Abstract: A wave equation method tracing wavefield propagation path is proposed with ray theory. A windowed Fourier frame expansion technique is employed for angle decomposition of wavefields of source-point and target-point. Directional illumination is calculated. An angle coherence technique is applied to directional illumination to acquire propagation path between source-point and target-point. The method takes into account focusing and defocusing effects of the wavefield propagation caused by inhomogeneous media.

Key words: wavefield, propagation path, windowed Fourier frame expansion, angle decomposition, wave equation, tracing