Poststack velocity analysis by separation and imaging of seismic diffractions

Geophysics ◽  
2007 ◽  
Vol 72 (6) ◽  
pp. U89-U94 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sergey Fomel ◽  
Evgeny Landa ◽  
M. Turhan Taner

Small geologic features manifest themselves in seismic data in the form of diffracted waves, which are fundamentally different from seismic reflections. Using two field-data examples and one synthetic example, we demonstrate the possibility of separating seismic diffractions in the data and imaging them with optimally chosen migration velocities. Our criteria for separating reflection and diffraction events are the smoothness and continuity of local event slopes that correspond to reflection events. For optimal focusing, we develop the local varimax measure. The objectives of this work are velocity analysis implemented in the poststack domain and high-resolution imaging of small-scale heterogeneities. Our examples demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method for high-resolution imaging of such geologic features as faults, channels, and salt boundaries.

2011 ◽  
Vol 28 (8) ◽  
pp. 1050-1062 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jean Tournadre ◽  
Bertrand Chapron ◽  
Nicolas Reul

Abstract This paper presents a new method to analyze high-resolution altimeter waveforms in terms of surface backscatter. Over the ocean, a basic assumption of modeling altimeter echo waveforms is to consider a homogeneous sea surface within the altimeter footprint that can be described by a mean backscatter coefficient. When the surface backscatter varies strongly at scales smaller than the altimeter footprint size, such as in the presence of surface slicks, rain, small islands, and altimeter echoes can be interpreted as high-resolution images of the surface whose geometry is annular and not rectangular. A method based on the computation of the imaging matrix and its pseudoinverse to infer the surface backscatter at high resolution (~300 m) from the measured waveforms is presented. The method is tested using synthetic waveforms for different surface backscatter fields and is shown to be unbiased and accurate. Several applications can be foreseen to refine the analysis of rain patterns, surface slicks, and lake surfaces. The authors choose here to focus on the small-scale variability of backscatter induced by a submerged reef smaller than the altimeter footprint as the function of tide, significant wave height, and wind.


Geophysics ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 78 (5) ◽  
pp. U53-U63 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrea Tognarelli ◽  
Eusebio Stucchi ◽  
Alessia Ravasio ◽  
Alfredo Mazzotti

We tested the properties of three different coherency functionals for the velocity analysis of seismic data relative to subbasalt exploration. We evaluated the performance of the standard semblance algorithm and two high-resolution coherency functionals based on the use of analytic signals and of the covariance estimation along hyperbolic traveltime trajectories. Approximate knowledge of the wavelet was exploited to design appropriate filters that matched the primary reflections, thereby further improving the ability of the functionals to highlight the events of interest. The tests were carried out on two synthetic seismograms computed on models reproducing the geologic setting of basaltic intrusions and on common midpoint gathers from a 3D survey. Synthetic and field data had a very low signal-to-noise ratio, strong multiple contamination, and weak primary subbasalt signals. The results revealed that high-resolution coherency functionals were more suitable than semblance algorithms to detect primary signals and to distinguish them from multiples and other interfering events. This early discrimination between primaries and multiples could help to target specific signal enhancement and demultiple operations.


Geophysics ◽  
1991 ◽  
Vol 56 (7) ◽  
pp. 1064-1070 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ilan Bruner ◽  
Eugeny Landa

Detection and investigation of fault zones are important tools for tectonic analysis and geological studies. A fault zone inferred on high‐resolution seismic lines has been interpreted using a method of detection of diffracted waves utilizing the main kinematic and dynamic properties of the wavefield. The application of the method to field data from the northern Negev in Israel shows that it provides a good estimate of results and, when used in conjunction with the final stacked data, can give the suspected location of the fault, its sense (reverse or normal), and the amount of “low amplitude” displacement (in an order of the wavelength or even less).


Geophysics ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 81 (6) ◽  
pp. S399-S408 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jingtao Zhao ◽  
Suping Peng ◽  
Wenfeng Du ◽  
Xiaoting Li

Clarifying and locating small-scale discontinuities or inhomogeneities in the subsurface, such as faults and collapsed columns, plays a vital role in safe coal mining because these discontinuities or inhomogeneities may destroy the continuity of layers and result in dangerous mining accidents. Diffractions carry key information from these objects and therefore can be used for high-resolution imaging. However, diffracted/scattered waves are much weaker than reflected waves and consequently require separation before being imaged. We have developed a Mahalanobis-based diffraction imaging method by modifying the classic Kirchhoff formula with an exponential function to account for the dynamic differences between reflections and diffractions in the shot domain. The imaging method can automatically account for destroying of reflected waves, constructive stacking of diffracted waves, and strengthening of scattered waves. The method can overcome the difficulties in handling Fresnel apertures, and it is suitable for high-resolution imaging because of the consistency of the waveforms in the shot domain. Although the proposed method in principle requires a good migration velocity model for calculating elementary diffraction traveltimes, it is robust to an inaccurate migration velocity model. Two numerical experiments demonstrate the feasibility of the proposed method in removing reflections and highlighting diffractions, and one field application further confirms its efficiency in resolving masked faults and collapsed columns.


2003 ◽  
Author(s):  
Milton J. Porsani ◽  
Paulo E. M. de Melo ◽  
Tadeusz J. Ulrych

Author(s):  
J.M. Cowley

By extrapolation of past experience, it would seem that the future of ultra-high resolution electron microscopy rests with the advances of electron optical engineering that are improving the instrumental stability of high voltage microscopes to achieve the theoretical resolutions of 1Å or better at 1MeV or higher energies. While these high voltage instruments will undoubtedly produce valuable results on chosen specimens, their general applicability has been questioned on the basis of the excessive radiation damage effects which may significantly modify the detailed structures of crystal defects within even the most radiation resistant materials in a period of a few seconds. Other considerations such as those of cost and convenience of use add to the inducement to consider seriously the possibilities for alternative approaches to the achievement of comparable resolutions.


Author(s):  
Max T. Otten ◽  
Wim M.J. Coene

High-resolution imaging with a LaB6 instrument is limited by the spatial and temporal coherence, with little contrast remaining beyond the point resolution. A Field Emission Gun (FEG) reduces the incidence angle by a factor 5 to 10 and the energy spread by 2 to 3. Since the incidence angle is the dominant limitation for LaB6 the FEG provides a major improvement in contrast transfer, reducing the information limit to roughly one half of the point resolution. The strong improvement, predicted from high-resolution theory, can be seen readily in diffractograms (Fig. 1) and high-resolution images (Fig. 2). Even if the information in the image is limited deliberately to the point resolution by using an objective aperture, the improved contrast transfer close to the point resolution (Fig. 1) is already worthwhile.


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