• Geophysics and Geophysical Exploration
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.31-39
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• 2010

The goal of automatic velocity analysis is to extract accurate velocity from voluminous seismic data with efficiency. In this study, we developed an efficient automatic velocity analysis algorithm by using bootstrapped differential semblance (BDS) and Monte Carlo inversion. To estimate more accurate results from automatic velocity analysis, the algorithm we have developed uses BDS, which provides a higher velocity resolution than conventional semblance, as a coherency estimator. In addition, our proposed automatic velocity analysis module is performed with a conditional initial velocity determination step that leads to enhanced efficiency in running time of the module. A new optional root mean square (RMS) velocity constraint, which prevents picking false peaks, is used. The developed automatic velocity analysis module was tested on a synthetic dataset and a marine field dataset from the East Sea, Korea. The stacked sections made using velocity results from our algorithm showed coherent events and improved the quality of the normal moveout-correction result. Moreover, since our algorithm finds interval velocity ($\nu_{int}$) first with interval velocity constraints and then calculates a RMS velocity function from the interval velocity, we can estimate geologically reasonable interval velocities. Boundaries of interval velocities also match well with reflection events in the common midpoint stacked sections.

• Geophysics and Geophysical Exploration
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.60-66
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• 2006

Three differing sandstones, two synthetic and one field sample, have been tested ultrasonically under a range of confining pressures and pore pressures representative of in-situ reservoir pressures. These sandstones include: a synthetic sandstone with calcite intergranular cement produced using the CSIRO Calcite In-situ Precipitation Process (CIPS); a synthetic sandstone with silica intergranular cement; and a core sample from the Otway Basin Waarre Formation, Boggy Creek 1 well, from the target lithology for a trial $CO_2$ pilot project. Initial testing was carried on the cores at "room-dried" conditions, with confining pressures up to 65 MPa in steps of 5 MPa. All cores were then flooded with $CO_2$, initially in the gas phase at 6 MPa, $22^{\circ}C$, then with liquid-phase $CO_2$ at a temperature of $22^{\circ}C$ and pressures from 7 MPa to 17 MPa in steps of 5 MPa. Confining pressures varied from 10 MPa to 65 MPa. Ultrasonic waveforms for both P- and S-waves were recorded at each effective pressure increment. Velocity versus effective pressure responses were calculated from the experimental data for both P- and S-waves. Attenuations $(1/Q_p)$ were calculated from the waveform data using spectral ratio methods. Theoretical calculations of velocity as a function of effective pressure for each sandstone were made using the $CO_2$ pressure-density and $CO_2$ bulk modulus-pressure phase diagrams and Gassmann effective medium theory. Flooding the cores with gaseous phase $CO_2$ produced negligible change in velocity-effective stress relationships compared to the dry state (air saturated). Flooding with liquid-phase $CO_2$ at various pore pressures lowered velocities by approximately 8% on average compared to the air-saturated state. Attenuations increased with liquid-phase $CO_2$ flooding compared to the air-saturated case. Experimental data agreed with the Gassmann calculations at high effective pressures. The "critical" effective pressure, at which agreement with theory occurred, varied with sandstone type. Discrepancies are thought to be due to differing micro-crack populations in the microstructure of each sandstone type. The agreement with theory at high effective pressures is significant and gives some confidence in predicting seismic behaviour under field conditions when $CO_2$ is injected.

• Geophysics and Geophysical Exploration
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.211-216
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• 2013

In general, smoothing filters regularize functions by reducing differences between adjacent values. The smoothing filters, therefore, can regularize inverse solutions and produce more accurate subsurface structure when we apply it to full waveform inversion. If we apply a smoothing filter with a constant coefficient to subsurface image or velocity model, it will make layer interfaces and fault structures vague because it does not consider any information of geologic structures and variations of velocity. In this study, we develop a selective smoothing regularization technique, which adapts smoothing coefficients according to inversion iteration, to solve the weakness of smoothing regularization with a constant coefficient. First, we determine appropriate frequencies and analyze the corresponding wavenumber coverage. Then, we define effective maximum wavenumber as 99 percentile of wavenumber spectrum in order to choose smoothing coefficients which can effectively limit the wavenumber coverage. By adapting the chosen smoothing coefficients according to the iteration, we can implement multi-scale full waveform inversion while inverting multi-frequency components simultaneously. Through the successful inversion example on a salt model with high-contrast velocity structures, we can note that our method effectively regularizes the inverse solution. We also verify that our scheme is applicable to field data through the numerical example to the synthetic data containing random noise.

• Geophysics and Geophysical Exploration
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.71-78
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• 2013

The one-way wave equation migration is much more computationally efficient comparing with reverse time migration and it can provide better image than the migration algorithm based on the ray theory. We have developed the prestack depth migration module adopting (GS) propagator designed for vertical transverse isotropic media. Since GS propagator considers the higher-order term by expanding the Taylor series of the vertical slowness in the thin slab of the phase-screen propagator, the GS migration can offer more correct image for the complex subsurface with large lateral velocity variation or steep dip. To verify the validity of the developed GS migration module, we analyzed the accuracy with the order of the GS propagator for VTI media (GSVTI propagator) and confirmed that the accuracy of the wavefield propagation with the wide angles increases as the order of the GS propagator increases. Using the synthetic seismic data, we compared the migration results obtained from the isotropic GS migration module with the anisotropic GS migration module. The results show that the anisotropic GS migration provides better images and the improvement is more evident on steeply dipping structures and in a strongly anisotropic medium.

• Geophysics and Geophysical Exploration
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.315-322
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• 2010

The phase-screen and the split-step Fourier migrations, which are implemented in both the frequency-wavenumber and frequency-space domains by using one-way scalar wave equation, allow imaging in laterally heterogeneous media with less computing time and efficiency. The generalized-screen migration employs the series expansion of the exponential, unlike the phase-screen and the split-step Fourier migrations which assume the vertical propagation in frequency-wavenumber domain. In addition, since the generalized-screen migration generalizes the series expansion of the vertical slowness, it can utilize higher-order terms of that series expansion. As a result, the generalized-screen migration has higher accuracy in computing the propagation with wide angles than the phase-screen and split-step Fourier migrations for media with large and rapid lateral velocity variations. In this study, we developed a 2D prestack generalized-screen migration module for imaging a complex subsurface efficiently, which includes various dips and large lateral variations. We compared the generalized-screen propagator with the phase-screen propagator for a constant perturbation model and the SEG/EAGE salt dome model. The generalized-screen propagator was more accurate than the phase-screen propagator in computing the propagation with wide angles. Furthermore, the more the higher-order terms were added for the generalized-screen propagator, the more the accuracy was increased. Finally, we compared the results of the generalizedscreen migration with those of the phase-screen migration for a model which included various dips and large lateral velocity variations and the synthetic data of the SEG/EAGE salt dome model. In the generalized-screen migration section, reflectors were positioned more accurately than in the phase-screen migration section.