• Ocean and Polar Research
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• v.44 no.4
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• pp.355-364
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• 2022

When the 60-ton-class patrol boat '72' of the Korea Coast Guard (KCG) was on duty and she accidentally collided with another patrol boat ('207', 200-ton-class) and sank. A month-long search found a small amount of lost items, but neither the crew nor the ship was found. For the first time in 39 years since the accident, the Korea Institute of Ocean Science and Technology (KIOST) searched the boat 72 using the latest integrated geophysical techniques. A number of sonar images presumed to be of a sunken ship was acquired using a combined system of side scan sonar and marine magnetometer, operated at an altitude of approximately 30 m from the seabed. At the same time, a strong magnetic anomaly (100 nT) was detected in one place, indicating the presence of an iron ship. A video survey using a remotely operated underwater vehicle (ROV) confirmed the presence of a shielding part of a personal firearm at the stern of the sunken vessel. Based on these comprehensive data, the sunken vessel discovered in this exploration was assumed to be '72'. This result is meaningful in terms of future ocean exploration and underwater archaeology, as the integrated system of various geophysical methods is an efficient means of identifying objects present in the water.

• Geophysics and Geophysical Exploration
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.199-210
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• 2023

The physical properties of rocks in reservoirs change after CO₂ injection, we modeled a reservoir with a transition zone within which the physical properties change linearly. The function of the Wolf reflection coefficient consists of the velocity ratio of the upper and lower layers, the frequency, and the thickness of the transition zone. This function can be used to estimate the thickness of a reservoir or seafloor transition zone. In this study, we propose a method for predicting the thickness of the transition zone using deep learning. To apply deep learning, we modeled the thickness-dependent Wolf reflection coefficient on an artificial transition zone formation model consisting of sandstone reservoir and shale cap rock and generated time-frequency spectral images using the continuous wavelet transform. Although thickness estimation performed by comparing spectral images according to different thicknesses and a spectral image from a trace of the seismic stack did not always provide accurate thicknesses, it can be applied to field data by obtaining training data in various environments and thus improving its accuracy.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.39 no.4 s.179
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• pp.417-426
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• 2006

Data acquisition is as important as data processing and interpretation in the field of marine geophysical exploration. Marine geophysicist, however, may not have enough information in this field because data acquisition method has been mainly developed by the commercial companies manufacturing the equipment. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to introduce the general data acquisition method and information to help to construct the systematic and effective survey plan. When a survey plan is set up, the most important thing is to select the seismic equipment based on required penetration depth and resolution, and then construct the survey line intervals. Although a line interval varies from the research purposes, it should be narrower than the expected subsurface structures. Also, if 100% coverage of multibeam data is required, line intervals need to be adjusted based on the equipment characteristics. In case of merging with the preexisting dataset like bathymetry, gravity and magnetic, cross-over errors occurred at the each cross point should be removed to avoid any kinds of misinterpretation.

• Geophysics and Geophysical Exploration
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• v.21 no.3
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• pp.183-197
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• 2018

In the delineation of geological structures using seismic exploration, it is very important to improve resolution of seismic data as well as accurate velocity model building and subsurface imaging. The resolution of seismic data can be enhanced by employing high-frequency energy sources or by applying deconvolution techniques in data processing. In marine seismic exploration, however, the main reason for degradation of resolution is the loss of specific frequency components due to ghosts. If we remove the ghosts, we can obtain broadband seismic data by avoiding frequency loss, and thus providing high-resolution subsurface images. Although ghosts can be properly filtered out in the data processing step, more effective broadband seismic technologies have been developing through the evolution of seismic instruments and the innovation of survey design. Overseas exploration companies developed brand-new configurations of receivers such as over/under streamer and variable-depth streamer, or ghost removal techniques using dual-sensor streamer to serve high-resolution imaging technologies. Unfortunately, neither broadband seismic instrument nor processing technique has been studied in Korea. In this paper, we introduce fundamental theories and current status of broadband seismic technologies to assist domestic researchers to study those technologies.

• 한국지구물리탐사학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2002.09a
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• pp.24-45
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• 2002

For the last several decades, high-resolution shallow marine seismic technique has been used for various resources, engineering and geological surveys. Even though the multichannel method is powerful to image subsurface structures, single channel analog survey has been more frequently employed in shallow water exploration, because it is more expedient and economical. To improve the quality of the high-resolution seismic data economically, we acquired digital seismic data using a small air gun, 6 channel streamer and PC-based system, performed data processing and produced high-resolution seismic sections. For many years, such test acquisitions were performed with other studies which have different purposes in the area of off Pohang, Yellow Sea and Gyeonggi-bay. Basic data processing was applied to the acquired data and the processing sequence included gain recovery, deconvolution, filtering, normal moveout, static corrections, CMP gathering and stacking. Examples of digitally processed sections were shown and compared with analog sections. Digital seismic sections have a much higher resolution after data processing. The results of acquisition and processing show that the high-resolution shallow marine seismic surveys using a small air gun, 6 channel streamer and PC-based system may be an effective way to image shallow subsurface structures precisely.

• Geophysics and Geophysical Exploration
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.240-249
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• 2013

The seismic data quality of marine geological and engineering survey deteriorates because of the sea swell. We often conduct a marine survey when the swell height is about 1 ~ 2 m. The swell effect correction is required to enhance the horizontal continuity of seismic data and satisfy the resolution less than 1 m. We applied the swell correction to the 8 channel high-resolution airgun seismic data and 3.5 kHz subbottom profiler (SBP) data. The correct sea bottom detection is important for the swell correction. To detect the sea bottom, we used maximum amplitude of seismic signal around the expected sea bottom, and picked the first increasing point larger than threshold value related with the maximum amplitude. To find sea bottom easily in the case of the low quality data, we transformed the input data to envelope data or the cross-correlated data using the sea bottom wavelet. We averaged the picked sea bottom depths and calculated the correction values. The maximum correction of the airgun data was about 0.8 m and the maximum correction of two kinds of 3.5 kHz SBP data was 0.5 m and 2.0 m respectively. We enhanced the continuity of the subsurface layer and produced the high quality seismic section using the proper methods of swell correction.

• Geophysics and Geophysical Exploration
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• v.7 no.1
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• pp.1-6
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• 2004

High-resolution S-wave reflection surveying has been successfully conducted on paved areas using a Land Streamer originally designed by the author. The main feature of the Land Streamer tool is the non-stretch woven belt on which geophone units are mounted to form a multichannel geophone array similar to a marine streamer. Because it is easily towed by a vehicle or by hand, the tool leads to high performance in field measurements and resultant cost-effectiveness of high-resolution reflection surveys. Although each geophone unit is coupled to the pavement through a metallic baseplate instead of being firmly planted in the ground, the Land Streamer tool provides comparatively clean data, unaffected by traffic noise even on the pavement. Thus, the tool is capable of expanding the opportunity for S-wave reflection surveys in urban areas where many surfaces are paved and traffic noise is severe. A series of high-resolution S-wave reflection surveys on paved areas delineated detailed structures of surface layers shallower than 60 m, and proved the wide applicability of the tool to engineering, environmental applications, and earthquake disaster prevention projects.

• Geophysics and Geophysical Exploration
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.109-115
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• 2008

It is very important to estimate the physical properties of survey area and delineate the geological basement in marine site survey for the design of offshore structures. For the purpose of providing high quality data by means of engineering site survey, it is necessary to apply several survey techniques and carry out the integrated interpretation to each other. In this study, we applied single channel seismic reflection method and OBC (Ocean Bottom Cable) type seismic refraction method at shallow marine. We used a dual boomer-single channel streamer as a source-receiver in seismic reflection survey and airgun source-the developed OBC type streamer in seismic refraction survey. We made 24 channels OBC type streamer which has 4m channel interval and each channel is composed of single hydrophone and preamplifier. We tested the field applicability of the proposed method and applied the typical seismic data processing methods to the obtained reflection data in order to enhance the data quality and image resolution. In order to estimate the geological velocity distribution from refraction data, seismic refraction tomography technique was applied. Therefore, we could successfully perform time-depth conversion using the velocity information as an integrated interpretation. The proposed method could provide reliable geologic information such as sediment layer thickness and 3D basement depth map.

• Geophysics and Geophysical Exploration
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.163-170
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• 2013

The amplitude variation with offset of seismic data can detect fluids in the sediment and resolve the petrophysical properties of hydrocarbons in the subsurface. We analyzed and described the amplitude variation in deep sea seismic data obtained from the Ulleung Basin, East Sea. By inspecting seismic CDP-offset and CDP-angle gathers which show a bright reflection event, we decided a target zone for amplitude variation analysis. From the seismic angle gather at the middle of Ulleung Basin, we recognized amplitude increase or decrease versus offset on the intercept-gradient curve. Using the product attribute and Poisson's ratio change attribute computed in terms of intercept with gradient, the top and the base of gas saturated sediments were described. The area of amplitude variation suggestive of the presence of gas saturated sediments is shown at the depth of 3 s traveltime. Anomalous features of seismic amplitude in the Ulleung Basin were classified by the crossplot of intercept and gradient. The background trend of crossplot between intercept and gradient shows an inverse proportional relation that is common for wet sediments. Anomalous amplitudes of Class III fall into the first and the third quadrants on crossplots. We inferred regional gas/water saturated area with the horizontal dimension of 150 m in the Ulleung Basin by cross-section with respect to cross-plot anomaly.

• Geophysics and Geophysical Exploration
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• v.20 no.4
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• pp.199-206
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• 2017

Field data obtained from marine exploration are influenced by various environmental factors such as wind, waves, tidal current and flow velocity of a background medium. Most environmental factors except for the flow velocity are properly corrected in the data processing stage. In this study, the wave equation modeling considering flow velocity is used to generate observation data, and numerical experiments using the observation data were conducted to analyze the effect of flow velocity on waveform inversion. The numerical examples include the results with unrealistic flow velocities. In addition, an algorithm is suggested to numerically extract flow velocity for waveform inversion. The proposed algorithm was applied to the modified Marmousi2 model to obtain the results depending on the flow velocity. The effect of flow velocity on updated physical properties was verified by comparing the inversion results without considering flow velocity and those obtained from the proposed algorithm.