USER MANUAL

Arnaud Gillioz, Matteo Menichelli

version 1.85 (April 2024)

© 2024 Geo2X SA — All rights reserved.

Geo2X SA
Rue de Chamblon 34
1400 Yverdon-les-Bains
Switzerland
, www.geo2x.com
@ [email protected]
Geo2View Contents Page ii

Contents
1 Geo2View overview 1

2 Installation and loading of seismic files 2

3 Changing visualization settings 4

4 Plotting header data 7

5 Showing trace headers 9

6 Showing trace and section information 10

7 Exporting and importing trace headers 12

7.1 Exporting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
7.2 Importing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

8 Dumping of headers into console 15

9 Frequency filtering 16

10 Amplitude spectrum analysis 18

11 Sources, receivers and CDPs X–Y plotting 20

11.1 2D binning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

12 Functions 22
12.1 Sorting traces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
12.2 Resampling traces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
12.3 Shifting traces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
12.4 Image export . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

13 Selective stacking 25

14 Saving a seismic dataset 26

Geo2View 1 Geo2View overview Page 1

1 Geo2View overview
Geo2View is a software developed by Geo2X SA for seismic data visualization. It supports standard file types
SEG-Y rev 0/1/2, SU and SEG-2. The software offers visualization of seismic data as well as some processing
features.

— Visualize data by taking advantage of scaling, zoom features and wiggle or wavelet color schemes.
— Improve image quality through gain control.
— Display and plot header data.
— Sort, shift and resample traces.
— Export or import trace header data.
— Design filters to remove unwanted frequencies.
— Plot amplitude spectra.
— Display an X–Y map view based on source/receiver coordinates.
Geo2View 2 Installation and loading of seismic files Page 2

2 Installation and loading of seismic files

To install Geo2View, double-click on the executable file Geo2View_v1.85.exe, which can be downloaded here.
Note If you encounter problems running Geo2View_v1.85.exe, run it as an administrator.

Once installed and running, the home pane will be displayed (Fig. 2.1). Data can be loaded using File
Load Seismic File(s) . Up to several thousand files can be loaded at once, and the software supports simultaneous
loading of different file types, as well as loading traces of varying length in terms of sampling interval and number
of samples. When loading files, the “Delay Recording Time” header (positive or negative) of each seismic trace
is always taken into account.
Note With the SEG-2 format, instrument gain (DESCALING_FACTOR keyword) is always applied.

Figure 2.1 – Geo2View home pane.

The File Selector menu shows all supported seismic files inside the current directory in a floating window (Fig. 2.2)
and allows filtering of files based on their name. The navigation between files is done by single click or via
keyboard and keys. When switching from a file to another from the File Selector menu, display settings
are kept constant if possible. An automatic sorting of seismic traces within the current directory can be applied
by checking the Sort checkbox.
Geo2View 2 Installation and loading of seismic files Page 3

Figure 2.2 – File selector floating window.

If the Amplitude Spectrum and Basemap windows are open, they will automatically update upon loading
Note
of a new file into memory.

The top left button of the File Selector menu allows selection of the current directory, while the top right button
refreshes the list of files within the current directory. There is no real-time tracking of modifications inside a
directory.
Geo2View 3 Changing visualization settings Page 4

3 Changing visualization settings

Once a seismic file has been loaded into memory, the visualization pane will be shown and Display Settings
commands can be accessed on the left-side panel (Fig. 3.1).

Figure 3.1 – Visualization pane with display settings shown on the left.

By selecting the Wiggle feature, the data will be displayed in wiggle mode. Alternatively, pressing the Color
button will display the data using one of four color schemes (Fig. 3.2) that can be selected from the drop-down
menu (Fig. 3.3).
Geo2View 3 Changing visualization settings Page 5

(a) Wiggle mode. (b) Red-Black mode.

(c) Blue-Yellow mode. (d) Red-Blue mode.

Figure 3.2 – Available options for seismic trace display.

Figure 3.3 – Drop-down menu for selecting color scheme.

The Display settings control panel provides the following options.

Geo2View 3 Changing visualization settings Page 6

Wiggle gain Control the gain applied to the wiggles when in wiggle mode.
Area + Area - None Switch between filling the positive or negative lobes of wiggles, or no filling.
Color gain Control the contrast of the image.
Wiggle gain In wiggle mode, apply a set gain to the wiggles.
Trace scale Control the scale of all traces.
Time scale Control the time scale of the seismic traces.
Gain control Choose between no gain, normal gain control or automatic gain control (AGC).
Use Freq Filter Checking the box applies the designed frequency filter (cf. Chapter 9).
Inv Pol Checking the box switches from normal (American) to reverse (European) polarity.
Cross Lines Cursor Displays trace index, SMP, time and value for the currently selected trace/time point.
Trace Header Words Displays trace headers for the selected trace.
Additionally, some mouse/keyboard combinations allow control of the visualization pane.
RMB + Drag Zoom in on the selected area.
Esc Unzoom or undo.
+ RMB + Drag Select the area on which to perform spectral analysis.
Pan the zoomed window.
If traces have previously been sorted (see Section 12.1), the button will become clickable and the user will
be able to display traces according to the first sorting key (Fig. 3.4). The ◂ ▸ buttons allow the user to
move between sorted files.

Figure 3.4 – Displaying traces by FFID after sorting by field recorder number (first sorting key) and trace
sequence number (second sorting key).
Geo2View 4 Plotting header data Page 7

4 Plotting header data

The Header Plot menu can be used to plot the information contained in the header of each trace (Fig. 4.1).
The headers to plot are selected from the drop-down menu. Up to three headers can be shown simultaneously in
different colors. Shape and size of the header plot can be controlled by the following features.
Window Height Adjust window height.
Vert Margins Adjust vertical margins of the plot.
Pen Thickness Adjust line thickness.
Num Major Ticks Set the number of ticks and tick lines.

Figure 4.1 – Header plot window.

The plot is updated upon pressing Set and is displayed in the top part of the visualization pane (Fig. 4.2). The
Y axis can be switched between the three available curves by clicking on the curve label. A curve can be masked
by using Shift + LMB on the curve label.
Geo2View 4 Plotting header data Page 8

Figure 4.2 – Plotting seismic trace headers: receiver Z elevation (red), CDP trace number (blue) and offset
(green).
Geo2View 5 Showing trace headers Page 9

5 Showing trace headers

By default, only trace indexes are shown above the visualization pane. Using the Header Words menu on the
left-hand pane, the user can select further headers to display textually (Fig. 5.1). The order of header words
can be rearranged using the Up and Down buttons, and the header words display will be updated upon pressing
Apply .

Graduate Step Define the distance between ticks on the X axis.

Hgrad Vgrad Control the density of X and Y ticks.

Figure 5.1 – Showing trace headers in the visualization pane.

Geo2View 6 Showing trace and section information Page 10

6 Showing trace and section information

The Trace Info menu gives information on the currently selected trace (Fig. 6.1). A trace can be selected by
passing the mouse over it on the visualization pane. Alternatively, using + LMB on a specific trace will
highlight it and lock it as current trace. Highlighting can be removed with + RMB .

Figure 6.1 – Trace information panel.

The Section Info pane displays the information encoded in the currently selected file (Fig. 6.2).
Geo2View 6 Showing trace and section information Page 11

Figure 6.2 – Section information panel.

Geo2View 7 Exporting and importing trace headers Page 12

7 Exporting and importing trace headers

The Export/Import menu allows the user to export and import trace headers (Fig. 7.1). Both export and import
are limited to SEG-Y rev 0/1 or SU files.

Figure 7.1 – Export/Import menu.

Export/Import doesn’t work with the seismic dataset uploaded to memory, but to (export) and from
Note
(import) an external file.

7.1 Exporting
Data is exported to a .csv or .txt file, strictly according to the SEG-Y standard. The first column of the
output file is the trace index given in the source file, and the first line is the header keyword identifier. Export is
done on a user-specified trace interval. The headers to be exported can be individually selected, or a full export
of all headers can be done by pressing the Select All key. Data is exported upon pressing the Export button
(Fig. 7.2).
Seismic File Set Select the file containing headers to export.
Header Words Text File Set the name of the output file, ending in .csv or .txt.
Set
Export from trace Optionally select a range of traces from which to export headers.
Field Separator Select the separator for the output file.
Select All Extract all headers available from the seismic file.
Export Start the export process.
Geo2View 7 Exporting and importing trace headers Page 13

Figure 7.2 – Trace headers export window.

7.2 Importing
Geo2View also allows importing seismic trace headers from a .csv or .txt file through Export/Import
Import SEG-Y Trace Headers . The import file must be written according to the SEG-Y standard. Import is
done individually for each trace index and each header keyword present in the import file. Upon clicking the
Import button, the headers are written on the desired seismic file (Fig. 7.3).

Header Words Text File Select the .csv or .txt file containing headers to import.
Set
Seismic File Set Select the seismic file on which trace headers must be written.
Import Start writing headers on the seismic file.
Geo2View 7 Exporting and importing trace headers Page 14

Figure 7.3 – Trace headers import window.

Geo2View 8 Dumping of headers into console Page 15

8 Dumping of headers into console

The Dump Headers menu prints the headers for the desired file and traces in the console (Fig. 8.1). This function
supports SEG-Y and SEG-2 file formats.

Figure 8.1 – Dump headers window.

Headers can be dumped either from the file loaded into memory using the Current File button, or from an
external file using Open File . The Current File option is only intended for use with the SEG-Y Textual File Header
checkbox.
SEG-Y Textual File Header Open File Select and open the header file in the console.
SEG-Y Binary File Header Open File Select and open the binary file in the console.
Trace Headers Open File Select and open the trace headers from a specific file.
Current File Print the header of the file in memory.

Dumping of headers from the file loaded into memory will not produce any meaningful output as
Warning header data from the memory file is no longer in the original format but in an interpreted format.
To read headers from the file in memory, use the Trace Info menu.
Geo2View 9 Frequency filtering Page 16

9 Frequency filtering
Geo2View supports design of low pass, high pass, band pass and notch filters (Fig. 9.1). All of these are
implemented as Infinite Impulse Response (IIR) filters. Filter type can be selected from the drop-down menu and
can be either Butterworth, Chebyshev or Elliptic (Fig. 9.2).

Figure 9.1 – Frequency filtering window.

(a) Unfiltered seismic section. (b) After application of a Butterworth filter.

Figure 9.2 – Seismic section before and after frequency filtering.

Butterworth filters are designed to have a steep roll-off without creating ripples in the passband. Chebyshev
filters achieve a steeper roll-off than Butterworth filters at the cost of ripples in either the passband (Type 1)
or the stopband (Type 2). Elliptic filters have ripples in both the passband and the stopband but improved
selectivity compared to Chebyshev filters.
Filters are designed by setting the following parameters.
Geo2View 9 Frequency filtering Page 17

Low Cut Frequency Hz Set lower bound in Hz.

High Cut Frequency Hz Set upper bound in Hz.
N Poles Set the number of poles.
Ripple dB Set the amount of rippling allowed (only for Chebyshev and Elliptic filters).
Stop Band dB Set the amount of stopband attenuation (only for Elliptic filters).
The number of poles defines the slope of the filter beyond the cut-off frequency. The higher the number of
poles, the closer is the designed filter to an ideal filter. The ripple percentage determines the amount of rippling
allowed in the filter response as well as the steepness of the roll-off.
Geo2View 10 Amplitude spectrum analysis Page 18

10 Amplitude spectrum analysis

Through the Spectrum menu, the frequency content of a specific trace, a range of traces or the entire seismic
section can be visualized (Fig. 10.1).
Selected Trace Show the frequency content of the currently selected trace.
Whole Section Show the frequency content of the whole seismic section (all traces).
Apply Gain Show the frequency spectrum before and after applying the gain.
Filtered Trace Show the frequency spectrum before and after applying the designed filter.

Figure 10.1 – Frequency content of trace 86 (blue curve) and the entire seismic section (green curve).

When showing the frequency content of the current trace, both the filtered and unfiltered spectra can be shown
simultaneously. When showing the spectrum of the entire section or a time/trace interval, only the unfiltered
content can be shown.
A specific trace can be highlighted by pressing + LMB , and highlighting can be removed with + RMB .
The user can zoom on a portion of the spectral plot with Ctrl + RMB + Drag . The amplitude scale can be
switched between linear and logarithmic by selecting or unselecting the dB button.
The spectrum of the complete seismic section can be restricted to a range of traces and a time interval by
inputting the upper and lower bounds. The range is validated upon pressing the key. Instead of manually
inputting the limits, the trace/time range to be analyzed can be drawn as a rectangular area on the visualization
pane by pressing Ctrl + RMB + Drag (Fig. 10.2).
Geo2View 10 Amplitude spectrum analysis Page 19

(b) Frequency content of traces within the red box (red

(a) Selection of the traces/time range to analyze. curve) and the entire seismic section (green curve).

Figure 10.2 – Showing the frequency content of a range of traces/time.

Geo2View 11 Sources, receivers and CDPs X–Y plotting Page 20

11 Sources, receivers and CDPs X–Y plotting

The Basemap menu gives the user the possibility to plot the position of receivers, shots and CDPs in a X–Y
plot (Fig. 11.1). X–Y coordinates are taken from the file uploaded to memory. The X–Y map offers a zoom
function by using the magnifying glass or by selection of a rectangular area through Ctrl + RMB + Drag .

Figure 11.1 – X–Y map of receivers (green), shots (blue) and CDPs (red).

11.1 2D binning
Upon clicking the 2D binning menu in the Basemap floating window, a new window opens (Fig. 11.2), allowing
the user to bin seismic traces according to maximum offset and maximum distance to profile. If the operation is
successful, the output file can be saved and, upon saving, will be displayed in a new floating window (Fig. 11.3).
Geo2View 11 Sources, receivers and CDPs X–Y plotting Page 21

Figure 11.2 – Binning menu.

Figure 11.3 – Binning output file.

Geo2View 12 Functions Page 22

12 Functions
The Functions menu can be used to sort, resample or shift seismic traces, in addition to taking snapshots.

12.1 Sorting traces

Traces can be sorted through the Functions Sort Traces menu. Up to three sorting keys can be nested, to be
selected from an extensive list of header keywords (Fig. 12.1). The sorting order (descending or ascending) can
be individually selected for each sorting key.

Figure 12.1 – Trace sorting window.

If the result of the sort is unstable, it may be necessary to introduce another sorting key. For example, a sort of
traces by shot number must be accompanied by a second key such as channel number.

12.2 Resampling traces

The Functions Resample menu allows downsampling or oversampling of existing seismic traces (Fig. 12.2).
Resampling is performed through sinc interpolation. Before downsampling, a low pass filter is applied at 90 % of
the new Nyquist frequency.
Warning When using the resampling function, original traces are replaced by resampled ones.
Geo2View 12 Functions Page 23

Figure 12.2 – Trace resampling window.

12.3 Shifting traces

If traces must be of constant length, the Functions Shift Traces menu can be used to shift all traces (Fig. 12.3).
Traces can be shifted either

— backward (negative shift), by truncating trace starts and filling trace ends with null values;
— forward (positive shift), by truncating trace ends and filling trace starts with null values.

Figure 12.3 – Trace shifting window.

12.4 Image export

Upon pressing the Functions Snapshot menu or the F5 key, a new window opens, allowing the user to create a
snapshot of the current display window as a .png file (Fig. 12.4). After pressing the OK button, the name and
path of the snapshot can be specified. The snapshot
Warning When saving a snapshot, be sure to specify the file extension .png in the file name.
Geo2View 12 Functions Page 24

Figure 12.4 – Snapshot window.

Geo2View 13 Selective stacking Page 25

13 Selective stacking
In the File Selective Stack menu, the user has the option to stack multiple SEG-Y or SEG-2 files, provided that all
selected files have the same number of traces. If stacking is successful, the output file will be shown in the main
visualization pane (Fig. 13.1). The stacking output can be saved as a SEG-Y file through RMB Save Stacks .

Figure 13.1 – Output of stacking multiple shots.

The user can zoom on a portion of the stack by using RMB + Drag , and zooming can be undone with Esc .
Geo2View 14 Saving a seismic dataset Page 26

14 Saving a seismic dataset

A seismic dataset can be saved through File Save Dataset into either SEG-Y rev 1, SU or SEG-2 filetypes.
When saving, the user is given the option to apply the active frequency filter and define a time and/or trace
crop. Traces can be cropped either by inline/crossline number, X and Y coordinates of CDPs, CDP and line
number, FFID and trace number or source/receiver offset.