Integrated 2D 4-C OBC velocity analysis of near-seafloor sediments, Green Canyon, Gulf of Mexico

Geophysics ◽  
2008 ◽  
Vol 73 (6) ◽  
pp. B109-B115 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael V. DeAngelo ◽  
Paul E. Murray ◽  
Bob A. Hardage ◽  
Randy L. Remington

Using 2D four-component ocean-bottom-cable (2D 4-C OBC) seismic data processed in common-receiver gathers, we developed robust [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text] interval velocities for the near-seafloor strata. A vital element of the study was to implement iterative interpretation techniques to correlate near-seafloor P-P and P-SV images. Initially, depth-equivalent P-P and P-SV layers were interpreted by visually matching similar events in both seismic modes. Complementary 1D ray-tracing analyses then determined interval values of subsea-floor [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text] velocities across a series of earth layers extending from the seafloor to below the base of the hydrate stability zone (BHSZ) to further constrain these interpretations. Iterating interpretation of depth-equivalent horizons with velocity analyses allowed us to converge on physically reasonable velocity models. Simultaneous [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text] velocity analysis provided additional model constraints in areas where data quality of one reflection mode (usually [Formula: see text] in the near-seafloor environments) would not provide adequate information to derive reliable velocity information.

Geophysics ◽  
2005 ◽  
Vol 70 (5) ◽  
pp. U51-U65 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stig-Kyrre Foss ◽  
Bjørn Ursin ◽  
Maarten V. de Hoop

We present a method of reflection tomography for anisotropic elastic parameters from PP and PS reflection seismic data. The method is based upon the differential semblance misfit functional in scattering angle and azimuth (DSA) acting on common-image-point gathers (CIGs) to find fitting velocity models. The CIGs are amplitude corrected using a generalized Radon transform applied to the data. Depth consistency between the PP and PS images is enforced by penalizing any mis-tie between imaged key reflectors. The mis-tie is evaluated by means of map migration-demigration applied to the geometric information (times and slopes) contained in the data. In our implementation, we simplify the codepthing approach to zero-scattering-angle data only. The resulting measure is incorporated as a regularization in the DSA misfit functional. We then resort to an optimization procedure, restricting ourselves to transversely isotropic (TI) velocity models. In principle, depending on the available surface-offset range and orientation of reflectors in the subsurface, by combining the DSA with codepthing, the anisotropic parameters for TI models can be determined, provided the orientation of the symmetry axis is known. A proposed strategy is applied to an ocean-bottom-seismic field data set from the North Sea.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ramy Elasrag ◽  
Thuraya Al Ghafri ◽  
Faaeza Al Katheer ◽  
Yousuf Al-Aufi ◽  
Ivica Mihaljevic ◽  
...  

Abstract Acquiring surface seismic data can be challenging in areas of intense human activities, due to presence of infrastructures (roads, houses, rigs), often leaving large gaps in the fold of coverage that can span over several kilometers. Modern interpolation algorithms can interpolate up to a certain extent, but quality of reconstructed seismic data diminishes as the acquisition gap increases. This is where vintage seismic acquisition can aid processing and imaging, especially if previous acquisition did not face the same surface obstacles. In this paper we will present how the legacy seismic survey has helped to fill in the data gaps of the new acquisition and produced improved seismic image. The new acquisition survey is part of the Mega 3D onshore effort undertaken by ADNOC, characterized by dense shot and receiver spacing with focus on full azimuth and broadband. Due to surface infrastructures, data could not be completely acquired leaving sizable gap in the target area. However, a legacy seismic acquisition undertaken in 2014 had access to such gap zones, as infrastructures were not present at the time. Legacy seismic data has been previously processed and imaged, however simple post-imaging merge would not be adequate as two datasets were processed using different workflows and imaging was done using different velocity models. In order to synchronize the two datasets, we have processed them in parallel. Data matching and merging were done before regularization. It has been regularized to radial geometry using 5D Matching Pursuit with Fourier Interpolation (MPFI). This has provided 12 well sampled azimuth sectors that went through surface consistent processing, multiple attenuation, and residual noise attenuation. Near surface model was built using data-driven image-based static (DIBS) while reflection tomography was used to build the anisotropic velocity model. Imaging was done using Pre-Stack Kirchhoff Depth Migration. Processing legacy survey from the beginning has helped to improve signal to noise ratio which assisted with data merging to not degrade the quality of the end image. Building one near surface model allowed both datasets to match well in time domain. Bringing datasets to the same level was an important condition before matching and merging. Amplitude and phase analysis have shown that both surveys are aligned quite well with minimal difference. Only the portion of the legacy survey that covers the gap was used in the regularization, allowing MPFI to reconstruct missing data. Regularized data went through surface multiple attenuation and further noise attenuation as preconditioning for migration. Final image that is created using both datasets has allowed target to be imaged better.


Geophysics ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 82 (6) ◽  
pp. S439-S452 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matteo Ravasi

Marchenko redatuming is a revolutionary technique to estimate Green’s functions from virtual sources in the subsurface using only data measured at the earth’s surface, without having to place either sources or receivers in the subsurface. This goal is achieved by crafting special wavefields (so-called focusing functions) that can focus energy at a chosen point in the subsurface. Despite its great potential, strict requirements on the reflection response such as knowledge and accurate deconvolution of the source wavelet (including absolute scaling factor) and co-location of sources and receivers have so far challenged the application of Marchenko redatuming to real-world scenarios. I combine the coupled Marchenko equations with a one-way version of the Rayleigh integral representation to obtain a new redatuming scheme that handles internal as well as free-surface multiples using dual-sensor, band-limited seismic data (with an unknown source signature) from any acquisition system that presents arbitrarily located sources above a line of regularly sampled receivers—for example, ocean-bottom, source-over-spread streamer, and horizontal borehole seismic data. The redatuming scheme is validated using synthetic and field data, and the retrieved subsurface wavefields are used for improved structural imaging and taken as input for the computation of true-amplitude angle gathers, which can lead to more accurate amplitude-versus-angle interpretation and velocity analysis.


Geophysics ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 74 (6) ◽  
pp. WCA225-WCA231 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jörg Schleicher ◽  
Jessé C. Costa

The idea of path-integral imaging is to sum over the migrated images obtained for a set of migration velocity models. Velocities where common-image gathers align horizontally are stationary, thus favoring these images in the overall stack. The overall image forms with no knowledge of the true velocity model. However, the velocity information associated with the final image can be determined in the process. By executing the path-integral imaging twice and weighting one of the stacks with the velocity value, the stationary velocities that produce the final image can then be extracted by a division of the two images. The velocity extraction, interpola-tion, and smoothing can be done fully automatically, without the need for human interpretation or other intervention. A numerical example demonstrated that quantitative information about the migration velocity model can be determined by double path-integral migration. The so-obtained velocity model can then be used as a starting model for subsequent velocity analysis tools like migration velocity analysis or tomographic methods.


Geophysics ◽  
2003 ◽  
Vol 68 (6) ◽  
pp. 1807-1816 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vladimir Grechka ◽  
Pawan Dewangan

Processing of converted (PS) waves currently adopted by the exploration industry is essentially based on resorting the PS data into common‐conversion‐point gathers and using them for velocity analysis. Here, we explore an alternative procedure. Our key idea is to generate the so‐called pseudo‐shear (ΨS) seismograms from the recorded PP and PS traces and run conventional velocity analysis on the reconstructed ΨS data. This results in an effective S‐wave velocity model because our method creates data that possess kinematics of pure shear‐wave primaries. We never deal with such complexities of converted waves as moveout asymmetry, reflection point dispersal, and polarity reversal; therefore, these generally troublesome features become irrelevant. We describe the details of our methodology and examine its behavior both analytically and numerically. We apply the developed processing flow to a four‐component ocean‐bottom cable line acquired in the Gulf of Mexico. Since the obtained stacking velocities of P‐ and ΨS‐waves indicate the presence of effective anisotropy, we proceed with estimating a family of kinematically equivalent vertical transversely isotropic (VTI) velocity models of the subsurface.


2016 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. SA1-SA12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gareth J. Crutchley ◽  
Guy Maslen ◽  
Ingo A. Pecher ◽  
Joshu J. Mountjoy

The existence of free gas and gas hydrate in the pore spaces of marine sediments causes changes in acoustic velocities that overprint the background lithological velocities of the sediments themselves. Much previous work has determined that such velocity overprinting, if sufficiently pronounced, can be resolved with conventional velocity analysis from long-offset, multichannel seismic data. We used 2D seismic data from a gas hydrate province at the southern end of New Zealand’s Hikurangi subduction margin to describe a workflow for high-resolution velocity analysis that delivered detailed velocity models of shallow marine sediments and their coincident gas hydrate systems. The results showed examples of pronounced low-velocity zones caused by free gas ponding beneath the hydrate layer, as well as high-velocity zones related to gas hydrate deposits. For the seismic interpreter of a gas hydrate system, the velocity results represent an extra “layer” for interpretation that provides important information about the distribution of free gas and gas hydrate. By combining the velocity information from the seismic transect with geologic samples of the seafloor and an understanding of sedimentary processes, we have determined that high gas hydrate concentrations preferentially form within coarse-grained sediments at the proximal end of the Hikurangi Channel. Finer grained sediments expected elsewhere along the seismic transect might preclude the deposition of similarly high gas hydrate concentrations away from the channel.


Geophysics ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 78 (5) ◽  
pp. WC123-WC135 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pengfei Cai ◽  
Ilya Tsvankin

Combining PP-waves with mode-converted PS reflections in migration velocity analysis (MVA) can help build more accurate VTI (transversely isotropic with a vertical symmetry axis) velocity models. To avoid problems caused by the moveout asymmetry of PS-waves and take advantage of efficient MVA algorithms designed for pure modes, here we generate pure SS-reflections from PP and PS data using the [Formula: see text] method. Then the residual moveout in both PP and SS common-image gathers is minimized during iterative velocity updates. The model is divided into square cells, and the VTI parameters [Formula: see text], [Formula: see text], [Formula: see text], and [Formula: see text] are defined at each grid point. The objective function also includes the differences between the migrated depths of the same reflectors on the PP and SS sections. Synthetic examples confirm that 2D MVA of PP- and PS-waves may be able to resolve all four relevant parameters of VTI media if reflectors with at least two distinct dips are available. The algorithm is also successfully applied to a 2D line from 3D ocean-bottom seismic data acquired at Volve field in the North Sea. After the anisotropic velocity model has been estimated, accurate depth images can be obtained by migrating the recorded PP and PS data.


2020 ◽  
Vol 223 (3) ◽  
pp. 1888-1898
Author(s):  
Kirill Gadylshin ◽  
Ilya Silvestrov ◽  
Andrey Bakulin

SUMMARY We propose an advanced version of non-linear beamforming assisted by artificial intelligence (NLBF-AI) that includes additional steps of encoding and interpolating of wavefront attributes using inpainting with deep neural network (DNN). Inpainting can efficiently and accurately fill the holes in waveform attributes caused by acquisition geometry gaps and data quality issues. Inpainting with DNN delivers excellent quality of interpolation with the negligible computational effort and performs particularly well for a challenging case of irregular holes where other interpolation methods struggle. Since conventional brute-force attribute estimation is very costly, we can further intentionally create additional holes or masks to restrict expensive conventional estimation to a smaller subvolume and obtain missing attributes with cost-effective inpainting. Using a marine seismic data set with ocean bottom nodes, we show that inpainting can reliably recover wavefront attributes even with masked areas reaching 50–75 per cent. We validate the quality of the results by comparing attributes and enhanced data from NLBF-AI and conventional NLBF using full-density data without decimation.


Geophysics ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 82 (5) ◽  
pp. V297-V309 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hamish Wilson ◽  
Lutz Gross

Spectral noise, low resolution, and attenuation of semblance peaks due to amplitude variation with offset (AVO) anomalies hamper the reliability of velocity analysis in the semblance spectrum for seismic data processing. Increasing resolution and reducing noise while accounting for AVO has posed a challenge in various semblance schemes due to a trade-off in resolution and AVO detectability. A new semblance scheme is introduced that aims to remove this trade-off. The new scheme uses the concepts of bootstrapped differential semblance with trend-based AB semblance. Results indicate that the new scheme indeed increases spectral resolution, reduces noise, and accounts for AVO anomalies. These improvements facilitate velocity control for automatic and manual picking methods and, hence, provide a means for more reliable apparent velocity models.


Geophysics ◽  
2002 ◽  
Vol 67 (5) ◽  
pp. 1664-1672 ◽  
Author(s):  
Debashish Sarkar ◽  
Robert T. Baumel ◽  
Ken L. Larner

Conventional semblance velocity analysis is equivalent to modeling prestack seismic data with events that have hyperbolic moveout but no amplitude variation with offset (AVO). As a result of its assumption that amplitude is independent of offset, this method might be expected to perform poorly for events with strong AVO—especially for events with polarity reversals at large offset, such as reflections from tops of some class 1 and class 2 sands. We find that substantial amplitude variation and even phase change with offset do not compromise the conventional semblance measure greatly. Polarity reversal, however, causes conventional semblance to fail. The semblance method can be extended to take into account data with events that have amplitude variation, expressed by AVO intercept and gradient (i.e., the Shuey approximation). However, because of the extra degrees of freedom introduced in AVO‐sensitive semblance, resolution of the estimated velocities is decreased. This is because the data can be modeled acceptably with a range of combined erroneous velocity and AVO behavior. To address this problem, in addition to using the Shuey equation to describe the amplitude variation, we constrain the AVO parameters (intercept and gradient) to be related linearly within each semblance window. With this constraint we can preserve velocity resolution and improve the quality of velocity analysis in the presence of amplitude and even polarity variation with offset. Results from numerical tests suggest that the modified semblance is accurate in the presence of polarity reversals. Tests also indicate, however, that in the presence of noise, the signal peak in conventional semblance has better standout than does that in the modified semblance measures.


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