Land and Marine Seismic

Acquisition from 2D to 3D

From chapters 7-12 Elements of 3D Seismology by

Chris Liner
 Outline-1
CMP METHOD (Harry Mayne)
Seismic sensors
geophones
hydrophones
gimballed geophones and hydrophones
accelerometers
Sources
Explosives
Vibroseis
SEGY data
 Outline-2
Acquisition Parameters
Time Sample Rate
Offset Range
Listen Time
Sample Rate and Temporal Aliasing
Geophone Spacing and Spatial Aliasing
Shooting geometry
inline
cross-line
 Common Midpoint Method (CMP Method)

Please take a look at the powerpoint presentation for the

radio-telemetry field trip at the following link:
http://www.geol.lsu.edu/Faculty/Juan/ReflectSeismol05/labs
/ppt/Radio-telemetry.ppt
This link has information to complement the explanation on
the CMP method.
 Common Midpoint Method (CMP Method)

Hydrophone groups Shotpoint # 1

#6 #5 #4 #3 #2 #1

Midpoints

Separation between midpoints is

1/2 separation between hydrophone groups
 Common Midpoint Method (CMP Method)

Hydrophone groups Shotpoint # 2

#6 #5 #4 #3 #2 #1

Midpoints
 Common Midpoint Method (CMP Method)

Hydrophone groups Shotpoint # 3

#6 #5 #4 #3 #2 #1

Midpoints
 Common Midpoint Method (CMP Method)

Hydrophone groups Shotpoint # 4

#6 #5 #4 #3 #2 #1

Midpoints
 Common Midpoint Method (CMP Method)

Hydrophone groups Shotpoint # 5

#6 #5 #4 #3 #2 #1

Midpoints
 Common Midpoint Method (CMP Method)

Hydrophone groups Shotpoint # 6

#6 #5 #4 #3 #2 #1

Midpoints
 Common Midpoint Method (CMP Method)

Hydrophone groups Shotpoint # 7

#6 #5 #4 #3 #2 #1

Midpoints
 Common Midpoint Method (CMP Method)

Hydrophone groups Shotpoint # 8

#6 #5 #4 #3 #2 #1

Midpoints
 Common Midpoint Method (CMP Method)

Hydrophone groups Shotpoint # 8

#6 #5 #4 #3 #2 #1

Midpoints
 Common Midpoint Method (CMP Method)

Hydrophone groups
#6 #5 #4 #3 #2 #1
Shotpoint # 1

Midpoints
 Common Midpoint Method (CMP Method)

Hydrophone groups
#6 #5 #4 #3 #2 #1
Shotpoint # 1
Shotpoint # 2

Shotpoint # 1
Shotpoint # 2

Midpoints
 Common Midpoint Method (CMP Method)

Hydrophone groups
#6 #5 #4 #3 #2 #1
Shotpoint # 1
Shotpoint # 2
Shotpoint # 3

Shotpoint # 1
Shotpoint # 2
Shotpoint # 3
Midpoints
 Common Midpoint Method (CMP Method)

Hydrophone groups
#6 #5 #4 #3 #2 #1
Shotpoint # 1
Shotpoint # 2
Shotpoint # 3
Shotpoint # 4
Shotpoint # 1
Shotpoint # 2
Shotpoint # 3
Shotpoint # 4

Midpoints
 Common Midpoint Method (CMP Method)

Hydrophone groups
#6

#4
5

1
#

#
Shotpoints # 1-8

1
2 Midpoints
3
45 6 7 8 8 13
 Common Midpoint Method (CMP Method)
Fold or Multiplicity is the number of times that the same
midpoint is sampled by different shots and different receivers
Signal-to-Noise increases as the square root of the fold

Fold

1
2 Midpoints
3
45 6 7 8 8 13
 Common Midpoint Method (CMP Method)

Maximum Fold is achieved after the 6th shot

Fold

1
2 Midpoints
3
45 6 7 8 8 13
 Common Midpoint Method (CMP Method)

When shotpoint spacing and group spacing are equal then

Maximum fold = number of geophones or hydrophones
Midpoint separation = 1/2 distance between geophones

In a more general case:

Maximum Fold = #recording groups * distance between groups
2 * distance between shots
Midpoint separation = 1/2 smaller of the two: receiver group
spacing or shot spacing
 Gather Types

A gather i.e. a subset of the traces from the entire

data set can be of different types:

Shotpoint gather
Common source-receiver offset gather (COS)
Common midpoint gather
 Shotpoint Gather

e.g. Shotpoint gather #3

#6

#4
5

3
2
#

#
#

1
#
 Shotpoint Gather
Shotpoint #3

#6

#4
5

3
2
#

#
#

1
Hydrophone groups #
#6 #5 #4 #3 #2 #1

A shotpoint gather samples various midpoints and a variety of angles

What happens to the reflecting points in a shotpoint
gather when the reflecting interrface dips?

Shotpoint #3

#6

#4
5

3
2
#

#
#

1
Hydrophone groups #
#6 #5 #4 #3 #2 #1

A shotpoint gather samples various midpoints and a variety of angles

 What happens to the reflecting points in a shotpoint
gather when the reflecting interface dips?

Shotpoint #3

#6

#4
5

3
2
#

#
#

1
Hydrophone groups #
#6 #5 #4 #3 #2 #1

Reflecting points
Midpoints
A shotpoint gather samples different reflecting points at a variety of angles
Common Midpoint Method (CMP Method)

Hydrophone group #4
Common source-receiver offset and
common receiver, shotpoints 1-8
#6

#4
5

3
2
#

#
#

1
#
 Hydrophone group #4
Common source-receiver offset and
common receiver, shotpoints 1-8

#6

#4
5

3
2
#

#
#

1
#
COS means equal reflection angle

Midpoints
 In the case of a COS gather where are the true
midpoints when the reflecting, geological interface
has a dip?

#6

#4
5

3
2
#

#
#

1
#
COS means equal reflection angle

Midpoints
 COS NO LONGER implies equal reflection angles

#6

#4
5

3
2
#

#
#

1
#

Actual reflecting points

Midpoints
Common Midpoint Method (CMP Method)

Hydrophone group #4
Common mid-points and
shotpoints 1-8
#6

#4
5

3
2
#

#
#

1
#

Midpoints
 Hydrophone group #4
Common mid-point and
shotpoints 1-8

#6

#4
5

3
2
#

#
#

1
#
group
8 76 5 4 3 2 1

Midpoint #6

CMP gathers sample varying angles but a common geological midpoint

What happens to a common midpoint gather when the
reflecting interface has a dip?

#6

#4
5

3
2
#

#
#

1
#
group
8 76 5 4 3 2 1

Midpoint #6

CMP gathers sample varying angles but a common geological midpoint

 CMP gathers SAMPLE varying angles but with
a relatively smaller spread of
reflecting points than the shotpoint and
common-offset gathers

#6

#4
5

3
2
#

#
#

1
#
group
8 76 5 4 3 2 1

Midpoint #6

True Reflecting Points

A common midpoint gather minimizes the effect of dip while it
helps increase the signal-to-noise ratio
 Outline-1
CMP METHOD (Harry Mayne)
Seismic sensors
geophones
hydrophones
gimballed geophones and hydrophones
accelerometers
Sources
Explosives
Vibroseis
SEGY data
 Geophones

Convert ground motion into electricity

at a rate of about 1 Volt/inch/sec

Natural Resonance Frequency 100 Hz

GS-100 from Geospace

Geophone layout
Geophone layout
 Seismic Sensors

Hydrophones convert changing pressure into Volts

(Volts/bar)

e.g. Preseis 2517 from I/O 1V/microPascal

Gimballed Geophone-hydrophone combinations for
sea-bottom work

Sea-Array 4 from Geospace

Streamer layout
 Accelerometers

Convert ground acceleration into Volts

d(dx/dt)
dt

E.g. VectorSeis from I/O

3-component digital accelerometer (requires battery)
full-scale at 3.3 m/s2; noise level 0.44 microm/s2
140db = 20 log (3.3/4*10^-7)
 Outline-1
CMP METHOD (Harry Mayne)
Seismic sensors
geophones
hydrophones
gimballed geophones and hydrophones
accelerometers
Sources
Explosives
Vibroseis
SEGY data
 Vibroseis Method (Liner, 2004;
p.157, para. 4, )

An output sweep
(e.g., 10-80 Hz)

enters the earth

..and undergoes various reflections

 +
+ =
...something too complicated to draw

Field correlation unravels the raw data into .

Vibroseis images from the Lithoprobe Project, Canada
www.lithoprobe.ca

A vibrator truck

12 elephants dancing in unison (LITHOPROBE, CANADA)

Explosives

Noble Explochem Limited

 GI Watergun Array

NSF R/VIB NBPalmer- February/March 2003

Sercel G. GUN 150 cu. In. firing
at 2,000 p.s.i.
Link to movie of this G. Gun working in
a pool
 Outline-1
CMP METHOD (Harry Mayne)
Seismic sensors
geophones
hydrophones
gimballed geophones and hydrophones
accelerometers
Sources
Explosives
Vibroseis
SEGY data
 SEGY data 3200 byte
One line at a time EBCDIC header

400 byte tape header

240 byte trace header

DATA

240 byte tape header

DATA

240 byte tape header

DATA
 Outline-2
Acquisition Parameters
Time Sample Rate
Offset Range
Listen Time
Sample Rate and Temporal Aliasing
Geophone Spacing and Spatial Aliasing
Shooting geometry
inline
cross-line
 Sample Rates

What is the fewest number of times I need to sample

this waveform per second?

?
Sample Rates
Sample Rates
Sample Rates
 Sample Rates

What is the fewest number of times I need to sample

this waveform per second?

At least twice per wavelength or period!

OTHERWISE .
Undersampled waveforms

f f
Amplitude

Reconstructed frequency True frequency (f -true)

(f -aliased)
 Oversampled waveforms

Nyquist frequency
Amplitude

Reconstructed frequency = True frequency (f -true)

frequency is unaliased

Nyquist frequency = 1 / twice the sampling rate

Minimum sampling rate must be at least twice the desired frequency

E.g., 1000 samples per second for 500Hz,
2000 samples per second for 1000 Hz
 Oversampled waveforms

Nyquist frequency
Amplitude

In practice we are best oversampling by double the required minimum

i.e. 1000 samples per second for a maximum of 500 Hz
i.e., 2000 samples per second for a maximum of 1000 Hz
Oversampling is relatively cheap.
 Outline-2
Acquisition Parameters
Sample Rate and Temporal Aliasing
Offset Range
Listen Time
Geophone Spacing and Spatial Aliasing
 Offset Range

Maximum shot-receiver
offset

Target depth

One-layer earth of a semi-infinite layer

Maximum shot-receiver offset >= target depth.
Near critical distance
 Offset Range

Maximum shot-receiver
offset

Target depth

Multi-layered earth
 Outline-2
Acquisition Parameters
Time Sample Rate
Offset Range
Listen Time
Sample Rate and Temporal Aliasing
Geophone Spacing and Spatial Aliasing
Shooting geometry
inline
cross-line
 Listen Time

.Twice target time to be sage

 Outline-2
Acquisition Parameters
Time Sample Rate
Offset Range
Listen Time
Sample Rate and Temporal Aliasing
Geophone Spacing and Spatial Aliasing
Shooting geometry
inline
cross-line
 Spatial aliasing

Spatial frequency, or wavenumber (k) is the number of cycles per

unit distance.

One spatial cycle or wavenumber = frequency/velocity.

Each wavenumber must be sampled at least twice per wavelength

(two CMPs per wavelength)

1
Nk
2(CMPspacing )
IN PRACTICE each wavenumber must be sampled at least four times per minimum
wavelength (two CMPs per wavelength)
 Spatial aliasing

However, dip (theta) as well as frequency and

velocity event changes the number of cycles per
distance, so

lambda
CMP interval Liner, 9.7,p.192
4sin
 Spatial aliasing

lambda
CMP interval
4sin

Vx

V Vt

V Vt
sin limit
Vx

For aliasing NOT to occur, delta(t) must be less than T/2

 Spatial aliasing

VT
sin limit
2Vx

VT
Vxlim it
2sin
Geophone Spacing and Spatial Aliasing

K=0
 1/4 wavelength shift per trace
total shift across array=3/4 wavelength

K=+ or -ve?
 1/4 wavelength shift per trace
total shift across array=3/4 wavelength

K=?
 1/2 wavelength shift per trace
total shift across array=3/2 wavelength

K=0
 3/4 wavelength shift per trace
total shift across array=2 1/4 wavelength
 Spatial aliasing

Degrades (string of pearls) stacked sections

Degrades migration
 Signal-to-Noise

Improves with stacking:

greater fold
greater repetition of shots

S/N CMP fold gvertical stack

 Outline-2
Acquisition Parameters
Time Sample Rate
Offset Range
Listen Time
Sample Rate and Temporal Aliasing
Geophone Spacing and Spatial Aliasing
Shooting geometry
inline
cross-line
Fundamental Parameters for land 3D shooting

uu
r
X geophone ( xg , y g , z g )
uu
r
X shot ( xs , ys , zs )
 Common Midpoint

uu
r 1 uur uu
r
X CMP ( X shot X geophone )
2
 Source-Receiver Offset

uu
r uur uu
r
X offset ( X shot X geophone ) 2D

uu
r uu
r uu
r
X offset X shot X geophone 3D
 Azimuth (3D)

xshot xgeophone
tan 1
yshot y geophone


Inline geometry

Matlab code
 Outline-2
Acquisition Parameters
Time Sample Rate
Offset Range
Listen Time
Sample Rate and Temporal Aliasing
Geophone Spacing and Spatial Aliasing
Shooting geometry
inline
cross-line
Cross-line geometry

Matlab code
 Spatial aliasing

Degrades (string of pearls) stacked sections

Degrades migration