SEISMIC DISPLAY

version 1.0 released 29/1/99

Contents

Introduction
Display Polarity
Display Types
Bias
Gain

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INTRODUCTION

The seismic traces may be displayed in a variety of ways. For interpretation the data are
normally loaded onto an interpretation workstation so the data can be displayed by the
interpreter in any form or scale. The drawback of this is that it is easy to lose sight of the big
picture. It is also sometimes hard on the screen to compare different processing parameters
with any accuracy. A hardcopy display should therefore be produced for many processing tests
and final products. Seismic processing is very unkind to trees. Whether data are displayed on
screen or hardcopy it is essential that the user understands how the software has scaled the
traces for display. Display scaling may be in addition to any scaling specified in the processing
sequence.

A typical plotting device suitable for seismic data would be a 400 dots per inch electrostatic
("versatec") plotter or a thermal plotter of similar resolution. A continuous 18" paper role is
sufficient for most seismic applications.

DISPLAY POLARITY

The only polarity standard used is that defined by the SEG and it is ambiguous and confusing
since it defines a different standard for minimum and zero-phase data. Here we define two
areas of polarity definition, one for seismic recording and one for seismic display.

The use of terms NORMAL and REVERSE POLARITY should be avoided at all costs.
Unfortunately these are the terms in common usage. Any seismic display program should
display a positive number as a peak and a negative number as a trough (as shown in the
 adjacent figure). Most programs
will also allow the display polarity
to be reversed which also allows
for further confusion unless the
polarity or colourbar is clearly
annotated on the display.
Historically in the North Sea for
zero-phase data a hard event or
impedance increase, such as the
top chalk, is represented as a
trough. The opposite polarity
convention is used in the USA. By
the SEG standards defined for a
zero-phase wavelet the North Sea
convention is reverse standard
polarity.

The best composite definition for the North Sea is something like "positive reflection
coefficient is represented by a negative number on tape and as a white trough in display".

Contractors use further confusing nomenclature to define polarity on sidelabels, EBCDIC

headers and in processing reports. A particularly useful evasive phrase is "the acquisition
polarity was maintained throughout processing". This should always be the case since few
processing routines will change the polarity of seismic data - however many processing
routines can change the phase (note a 180o phase shift is equivalent to a polarity reversal). In
determining the phase and polarity of the seismic data the interpreter must add up the effects
of all processes through acquisition and processing which may effect the final phase and
polarity. This is often difficult since some processes may change the phase of the data without
stating that they have done so. An example of the latter is the GSI (or HGS) DESIG process
which by default converts a source signature to it's zero-phase equivalent rather than the
conventional minimum phase equivalent.

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SEISMIC DISPLAY TYPES

The previous adjacent figure shows the principal modes of plotting seismic data. The variable
area with wiggle display is most commonly used for seismic processing purposes, the colour
display is mostly used for interpretation. For hardcopy, the wiggle and fill are plotted as a
series of small dots at less than 0.1mm spacing. It is common to fill in the positive part of the
wiggle curve.

DISPLAY SCALES

For following table summarises typical display scales used in the North Sea. The horizontal
scales in traces per cm assume a CMP spacing of 12.5m.

Vertical Horizontal Scale Description

5cm/s 40tpc 1:50000 Squash

10cm/s 20tpc 1:25000 Normal

 20cm/s 10tpc 1:12500 Enlarged

On a conventional 400dpi plotter the squash plot would appear too dark and usually only
alternate traces would be plotted.

SCALING

The plotting software will usually read in a default number of traces (e.g. 500) and determine
the average amplitude. The rest of the plot will be scaled relative to this amplitude such that
the display is visible. The user can usually control the number of traces and the scaling
window (for example to avoid very high or low amplitudes within the default scaling window).

BIAS

The bias can be used to alter the zero-amplitude baseline. An addition of bias (as a percentage
of trace spacing) reduces the amount of black infill, making the display greyer in appearance.

GAIN

The gain level of the display should be selected such that reflections of interest overlap to form
continuous events. Hopefully random noise will not overlap and will therefore appear
discontinuous. The gain is usually specified in decibels relative to the calculated average
amplitudes. Typically the 0dB level is set so the average amplitude is 1/2 trace spacing, so +3dB
would ensure the average was 1 trace spacing and ensure overlap. Very high amplitudes will
usually be clipped at 4 traces excursions.

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