Advanced Seismic Data Processing: Fundamentals and Applications

This 3 day course in Advanced Seismic Data Processing is intended for practicing professionals to increase their expertise in this topic.

The course consists of 8 modules consisting of lectures and examples. Each module is approximately 2 hours duration and interleaved with exercises which the class can work on together.
Three main technical sources:
• Claerbout’s Fundamentals of Geophysical Data Processing
• SEG Wiki
• SEG Digital Library (Leading Edge, Geophysics, Expanded Technical Abstracts) have been used to illustrate the concepts and show examples of topics in the course.
We also introduce research work published over last 10 years to show current industry focus, e.g.,
• Auto-focusing
• Full waveform inversion
• Simultaneous acquisition
and acquaint the students with some of the more complex ideas being advocated in the industry.

• Agenda
• Topics
• Audience
• Prerequisites

• Agenda

  Day 1

  Fundamentals of Advanced Seismic Acquisition and Data Processing
  o Seismic Acquisition
  o Deconvolution
  o Multiples: Attenuation & Utilization
  We lead with a discussion of advanced seismic acquisition techniques which have had major implications on the seismic service industry and in particular data processing workflows. We then discuss deconvolution from mathematical perspective including Wiener filtering and spectral factorization. The day finishes with a a topic that has been researched and developed for the past 20 years leading to some novel techniques of removing the free surface without required any knowledge of the subsurface.

  Day 2

  Processing in the Prestack Domain
  o Prestack Time Migration
  o Prestack Depth Migration Including Velocity Model Building (2 parts)
  Understanding current techniques in prestack migration processing, both in time and depth, is fundamental in devloping strategies to image the sub-surface both in delineating subtle straingraphic traps and mapping the prolific sub-salt structures in the Gulf of Mexico, Offshore Brazil and West Africa. One of the significant
  differences between time and depth migration is the requirement of building a background velocity field for the former and a detailed velocity-depth model for the latter. Both types of velocity model will be discussed in the morning and afternoon sessions.

  Day 3

  Seismic Data Interpretation from Elastic to Petrophysical Attributes. Highlights of the next 5 years (a personal perspective)
  o Amplitude vs Offset
  o Quantitative Interpretation
  o The Road Ahead
  The first topics of the day concentrate on converting seismic amplitudes into firstly elastic attributes (e.g. Vp, Vs and density) and then secondly into petrophysical parameters that would be used routinely in well-log analysis (e.g. net-to-gross, gross and net porosity, HC saturation). The latter is generally termed quantitative interpretation and has been a focal point in the geophysics literature for the past 5-10 years. The session and course finishes with a broad discussion of The Road Ahead which contains a review of the current state of the seismic services industry and and discussion of novel technologies under development and commercialization

• Topics

  
  • Current Seismic Acquisition
  • Deconvolution & Multiple Attenuation/Utilization
  • Prestack Time and Depth Migration (2 modules including velocity model building)
  • AVO and Quantitative Interpretation
  • The Road Ahead

• Audience

  Suitable for graduate students in geophysics and professionalsin the E&P industry

• Prerequisites

  Degree in Earth Sciences, Engineering or Computer Science and experience in the Geosciences gained through graduate study or industry employment.

• Prerequisites