NOVEMBER 2015

The Better Business Publication Serving the Exploration / Drilling / Production Industry

Approach Enhances Seismic Imaging

By David Chase,
Yuval Serfaty,
Igor Belfer
and Zvi Koren
HOUSTONSeismic imaging techniques use background velocity models
to migrate recorded seismic data from
the acquisition time domain to common
image gathers (CIGs) in the depth domain.
Normally, these are of a lower dimensionality than is potentially accessible,
with the extra dimensions being reduced
by integration. As a consequence, much
information that could be of use in uniquely characterizing subsurface geological
features is irretrievably lost. In order to
retain this important information, the imaging can be performed in two independent
stages.
The first stage involves ray-based mapping of the seismic events into subsurface
local angle domain (LAD) tables at each
image point, retaining all the relevant
degrees of freedom. The LAD table is
defined by the reflection angles and their
azimuths, in addition to the two polar
angles for the ray-pair directivity. Together
with the depth axis, this results in a 5-D
LAD CIG. These are organized and stored
in an in-line/cross-line lateral grid.
The second stage involves implementing different types of dedicated imaging
operators that work on these full-dimensional datasets to isolate desired subsurface
characteristics, such as structure continuity,
discontinuous objects aligned near vertical
planes such as salt flanks or faults, and
even fracture systems. The method is
demonstrated on a real dataset
Seismic migrations use the recorded
data and an approximated background
velocity model to back-propagate the
many wave phenomena present in the

recorded data into their true subsurface

locations, and by applying the right
imaging condition criteria, form the best
possible image of the geological model.
Among these wave phenomena, there
are those of crucial interest to the interpreter, such as reflections, different
types of diffractions, and duplex/corner
waves.
There are many challenges in this
process. The background velocity model
is a simplistic realization of the true geological model that can include, for example, complex structural geometries and
layer velocities with different orders of
anisotropy, absorption and dispersion. An
accurate geological model builder and
appropriate wave/ray-based modeling are
essential for simulating the wave propagation in such complex models. The imaging condition applied at the subsurface
point is a critical operation that strongly
affects the type and class of images obtained. Additionally, the acquisition affects
the ability to optimally illuminate the
subsurface grid points from all directions.
In seismic imaging, the recorded seis-

mic data are generally migrated directly

to depth-domain CIGs, which can be
two-dimensional (for example, depth versus angle or offset), or more recently,
three-dimensional (with the addition of
azimuthal dependence). Because these
gathers are of a lower dimensionality
than is accessible during migration, the
migrated physical events, having been
potentially isolated in the imaging process,
are rendered inseparable or even invisible
in the final image.
Novel Approach
The novel approach introduced in
this article retains the integrity of the
collected data in a form that can be of
use in achieving an unambiguous interpretation of the subsurface geology. The
input seismic data are first mapped into
the full-dimensional decomposition for
each imaging point. This consists of
four components of the local angle domain. Dedicated imaging operators then
can be applied to form various desired
classes of final images. This imaging
approach attempts to confront the many
geological and geophysical imaging challenges encountered worldwide, and is

FIGURE 1
Mapping Schema from Surface to Subsurface Domain (A), 5-D Gather
(B), Opening Angle (C) and Directional Angle (D) 3-D Gathers

Reproduced for Paradigm with permission from The American Oil & Gas Reporter

www.aogr.com

SpecialReport: Oil & Gas Computing

an extension of ongoing work in imaging
in the LAD.
The method consists of two independent stages. The first stage involves raybased data mapping of the surface seismic
data into the full subsurface space-angle
domain. A point diffractor ray tracing
operator has been designed that shoots
rays from the imaging point equally in
all directions, and stores the required ray
properties for all of those that succeed in
reaching the surface. The aim of this step

is to optimally associate the source and

receiver locations with the appropriate
subsurface directivities.
The permutations of the individual
diffracted rays form a system of reflection
ray pairs (incident and scattered) that
enable the decomposition (binning) of
the migrated seismic events into the in
situ 4-D LAD table at each subsurface
point.
The in situ 4-D LAD table comprises
two polar angles representing the direc-

FIGURE 2
Eagle Ford Sections from Regular Stack (A)
And Specularity Enhanced (B) Volumes

FIGURE 3
Eagle Ford Depth Slices with Enhanced Specular Energy (Top)
And Enhanced Diffraction Energy (Bottom)
10,150 ft

11,500 ft
14,200 ft

15,400 ft

tivity of the ray pairs (the sum of the incident and scattered slowness vectors)
and two additional angles representing
the opening angle and opening azimuth
between the two slowness vectors at the
image points. This type of data is stored
as a 5-D CIG for each in-line/cross-line
location. The size of the bins in the 4-D
LAD table determines the resolution of
the mapped input data. This subsurface
domain also is the most appropriate from
the physical point of view for many data
assessment and correction operations normally performed in the input data domain.
Specularity Gathers
The second stage involves processing
the 5-D CIGs for both corrections and
seismic property extractions using directivity driven imaging. First, directivity driven 3-D semblance or specularity gathers are computed for each
5-D gather. The 3-D semblance values
are computed for each directivity bin
(dip/azimuth) over all depth points within
a given window. As the specularity gathers are computed along the opening angle/azimuth traces, they indicate the coherent energetic directions of the actual
reflected events.
These directional gathers can be used
to form different types of weighted stack
filters. For example, to enhance structural
continuity of the subsurface reflectors,
the specularity values are used directly
as weighted stack coefficients. This results
in generating high-quality, full-azimuth
angle gathers that stack to the optimal
reflectivity image and considerably enrich
the information, and reduce uncertainty
in velocity model determination and amplitude inversion analysis.
A further functionality is the separation
of multiple specular events that overlap
at a given imaging point, such as when a
coherently reflecting fault crosses layered
horizons, for example. Since the fault
may have a lesser overall seismic intensity,
simple stacking will mask the fault. Therefore, it is essential to consider multiple
specular reflections and to construct the
appropriate specular filter that will allow
for the unfolding of these unique seismic
events.
Another important option is diffraction-enhanced imaging. Changes in the
elastic properties of subsurface rocks appear as seismic reflections. Diffractions
are generated by local discontinuities,
which act as a point source, whereas re-

SpecialReport: Oil & Gas Computing

flections are generated by an extensive
reflection boundary. This option involves
attenuating the high-specular energy, by
designing a filter that is one minus the
specularity values. Furthermore, duplex
waves, which exhibit directivity azimuthal
dependence, also can be extracted by
constructing the appropriate azimuthally
dependant semblance filter.
The important implication is that one
can generate different types of images,
each containing unique seismic informa-

tion without rerunning the heavy computational process of the first stage.
Finally, the different images can be corendered to simultaneously visualize the
different geological characteristics.
Eagle Ford Examples
The examples presented in this article
are taken from the Eagle Ford Shale
play. Figure 1A shows the schema of the
mapping system with the surface input
parameters and the respective subsurface

FIGURE 4
Eagle Ford Depth Slices with Enhanced Primary Reflections (Top)
And Secondary Reflections from Muting Primary Reflections (Bottom)

LAD domain parameters. The 5-D LAD

gather is uniquely visualized in the form
of a 3-D display, where each of the
lateral axes combines two polar angles:
directivity dip/azimuth and opening angle/azimuth.
Figure 1B shows an example 5-D
gather for a specific in-line/cross-line coordinate from an advanced full-azimuth
angle domain imaging and analysis system
designed to image, characterize, visualize
and interpret the total seismic wave field
in all directions. The horizontal axes in
Figure B are (the opening angle and its
azimuth as a continuous spiral) and
(direction angle and its azimuth as a continuous spriral).
Figure 1C shows a resulting 3-D opening angle/azimuth gather computed from
the 5-D gather by integrating over the directivity angles. Figure 1D shows a 3-D
directional gather computed from the 5D gather by integrating over the opening
angles and azimuths. Note the concentration of energy at low dip angles in
Figure 1D associated with the generally
flat (zero dip) reflectors in this play.
Figure 2 shows the same section after
specularity enhancement in the 5-D domain. Note the removal of systematic
noise and of obvious diffractions. The
image is much cleaner and more easily
picked. The gathers also are much cleaner,
providing more stable and reliable moveout estimation and analysis results of
variations in seismic velocities and amplitudes with shot-receiver azimuth and
incident angle.
Diffraction imaging allows local subsurface heterogeneities to be detected
using the diffraction enhancement procedure. Figure 3 shows confirmation of
this. The first set of images at the top of
Figure 3 shows different depth slices of
specularly enhanced images. A smooth
variation of the wave field is visible with
small disturbances, the form of which
cannot be determined using only reflection
waves.
Diffraction energy is enhanced in the
set of images at the bottom of Figure 3,
resulting in slices that reveal a very different picture from that shown by the reflected field. A strong faulting plan is
seen clearly and can be interpreted easily.
Thus, significant additional geological
detail has become evident by enhancing
the diffraction energy.
A further example of the utility of
this approach is illustrated in the Eagle
Ford Shale depth slices in Figure 4, where

SpecialReport: Oil & Gas Computing

the separation of competing specular
events is shown. The primary specular
events in the directional gathers have
been muted, allowing the secondary reflections from the faults to become clearly
visible.
In the top image in Figure 4, a depth
slice of the specular enhanced image is
shown at 17,880 feet. In the bottom
image, the primary specular mute is applied. The dominant seismic energy from
the near horizontal horizons is muted,
leaving the weaker seismic energy from
the fault. Thus, the major faults are delineated clearly in the muted image, allowing easy picking. The stacking masks
this coherent event, leaving the interpreter
to attempt extraction in the post-stack
domain under adverse conditions.
The new approach considers migrations
as a general mapping procedure from the
surface acquisition domain to that of the
physically derived subsurface domain.
The mapped CIG gathers can be considered complete representations of the
scattering event, and as such, can be
processed subsequent to migration to correct for defects in the input data and
modeling procedure, and to accentuate
any physical aspect of interest.
The potential impact for seismic imaging and interpretation is twofold. First,
this mapped domain allows for data correction normally performed before or
during the migration, such as data reconstruction and anti-aliasing. Second, new
classes of physically derived images become available to the interpreter. These
can greatly enhance the certainty of the
interpreters understanding of the geology.
This has been demonstrated for directionality derived imaging. The significant
increase in fault and fracture zone detection
opens new prospects for seismic processing
and interpretation.

Editors Note: The authors acknowledge Raanan Dafni and Gali Dekel for
their contributions to the preceding article.
The Eagle Ford Shale data examples are
courtesy of Seitel.

DAVID
CHASE

David Chase is project manager for

Paradigm Geophysicals EarthStudy
360 full-azimuth angle domain imaging
system. He is experienced in dealing
with challenging high-performance computing and very large datasets, as well
as in developing and implementing sophisticated algorithms ranging from
applied mathematics to image processing. Previously, Chase worked in the
algorithms department of Applied Materials, as a project manager at Optimod,
and at Intel. He holds a Ph.D. in theoretical chemistry from Hebrew University.

IGOR
BELFER

Igor Belfer is an EarthStudy 360 applications engineer at Paradigm. He is

involved in developing and testing workflows, specifically in the area of diffraction imaging in EarthStudy 360.
Previously, Belfer worked as an algorithm
developer at GLUCON Medical, and
prior to that was a senior geophysicist
at the Geophysical Institute of Israel.
He holds a Ph.D. from the Institute of
Earth Physics in Moscow.

ZVI
KOREN

YUVAL
SERFATY

Yuval Serfaty is a physicist working

in the EarthStudy 360 full-azimuth angle
domain imaging system at Paradigm.
He is involved in developing the computational infrastructure and resolving
geophysical computational problems.
Serfaty holds a bachelors in computer
engineering and applied physics and a
masters in applied physics from Hebrew
University.

Zvi Koren is Paradigms chief technology officer and research fellow. He

founded the geophysical program at
Paradigm in 1990, and headed the team
responsible for developing the Paradigm
GeoDepth system for velocity model
building, seismic modeling and depth
imaging. Koren also led development
of Paradigms EarthStudy 360 full-wavefield system based on full-azimuth angle
domain imaging and analysis. He holds
a Ph.D. in geophysics from Tel Aviv
University, and performed post-doctoral
research at the Institute Physique du
Globe at Paris University.