SV-P extraction and imaging for far-offset vertical seismic profile data

2015 ◽  
Vol 3 (3) ◽  
pp. SW27-SW35 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yandong Li ◽  
Bob A. Hardage

We have analyzed vertical seismic profile (VSP) data acquired across a Marcellus Shale prospect and found that SV-P reflections could be extracted from far-offset VSP data generated by a vertical-vibrator source using time-variant receiver rotations. Optimal receiver rotation angles were determined by a dynamic steering of geophones to the time-varying approach directions of upgoing SV-P reflections. These SV-P reflections were then imaged using a VSP common-depth-point transformation based on ray tracing. Comparisons of our SV-P image with P-P and P-SV images derived from the same offset VSP data found that for deep targets, SV-P data created an image that extended farther from the receiver well than P-P and P-SV images and that spanned a wider offset range than P-P and P-SV images do. A comparison of our VSP SV-P image with a surface-based P-SV profile that traversed the VSP well demonstrated that SV-P data were equivalent to P-SV data for characterizing geology and that a VSP-derived SV-P image could be used to calibrate surface-recorded SV-P data that were generated by P-wave sources.

2015 ◽  
Vol 3 (3) ◽  
pp. SW57-SW62 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yunsong Huang ◽  
Ruiqing He ◽  
Chaiwoot Boonyasiriwat ◽  
Yi Luo ◽  
Gerard Schuster

We introduce the concept of seminatural migration of multiples in vertical seismic profile (VSP) data, denoted as specular interferometric migration, in which part of the kernel is computed by ray tracing and the other part is obtained from the data. It has the advantage over standard migration of ghost reflections, in that the well statics are eliminated and the migration image is no more sensitive to velocity errors than migration of VSP primaries. Moreover, the VSP ghost image has significantly more subsurface illumination than the VSP primary image. The synthetic and field data results validate the effectiveness of this method.


Geophysics ◽  
1994 ◽  
Vol 59 (7) ◽  
pp. 1171-1171
Author(s):  
Miodrag M. Roksandic

Hinds et al.’s paper is an interesting case history describing the acquisition and interpretive processing of VSP data and presenting an integrated interpretation of well log, surface seismic, and vertical seismic profile data. However, a question of principle arises. What is an integrated interpretation?


Geophysics ◽  
1989 ◽  
Vol 54 (1) ◽  
pp. 49-56 ◽  
Author(s):  
Edward L. Salo ◽  
Gerard T. Schuster

Traveltimes from both direct and reflected arrivals in a VSP data set (Bridenstein no. 1 well in Oklahoma) are inverted in a least‐squares sense for velocity structure. By comparing the structure from inversion to the sonic log, we conclude that the accuracy of the reconstructed velocities is greater than that found when only the direct arrivals are used. Extensive tests on synthetic VSP data confirm this observation. Apparently, the additional reflection traveltime equations aid in averaging out the traveltime errors, as well as reducing the slowness variance in reflecting layers. These results are consistent with theory, which predicts a decrease in a layer’s slowness variance with an increase in the number and length of terminating reflected rays. For the Bridenstein data set, 130 direct traveltimes and 399 primary reflection traveltimes were used in the inversion.


Geophysics ◽  
1985 ◽  
Vol 50 (4) ◽  
pp. 615-626 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. D. Stainsby ◽  
M. H. Worthington

Four different methods of estimating Q from vertical seismic profile (VSP) data based on measurements of spectral ratios, pulse amplitude, pulse width, and zeroth lag autocorrelation of the attenuated impulse are described. The last procedure is referred to as the pulse‐power method. Practical problems concerning nonlinearity in the estimating procedures, uncertainties in the gain setting of the recording equipment, and the influence of structure are considered in detail. VSP data recorded in a well in the central North Sea were processed to obtain estimates of seismic attenuation. These data revealed a zone of high attenuation from approximately 4 900 ft to [Formula: see text] ft with a value of [Formula: see text] Results of the spectral‐ratio analysis show that the data conform to a linear constant Q model. In addition, since the pulse‐width measurement is dependent upon the dispersive model adopted, it is shown that a nondispersive model cannot possibly provide a match to the real data. No unambiguous evidence is presented that explains the cause of this low Q zone. However, it is tentatively concluded that the seismic attenuation may be associated with the degree of compaction of the sediments and the presence of deabsorbed gases.


Geophysics ◽  
2003 ◽  
Vol 68 (6) ◽  
pp. 1782-1791 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Graziella Kirtland Grech ◽  
Don C. Lawton ◽  
Scott Cheadle

We have developed an anisotropic prestack depth migration code that can migrate either vertical seismic profile (VSP) or surface seismic data. We use this migration code in a new method for integrated VSP and surface seismic depth imaging. Instead of splicing the VSP image into the section derived from surface seismic data, we use the same migration algorithm and a single velocity model to migrate both data sets to a common output grid. We then scale and sum the two images to yield one integrated depth‐migrated section. After testing this method on synthetic surface seismic and VSP data, we applied it to field data from a 2D surface seismic line and a multioffset VSP from the Rocky Mountain Foothills of southern Alberta, Canada. Our results show that the resulting integrated image exhibits significant improvement over that obtained from (a) the migration of either data set alone or (b) the conventional splicing approach. The integrated image uses the broader frequency bandwidth of the VSP data to provide higher vertical resolution than the migration of the surface seismic data. The integrated image also shows enhanced structural detail, since no part of the surface seismic section is eliminated, and good event continuity through the use of a single migration–velocity model, obtained by an integrated interpretation of borehole and surface seismic data. This enhanced migrated image enabled us to perform a more robust interpretation with good well ties.


Geophysics ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 85 (3) ◽  
pp. S135-S150
Author(s):  
Jakob B. U. Haldorsen ◽  
Leif Jahren

We have determined how the measured polarization and traveltime for P- and S-waves can be used directly with vertical seismic profile data for estimating the salt exit points in a salt-proximity survey. As with interferometry, the processes described use only local velocities. For the data analyzed in this paper, our procedures have confirmed the location, inferred from surface-seismic data, of the flank of a steeply dipping salt body near the well. This has provided us more confidence in the estimated reservoir extent moving toward the salt face, which in turn has added critical information for the economic evaluation of a possible new well into the reservoir. We also have found that ray-based vector migration, based on the assumptions of locally plane wavefronts and locally plane formation interfaces, can be used to create 3D reflection images of steeply dipping sediments near the well, again using only local velocities. Our local reflection images have helped confirm the dips of the sediments between the well and the salt flank. Because all parameters used in these processes are local and can be extracted from the data themselves, the processes can be considered to be self-sufficient.


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