Abstract The wavefield generated at the surface of the earth from a surface seismic source can be represented as a function F(f, k) in the frequency wave?number domain. This function depends upon the source and the propagation characteristics of the underlying structure. For any particular frequency the spatial coherence as observed at two points r1 and r2 on the surface is defined as: γ(r1,r2)=1N|∫KF(k)e2πik−(r1−r2)dk|.