the lateral velocity variation related term has not received much attention, even being excluded in some asymptotic true‐amplitude one‐way propagator formulations. Here we analyse the effects of different amplitude correction terms in the asymptotic true‐amplitude one‐way propagator, especially the effect related to the lateral velocity variation, by comparing the wavefield amplitude from the one‐way propagator with that from full‐wave modelling. We derive a dual‐domain wide‐angle screen type asymptotic true‐amplitude one‐way propagator and evaluate two implementations of the amplitude correction. Numerical examples show that the lateral velocity variation related correction term can play a significant role in the asymptotic true‐amplitude one‐way propagator. Optimization of the expansion coefficients in the asymptotic true‐amplitude one‐way propagator can improve both the amplitude and phase accuracy for wide‐angle waves.