A comparison of streamer and OBC seismic data at Beryl Alpha field, U. K. North Sea

Geophysics ◽  
2007 ◽  
Vol 72 (3) ◽  
pp. B69-B80 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jonathan Stewart ◽  
Andrew Shatilo ◽  
Charlie Jing ◽  
Tommie Rape ◽  
Richard Duren ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
North Sea ◽  
Seismic Data ◽  
Signal To Noise Ratio ◽  
Vertical Component ◽  
Hard Water ◽  
Detailed Comparison ◽  
P Wave ◽  
Data Sets ◽  
Ocean Bottom ◽  
Streamer Data

Compressional P-wave ocean-bottom-cable (OBC) seismic data from the Beryl Alpha field in the U. K. North Sea provide a superior image of the subsurface compared to heritage streamer seismic data. To determine the reason for the superiority of OBC data, the results of a detailed comparison of these OBC and streamer data sets are compared. The streamer and OBC data sets are reprocessed using a strategy that attempts to isolate the roles of processing, fold, azimuth, PZ combination, and hydrophone and geophone data have on the improved OBC image. The vertical component of the geophone (OBC Z) provides the major contribution to the improved OBC image. The imaged OBC Z datacontain fewer multiples and have a higher signal-to-noise ratio than the streamer. The OBC data have a lower level of multiple contamination because of the contribution from the OBC Z component, together with an effective suppression of receiver-side water-column reverberations as a result of the combination of the OBC hydrophone and geophone traces (PZ combination). The increased fold and wider azimuths of OBC data improve the OBC image slightly. Wider azimuths improve fault imaging, especially for faults oriented obliquely to the inline and crossline directions. The particular conditions at Beryl Alpha field that make the OBC survey successful are the relatively hard water bottom and the presence of multiples that are difficult to remove from streamer data using standard demultiple techniques.

A COMPARISON BETWEEN SONOBUOY AND OCEAN BOTTOM SEISMOGRAPH DATA AND CRUSTAL STRUCTURE OF THE TEXAS SHELF ZONE

Geophysics ◽  
1978 ◽  
Vol 43 (3) ◽  
pp. 514-527 ◽  
Author(s):  
Abou‐Bakr K. Ibrahim ◽  
Gary V. Latham
Keyword(s):  
Seismic Data ◽  
Signal To Noise Ratio ◽  
Vertical Component ◽  
Shelf Zone ◽  
Ocean Bottom ◽  
Low Velocity ◽  
Distance Curve ◽  
Resonant Frequencies ◽  
Ocean Bottom Seismograph ◽  
Better Than

Three refraction profiles were shot in the Gulf of Mexico 100 nautical miles south of Galveston. Recordings were made using free floating and anchored sonobuoys deployed near an ocean bottom seismograph (OBS). Explosions and airgun sources were used. Vertical component geophones with resonant frequencies of 4.5 Hz and 8 Hz were used in the OBS system. We compared seismic data recorded by the conventional sonobuoy and the OBS. The signal‐to‐noise ratio for the OBS is about three to four times better than that of the sonobuoy, facilitating the interpretation of the three profiles. Based on the first and later arrivals obtained from the OBS records, traveltime curves and an amplitude distance curve are constructed. The results show that the velocities at the experimental sites vary between 1.7 km/sec at the surface to 7.7 km/sec at a depth of 14.5 km. The 7.7 km/sec layer may be lower crust or anomalous mantle. The low velocity sediments (1.7 – 3.3 km/sec) thicken westward from the deployment point.

Acquisition footprints and seafloor coupling in multicomponent OBC seismic data

Geophysics ◽  
2010 ◽  
Vol 75 (1) ◽  
pp. Q11-Q20 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. James Brown
Keyword(s):  
Seismic Data ◽  
Oscillatory Motion ◽  
P Wave ◽  
Spatial Period ◽  
Data Sets ◽  
Ocean Bottom ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Spectral Analyses ◽  
Step Process ◽  
Static Correction

In four-component (4-C) towed ocean-bottom-cable (OBC) data sets, acquisition footprints are often observed. Sometimes these exhibit a spatial period equal to the length of the receiver cable. I have analyzed a 2D 4-C OBC data set, looking at common-offset gathers (COG), spectral analyses, and hodogram analyses of the direct P-wave first breaks. The acquisition footprint is seen to be directly related to the following effects observed on a few of the multicomponent receivers, namely, those nearest to the towing vessel: significant delays on the inline component though not on the downgoing direct-P first breaks; depletion of higher frequencies (narrower bandwidth) on the inline component; and oscillatory motion closer to the vertical on the direct-P first breaks equivalent to decreased amplitude on the in-line component. This is interpreted to be a result of the towing procedure wherein the leading end of the cable, with the first few receiver modules, is raised from the seafloor and laid down again, relatively lightly, on top of seafloor material that might be poorly consolidated, while the trailing receivers are pulled through and down into this material. For these leading receiver modules, this results in poor inline horizontal coupling (i.e., slipping) and delayed P-S onsets due to their vertically higher positions (relative to the trailing receivers) and quite high near-seafloor [Formula: see text] ratios. To rectify this problem in future acquisition, a longer lead-in cable should prevent lifting of the leading receivers and allow all of them to couple with the seafloor in the same way. For data already acquired with an acquisition footprint on the inline component, a two-step process involving surface-consistent deconvolution or trace equalization and static correction is proposed.

Kirchhoff elastic wave migration for the case of noncoincident source and receiver

Geophysics ◽  
1984 ◽  
Vol 49 (8) ◽  
pp. 1223-1238 ◽  
Author(s):  
John T. Kuo ◽  
Ting‐fan Dai
Keyword(s):  
Elastic Wave ◽  
Seismic Data ◽  
Signal To Noise Ratio ◽  
Horizontal Layer ◽  
P Wave ◽  
Seismic Section ◽  
S Waves ◽  
Surface Data ◽  
Marine Seismic ◽  
Wave Migration

In taking into account both compressional (P) and shear (S) waves, more geologic information can likely be extracted from the seismic data. The presence of shear and converted shear waves in both land and marine seismic data recordings calls for the development of elastic wave‐migration methods. The migration method presently developed consists of simultaneous migration of P- and S-waves for offset seismic data based on the Kirchhoff‐Helmholtz type integrals for elastic waves. A new principle of simultaneously migrating both P- and S-waves is introduced. The present method, named the Kirchhoff elastic wave migration, has been tested using the 2-D synthetic surface data calculated from several elastic models of a dipping layer (including a horizontal layer), a composite dipping and horizontal layer, and two layers over a half‐space. The results of these tests not only assure the feasibility of this migration scheme, but also demonstrate that enhanced images in the migrated sections are well formed. Moreover, the signal‐to‐noise ratio increases in the migrated seismic section by this elastic wave migration, as compared with that using the Kirchhoff acoustic (P-) wave migration alone. This migration scheme has about the same order of sensitivity of migration velocity variations, if [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text] vary concordantly, to the recovery of the reflector as that of the Kirchhoff acoustic (P-) wave migration. In addition, the sensitivity of image quality to the perturbation of [Formula: see text] has also been tested by varying either [Formula: see text] or [Formula: see text]. For varying [Formula: see text] (with [Formula: see text] fixed), the migrated images are virtually unaffected on the [Formula: see text] depth section while they are affected on the [Formula: see text] depth section. For varying [Formula: see text] (with [Formula: see text] fixed), the migrated images are affected on both the [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text] depth sections.

Recording the Aurora at Seismometers across Alaska

2020 ◽  
Vol 91 (6) ◽  
pp. 3039-3053 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carl Tape ◽  
Adam T. Ringler ◽  
Don L. Hampton
Keyword(s):  
Magnetic Field ◽  
Seismic Data ◽  
Vertical Component ◽  
Seismic Array ◽  
Magnetic Shielding ◽  
Data Sets ◽  
S Waves ◽  
Auroral Activity ◽  
Seismic Sensors ◽  
Magnetometer Data

Abstract We examine three continuously recording data sets related to the aurora: all-sky camera images, three-component magnetometer data, and vertical-component, broadband seismic data as part of the EarthScope project (2014 to present). Across Alaska there are six all-sky cameras, 13 magnetometers, and >200 seismometers. The all-sky images and magnetometers have the same objective, which is to monitor space weather and improve our understanding of auroral activity, including the influence on magnetic fields in the ground. These variations in the magnetic field are also visible on seismometers, to the extent that during an auroral event, the long-period (40–800 s) waves recorded by a seismometer are magnetic field variations, not true ground motion. Although this is a problem—one that can be rectified with magnetic shielding at each seismometer site—it is also an opportunity because the present seismic array in Alaska is much broader than the coverage by magnetometers and all-sky cameras. Here we focus on three aurora events and document a direct link between aurora images in the night sky and seismometer recordings on ground. Simultaneous recordings by magnetometers provide a critical link between the sky images and the seismometer recordings. We document qualitative correlations among sky, magnetic, and seismic data. The findings suggest that the signature of auroral activity is widespread across seismometers in Alaska, implying that the seismic array could be used to enhance the spatial resolution of the existing network of all-sky cameras and magnetometers. Future efforts to improve the multisensor seismic stations in Alaska, for the purpose of monitoring seismic and auroral activity, should consider installation of all-sky cameras, installation of magnetometers, and magnetic shielding of seismic sensors.

An optimization of the inverse scattering multiple attenuation method for OBS and VC data

Geophysics ◽  
2002 ◽  
Vol 67 (4) ◽  
pp. 1293-1303 ◽  
Author(s):  
Luc T. Ikelle ◽  
Lasse Amundsen ◽  
Seung Yoo
Keyword(s):  
Free Surface ◽  
Data Storage ◽  
Inverse Scattering ◽  
Water Depth ◽  
Seismic Data ◽  
Computation Time ◽  
Ocean Bottom ◽  
Multiple Attenuation ◽  
Obs Data ◽  
Streamer Data

The inverse scattering multiple attenuation (ISMA) algorithm for ocean‐bottom seismic (OBS) data can be formulated in the form of a series expansion for each of the four components of OBS data. Besides the actual data, which constitute the first term of the series, each of the other terms is computed as a multidimensional convolution of OBS data with streamer data, and aims at removing one specific order of multiples. If the streamer data do not contain free‐surface multiples, we found that the computation of only the second term of the series is needed to predict and remove all orders of multiples, whatever the water depth. As the computation of the various terms of the series is the most expensive part of ISMA, this result can produce significant savings in computation time, even in data storage, as we no longer need to store the various terms of the series. For example, if the streamer data contained free‐surface multiples, OBS seismic data of 6‐s duration, corresponding to a geological model of the subsurface with 250‐m water depth, require the computation of five terms of the series for each of the four components of OBS data. With the new implementation, in which the streamer data do not contain free‐surface multiples, we need the computation of only one term of the series for each component of the OBS data. The saving in CPU time for this particular case is at least fourfold. The estimation of the inverse source signature, which is an essential part of ISMA, also benefits from the reduction of the number of terms needed for the demultiple to two because it becomes a linear inverse problem instead of a nonlinear one. Assuming that the removal of multiple events produces a significant reduction in the energy of the data, the optimization of this problem leads to a stable, noniterative analytic solution. We have also adapted these results to the implementation of ISMA for vertical‐cable (VC) data. This implementation is similar to that for OBS data. The key difference is that the basic model in VC imaging assumes that data consist of receiver ghosts of primaries instead of the primaries themselves. We have used the following property to achieve this goal. The combination of VC data with surface seismic data, which do not contain free‐surface multiples, allows us to predict free‐surface multiples and receiver ghosts as well as the receiver ghosts of primary reflections. However, if the direct wave arrivals are removed from the VC data, this combination will not predict the receiver ghosts of primary reflections. The difference between these two predictions produces data containing only receiver ghosts of primaries.

Extensive, Gas-charged Quaternary Sand Accumulations of the Northern North Sea and North Sea Fan

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Benjamin Bellwald ◽  
Sverre Planke ◽  
Sunil Vadakkepuliyambatta ◽  
Stefan Buenz ◽  
Christine Batchelor ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
North Sea ◽  
Seismic Data ◽  
Data Sets ◽  
3D Seismic ◽  
Fine Grained ◽  
The North ◽  
Northern North Sea ◽  
Well Data ◽  
Sea Fan ◽  
3D Seismic Data

<p>Sediments deposited by marine-based ice sheets are dominantly fine-grained glacial muds, which are commonly known for their sealing properties for migrating fluids. However, the Peon and Aviat hydrocarbon discoveries in the North Sea show that coarse-grained glacial sands can occur over large areas in formerly glaciated continental shelves. In this study, we use conventional and high-resolution 2D and 3D seismic data combined with well information to present new models for large-scale fluid accumulations within the shallow subsurface of the Norwegian Continental Shelf. The data include 48,000 km<sup>2</sup> of high-quality 3D seismic data and 150 km<sup>2</sup> of high-resolution P-Cable 3D seismic data, with a vertical resolution of 2 m and a horizontal resolution of 6 to 10 m in these data sets. We conducted horizon picking, gridding and attribute extractions as well as seismic geomorphological interpretation, and integrated the results obtained from the seismic interpretation with existing well data.</p><p>The thicknesses of the Quaternary deposits vary from hundreds of meters of subglacial till in the Northern North Sea to several kilometers of glacigenic sediments in the North Sea Fan. Gas-charged, sandy accumulations are characterized by phase-reserved reflections with anomalously high amplitudes in the seismic data as well as density and velocity decreases in the well data. Extensive (>10 km<sup>2</sup>) Quaternary sand accumulations within this package include (i) glacial sands in an ice-marginal outwash fan, sealed by stiff glacial tills deposited by repeated glaciations (the Peon discovery in the Northern North Sea), (ii) sandy channel-levee systems sealed by fine-grained mud within sequences of glacigenic debris flows, formed during shelf-edge glaciations, (iii) fine-grained glacimarine sands of contouritic origin sealed by gas hydrates, and (iv) remobilized oozes above large evacuation craters and sealed by megaslides and glacial muds. The development of the Fennoscandian Ice Sheet resulted in a rich variety of depositional environments with frequently changing types and patterns of glacial sedimentation. Extensive new 3D seismic data sets are crucial to correctly interpret glacial processes and to analyze the grain sizes of the related deposits. Furthermore, these data sets allow the identification of localized extensive fluid accumulations within the Quaternary succession and distinguish stratigraphic levels favorable for fluid accumulations from layers acting as fluid barriers.</p>

SOME DATA PROCESSING RESULTS FOR A VERTICAL ARRAY OF TRIAXIAL SEISMOMETERS

Geophysics ◽  
1970 ◽  
Vol 35 (2) ◽  
pp. 337-343 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zoltan A. Der
Keyword(s):  
Data Processing ◽  
Signal To Noise Ratio ◽  
Vertical Component ◽  
Poor Performance ◽  
P Wave ◽  
Oil Well ◽  
Vertical Array ◽  
Signal To Noise ◽  
Vertical Arrays ◽  
Three Components

A vertical array of three component (triaxial) seismometers was operated in an abandoned oil well near Grapevine, Texas. The experiment was designed to investigate the effectiveness of teleseismic P‐wave enhancement by utilization of all three components of motion at various depths within the well. Previous experiments with vertical arrays which only recorded the vertical component of motion showed that optimum processors did not significantly improve the signal‐to‐noise ratio (Roden, 1968). The reason for this poor performance was found to be a similarity in the changes of signal and noise properties with depth.

A robust workflow for performing joint impedance inversion and its applications

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. T141-T149
Author(s):  
Ritesh Kumar Sharma ◽  
Satinder Chopra ◽  
Larry R. Lines
Keyword(s):  
Time Domain ◽  
Seismic Data ◽  
Sedimentary Basin ◽  
Vertical Component ◽  
Data Sets ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Matching Process ◽  
Multicomponent Seismic ◽  
Impedance Inversion ◽  
Straightforward Approach

Multicomponent seismic data offer several advantages for characterizing reservoirs with the use of the vertical component (PP) and mode-converted (PS) data. Joint impedance inversion inverts both of these data sets simultaneously; hence, it is considered superior to simultaneous impedance inversion. However, the success of joint impedance inversion depends on how accurately the PS data are mapped on the PP time domain. Normally, this is attempted by performing well-to-seismic ties for PP and PS data sets and matching different horizons picked on PP and PS data. Although it seems to be a straightforward approach, there are a few issues associated with it. One of them is the lower resolution of the PS data compared with the PP data that presents difficulties in the correlation of the equivalent reflection events on both the data sets. Even after a few consistent horizons get tracked, the horizon matching process introduces some artifacts on the PS data when mapped into PP time. We have evaluated such challenges using a data set from the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin and then develop a novel workflow for addressing them. The importance of our workflow was determined by comparing data examples generated with and without its adoption.

Seismic characterization of submarine gas-hydrate deposits in the Western Black Sea by acoustic full-waveform inversion of ocean-bottom seismic data

Geophysics ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 84 (5) ◽  
pp. B311-B324 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laura Gassner ◽  
Tobias Gerach ◽  
Thomas Hertweck ◽  
Thomas Bohlen
Keyword(s):  
Wave Velocity ◽  
Black Sea ◽  
Gas Hydrate ◽  
Seismic Data ◽  
Field Data ◽  
Waveform Inversion ◽  
P Wave ◽  
Full Waveform Inversion ◽  
Ocean Bottom ◽  
Full Waveform

Evidence for gas-hydrate occurrence in the Western Black Sea is found from seismic measurements revealing bottom-simulating reflectors (BSRs) of varying distinctness. From an ocean-bottom seismic data set, low-resolution traveltime-tomography models of P-wave velocity [Formula: see text] are constructed. They serve as input for acoustic full-waveform inversion (FWI), which we apply to derive high-resolution parameter models aiding the interpretation of the seismic data for potential hydrate and gas deposits. Synthetic tests indicate the applicability of the FWI approach to robustly reconstruct [Formula: see text] models with a typical hydrate and gas signature. Models of S-wave velocity [Formula: see text] containing a hydrate signature can only be reconstructed when the parameter distribution of [Formula: see text] is already well-known. When we add noise to the modeled data to simulate field-data conditions, it prevents the reconstruction of [Formula: see text] completely, justifying the application of an acoustic approach. We invert for [Formula: see text] models from field data of two parallel profiles of 14 km length with a distance of 1 km. Results indicate a characteristic velocity trend for hydrate and gas occurrence at BSR depth in the first of the analyzed profiles. We find no indications for gas accumulations below the BSR on the second profile and only weak indications for hydrate. These differences in the [Formula: see text] signature are consistent with the reflectivity behavior of the migrated seismic streamer data of both profiles in which a zone of high-reflectivity amplitudes is coincident with the potential gas zone derived from the FWI result. Calculating saturation estimates for the potential hydrate and gas zones yields values of up to 30% and 1.2%, respectively.

Reservoir characterization over the Lille Prinsen and Ivar Aasen fields in the Norwegian North Sea using ocean-bottom-node seismic data — A case study

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-64
Author(s):  
Satinder Chopra ◽  
Ritesh Kumar Sharma ◽  
Mikal Trulsvik ◽  
Adriana Citlali Ramirez ◽  
David Went ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
North Sea ◽  
Seismic Data ◽  
Reservoir Characterization ◽  
Water Saturation ◽  
Late Triassic ◽  
Ocean Bottom ◽  
Impedance Inversion ◽  
High Area ◽  
Elastic Impedance

An integrated workflow is proposed for estimating elastic parameters within the Late Triassic Skagerrak Formation, the Middle Jurassic Sleipner and Hugin Formations, the Paleocene Heimdal Formation and Eocene Grid Formation in the Utsira High area of the Norwegian North Sea. The proposed workflow begins with petrophysical analysis carried out at the available wells. Next, model-based prestack simultaneous impedance inversion outputs were derived, and attempts were made to estimate the petrophysical parameters (volume of shale, porosity, and water saturation) from seismic data using extended elastic impedance. On not obtaining convincing results, we switched over to multiattribute regression analysis for estimating them, which yielded encouraging results. Finally, the Bayesian classification approach was employed for defining different facies in the intervals of interest.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document