AAPG Slide Resources: Seismic Resolution by Fred Schroeder.
AAPG T.I.P. Survey: To Improve Performance
Please consider taking this four-question survey when you are finished with your visit to the AAPG website. The survey will take about 30
seconds of your time.
Take Survey Now Take Survey In 3 Min Some Other Time Don't Show Again
I'm done I should Remind me to take I like the site the way
and am ready be done in this another time. it is and really see
to take this survey. about 3 minutes. (You have until 30 Sept.) no need to improve it.
Wait! There's more ... you could win $300!
By completing the survey you could win a $300 Visa gift card. Provide us your name and valid email address at the end of this survey. We'll
put your name in a drawing for the card. Your name and email address will not be used for solicitation. It is for notification purposes only.
Only one entry per person. Drawing and notification will take place 1 October 2012.
BLOGS BOOKSTORE BULLETIN CAREER CENTER EDUCATION EXPLORER MEETINGS LIBRARY
---AAPG
---AAPG SITESITE SHORT
SHORT CUTS--- CUTS--- Search
Classifieds
Slides and talking
points are provided Seismic Resolution Advertising
courtesy of AAPG
Visiting Geoscientist
Fred W. Schroeder. Downloads Resources Lecture Files | Exercise Files
The notes for each Lecture Slides PPT How to Run For Students No Solutions to Request
slide are printed next
to each thumbnail.
Below each
Printing Instructions:
thumbnail are
8a-“Calculating Vertical Resolution”
download links for
one document, 1 page, letter size, B&W
the individual slide.
8b-"Calculating Lateral Resolution"
Right-click on a link
one document, 1 page, letter size, B&W
to save the file to
Supplies:
your hard drive. To
8a and 8b - Pencils or pen, calculator (cell phone OK)
preview the full-size
Solutions for these exercises are provided within the Lecture Slides
slide image, click on
the thumbnail.
To download the Slide 1
entire presentation
right-click and save Slide introduces topic: Seismic Resolution
the appropriate link. This shows a simple sediment wedge model and its seismic
expression – we’ll talk about it in this lecture
Download: full size image | PPT slide
Slide 2
We need to discuss two components of seismic resolution:
http://www.aapg.org/slide_resources/schroeder/8/index.cfm[9/23/2012 12:23:01 AM]
AAPG Slide Resources: Seismic Resolution by Fred Schroeder.
Vertical resolution
Lateral resolution
Download: full size image | PPT slide
Slide 3
Here is an analogy that we can all relate to:
You are driving at night
You spot a light in the distance coming towards you
You wonder, I seem to see only 1 light; is it a car or a
motorcycle
As the vehicle gets never, we realize it is not a single light
but two headlamps – so it is a car
You first detected some light and know there was a vehicle
It was not until the vehicle was closer that we were able to resolve
Download: full size image | PPT slide two headlights and realize it was a car
This analogy helps explain the difference between
Detecting something with seismic data, and
Resolving two closely-spaced objects
Slide 4
Detection is the ability to identify that some feature exists
Resolution is the ability to distinguish two features from one
another
Download: full size image | PPT slide
Slide 5
As an example of vertical resolution, consider the geology
indicated by the gamma ray log
At a gross scale, there is a thick shale unit on top of a thick sand
unit
But the sand unit has a thin shale layer interfingered with it near
the top
Low resolution seismic data would detect a shaley unit sitting on
top of a sandy unit - one interface
Seismic data with high resolution would resolve 3 interfaces,
identifying the thin shale unit within the predominantly sandy unit
Download: full size image | PPT slide
Slide 6
To further explain vertical resolution, let’s begin by considering a
thick sand (unit B) sandwiched between shales (units A and C)
The RC at the top and base of the sand are shown along with the
individual wavelets
Note the pulse duration is less than the thickness of the sand unit
http://www.aapg.org/slide_resources/schroeder/8/index.cfm[9/23/2012 12:23:01 AM]
AAPG Slide Resources: Seismic Resolution by Fred Schroeder.
The wavelet associated with the upper RC is fully represented
(going down) before the wavelet associated with the lower RC
starts
There is no wavelet interference
A thick bed is one in which the bed thickness in units of two-way
Download: full size image | PPT slide time is greater than the pulse duration
Slide 7
Here the thickness of unit B has been decreased to 0.9 times the
pulse duration
The wavelet associated with the upper RC does not complete
(going down) before the wavelet associated with the lower RC
starts
There is some wavelet interference – the end of the “upper”
wavelet overlaps the top of the “lower” wavelet
An interpreter still would be able to distinguish two RCs, but the
trough is a “doublet”
Download: full size image | PPT slide
Slide 8
On this slide, the thickness of unit B has been decreased to 1/2
the pulse duration
The second part of the wavelet associated with the upper RC
overlaps with the first half of the wavelet associated with the lower
RC
Wavelet interference is at a maximum
The trough is larger by about a factor of two than if there was only
one RC
It is more difficult for an interpreter to distinguish two RCs
Download: full size image | PPT slide
Slide 9
To determine seismic resolution, there are two parameters we
need to know or estimate
The velocity in the zone we are interested in
The peak frequency of the pulse in the zone of interest
We need to calculate the wavelength of the data
Vertical resolution is ¼ the wavelength
The calculation is shown in the center of the slide
We get the period from 1/peak frequency
We then get the wavelength by multiplying the period by the
velocity
Download: full size image | PPT slide
If you prefer, wavelength = velocity / peak frequency (simple
substitution)
Next we divide the calculated wavelength by 4 to get the vertical
resolution
Slide 10
Time for an exercise
You will calculate the vertical frequency for:
A shallow zone
A deep zone
http://www.aapg.org/slide_resources/schroeder/8/index.cfm[9/23/2012 12:23:01 AM]
AAPG Slide Resources: Seismic Resolution by Fred Schroeder.
The next slide has the ANSWER
Have the students do the exercise before proceeding
Download: full size image | PPT slide
Slide 11
ANSWER
The shallow zone of interest has a wavelength of 40 meters; a
vertical resolution of 10 meters
The deep zone of interest has a wavelength of 150 meters; a
vertical resolution of 37 meters
Download: full size image | PPT slide
Slide 12
To summarize our discussion of vertical resolution:
Resolution is the ability...
Thin bed response...
Short-duration...
To improve...
Download: full size image | PPT slide
Slide 13
What do we mean by lateral resolution?
It means how wide does a feature have to be for us to correctly
resolve it
For example, in the upper diagram, there is a narrow horst block in
the center
If this horst is only 10 meters wide, we probably would not
resolve the two edges.
If it was 2 km wide, we would not have any problem
resolving the horst
What is the minimum width for which we could resolve both
Download: full size image | PPT slide edges?
This is why we want to know the lateral resolution of the
seismic data
In the lower diagram, we have three channel deposits of different
widths
Would we resolve all three; or only the widest one
Again, this is why we want to know the lateral resolution of
the seismic data
Slide 14
Here is a ‘classic’ seismic model presented by Neidell &
Poggiaglioimi, 1977
http://www.aapg.org/slide_resources/schroeder/8/index.cfm[9/23/2012 12:23:01 AM]
AAPG Slide Resources: Seismic Resolution by Fred Schroeder.
In the model there is a reflector (upper black line) that has gaps in
it of varying width
On the next slide, we will explain what a Fresnel zone (FZ) is; for
now
Accept that the first gap = 2x the FZ
The second gap = 1x the FZ
Etc.
The lower part of the figure shows the modeled seismic response
Download: full size image | PPT slide (unmigrated)
Looking at the modeled seismic, we would:
Recognize the first gap
Probably recognize the second gap
Would wonder if the third gap is a break in the reflector
And probably not recognize any break for the fourth gap
Remember, the model is 'noise-free'
Slide 15
As promised, we will now explain what a Fresnel zone (FZ) is
The seismic waves “illuminate” an area of a subsurface boundary –
like the cone of light from a flashlight shining on a carpet
All the information within this “illuminated” area is “lumped
together” or averaged
The size of this “illumination” circle equals the area in which the
seismic wave is ¼ the wavelength of the pulse
The diameter of this circle is called the FZ
Shallow in the data the FZ is narrow; it gets progressively broader
as we go deeper
Download: full size image | PPT slide Using our flashlight analogy:
If our flash light is close to the carpet, the circle of light is
small
If our flash light is far from the carpet, the circle of light is
large
Slide 16
Fortunately for us, the data processing step called migration:
Not only better positions the reflections in 3D space, but
Also greatly improves lateral resolution
This slide shows a reflection indicating a strong decrease in
impedance (zero phase central trough) on the left and a abrupt
change to a moderate increase in impedance (zero phase central
peak) on the right
The ideal response is in the upper figure
The real-world response is shown in the central figure – a stacked
section without migration
Download: full size image | PPT slide The bottom shows what happens when seismic migration is
applied to the data in the central figure
Note how the abrupt change in the center is “smeared” in the
central figure
The FZ for this example is on the order of 800 m (red arrow)
Also note how the migration process has “cleaned up” the image
and the abrupt change is much better imaged
Slide 17
Here is a seismic line with two types of migration:
On the left a standard (fast,cheap) migration algorithm was
used
On the right, a more sophisticated (more time, money,
people-hours) algorithm was used
Note the fault on each image
The termination of reflections are much sharper on the
right; the fault can be more precisely drawn
On the left the reflection terminations are more “smeared”
http://www.aapg.org/slide_resources/schroeder/8/index.cfm[9/23/2012 12:23:01 AM]
AAPG Slide Resources: Seismic Resolution by Fred Schroeder.
since the lateral resolution is much lower
Download: full size image | PPT slide
Slide 18
Here are the equations that we use to calculate the Fresnel
diameter
The equation on the left is for data that have not been migrated
The parameters are the average velocity down to the zone
of interest, the time down to the zone of interest, and the
frequency at the zone of interest
The equation on the right is for data that has had a seismic
migration process applied to it
The parameters are the wavelength of the pulse at the zone
of interest; or by substitution the average velocity and the
Download: full size image | PPT slide frequency
Slide 19
Let’s do another exercise
You will be given the necessary parameters for:
A shallow zone
A deep zone
The ANSWER is on the next slide
Give the students some time to work the exercise
Download: full size image | PPT slide
Slide 20
ANSWER to the exercise
For the shallow zone – pre-migration, the FD is 282 m; after
migration it is reduced to 10 meters – what an improvement
For the deep zone – pre-migration, the FD is 1900 m – almost 2
km; after migration it is reduced to 48 meters – another substantial
improvement
Download: full size image | PPT slide
Slide 21
This shows the area over which the seismic “smears” the geologic
information from our last exercise
Note the 1 km scale bar
The small green circle in the upper left is the FD for the shallow
zone before migration
There is a white circle in the center which is the FD after migration
The large circle on the right is the FD for the deep zone
The white circle in the center is the FD after migration
Even if the seismic reflections are fairly flat lying (horizontal), this
shows the benefit of migrating the data – even though the
Download: full size image | PPT slide reflctions are not repositioned very much since dips are very low
Slide 22
In summary for lateral resolution:
Migration...
Large aperture...
Fine...
http://www.aapg.org/slide_resources/schroeder/8/index.cfm[9/23/2012 12:23:01 AM]
AAPG Slide Resources: Seismic Resolution by Fred Schroeder.
Prestack...
Depth migration...
Download: full size image | PPT slide
Contact Us | Energy Facts | Links | Site Search | Calendar | RSS | Site Feedback | Terms of Use
AAPG : 1444 S. Boulder : Tulsa, OK 74119 : USA | Phone: 1 918 584-2555 | Toll Free US & Canada: 1 800 364 2274 | Fax 1 918 580-2665
http://www.aapg.org/slide_resources/schroeder/8/index.cfm[9/23/2012 12:23:01 AM]
