Seismic Noises

Noise
Noise is the unwanted information
contained on a record which one does not wish to use.

For example,
ground-roll gives information about near surface waves.

Since this information is not useful to us

in petroleum exploration ground roll is considered as noise.

Signal
Signal is that seismic energy
which contains desirable information.

For example,
reflections from geological formations.

It should be noted that

certain types of energy, such as diffractions, might be considered noise for one purpose and signal for another.

Signal to Noise Ratio (S/N)

The term signal to noise ratio (S/N)
is frequently used to describe the quality of data. The term is sometimes used to mean the ratio of signal energy to noise energy.

It is also used to mean the

ratio of signal amplitude to noise amplitude, which is the square root of the first definition.

Using the amplitude ratio definition

statistical analysis shows that S/N increases by square root of n when 'n' traces containing signal and random noise are summed.

Type of Noises
Noise is often divided into two categories: Random
It includes energy which does not align from trace to trace record to record.

Coherent It is seismic energy which

aligns from trace to trace record to record.

This type of noise is often

very similar in appearance to signal usually is more difficult to overcome than is random noise.

Random Noises
Random noise is made up of sporadic uncorrelatable pulses which can be caused by any of the following
Wind Noise Water Flow Noise Small movements within the earth Local Noise (People, traffic etc.) Bad geophone Noise Short wave length propagating Noise

System Noises (Uncorrelateable)

Thermal Noise (Johnson Noise)
random thermal energy

Shot Noise
Semiconductor has discrete current carries

I/F Noise
Imperfect semiconductor surfaces and leakage effects. (More dominant than shot noise at seismic frequencies)

Magnetic fluctuations (Barkhanson)

discreteness of magnetization

Modulation Noise
imperfect tape coating with signal imposed

Source of Coherent Noise

Multiple reflections Refracted events Diffraction events Ground roll Direct arrivals Reflections from locations outside the vertical plane through thesource and receiver and from other sources of energy not associated with the seismic project. Sometimes called "side-swipe".

Multiple Reflections

Multiple Reflections

Multiple Reflections
Simple Multiple
are those which have paths back and forth between the surface and one interface

Interbed or Peg-Leg Multiple

if they have paths back and forth between the surfaces and more than one interface.

Ghost
This is another kind of coherent noise. It is common for both marine and land recording source is placed beneath the water or earth surface in order to create good coupling of the energy sources To the surrounding medium.

Ghost

part of the energy travels upward to the surface and then being reflected downward. The recorded trace then gives the appearance of two sources slightly separated in time, or it might be misinterpreted as two closely-spaced reflections. If the shot is not buried very deep, the ghost pulse merges with the end of the primary, thus, changing its wave shape and adding a tail.

Reverberation
This kind of noise can be caused
by an energy source which emits a long train of pulses. It also is frequently produced in the earth by reflection of energy back and forth between beds.

This is especially a problem when recording data

In shallow water, because the air-water and water-rock contracts are usually very good reflectors and tend to establish a sort of wave trap.

Reverberation noise is also named "Ringing" or "Signing". an event appears not as a short pulse in time but as a long train of pulses. When this happens, events become obscured.

 an event appears not as a short pulse in time but as a long train of pulses. When this happens, events become obscured.

Water Bottom Multiples

In marine shooting
the arrival of one particular primary and its accompanying water-bottom multiple reflections.

Identification & Suppression of Random Noises Statistical methods are often used to overcome random noise problems. By recording more than one trace from the same location, Theoretically the same signal is obtained each time, with different random noise. If these data are then summed, the signal is in phase
enhanced,

while the random noise is

out of phase and is diminished.

Ambient Noises
Type
Traffic Wind Earthquakes

Description
Cars, Animal, People Air Currents Any Motion produced from within the earth by other than the seismic source Induce noise from nearby power line Debris falling from the blown shot hole From Recording Instruments

Apperance on Seismogram
Often Seen as spikes High Frequency Usually very low frequency

Highline Noise Shot Hole Instrument

50 or 60 HZ Both high & low frequency, fanning from the source point Usually high frequency, noise should be very low level