Land Seismic on New Technological Level

Instructor: Dr Anatoly Cherepovskiy (Independent Consultant, Russia)
Languages: English and Russian
Level: Foundation
Duration and formats:
Online: 2 to 4 live sessions of 4 hours CPD Points: 4 to 8
Classroom: 1 to 2 days CPD Points: 5 to 10

Course Description

This course will provide information related to recent trends and advances in land seismic data acquisition technology, equipment and the methodologies that are being utilized to improve seismic imaging quality and productivity of 3D acquisition with an emphasize on the high-end surveys as performed in open areas. The course will not cover the fundamentals of 3D and multicomponent seismic survey design, although there will be a section that will give a review of recent survey design approaches and principles.

Course Objectives

The purpose of this course is to:

  • provide an overview of trends in 3D land seismic and achievements;
  • understand trade-offs in modern field technologies;
  • understand the ways to improve seismic imaging and data conditioning for better reservoir characterization.

Course Outline

1. Introduction.

2. The revolutions and trends in 3D land seismic and evolution in survey design, field equipment, and acquisition techniques. The criteria of field data quality. The role of global positioning systems. Arrays versus point receivers and point sources Intra-array statics (synthetic and field-data examples), non-vertical ray emergence, and other factors degrading high-frequency content of acquired data and distorting amplitudes and AVO effects. Is there a compromise between high-frequency preservation and S/N ratio improvement? Digital array forming.

3. Wide-azimuth and high-density surveys. Breakthrough in seismic imaging with HD and WAZ data. More receivers or more sources? New types of attributes extracted from HD and WAZ data to better characterize complex and fractured reservoirs.

4. Excitation and recording of wideband seismic signals. Why do we need broadband signals? Types of velocimeters and accelerometers. Low-dwell and other nonlinear sweeps. Field data examples.

5. 3C sensors and multi-component seismic. Advantages of 3C single sensors from operational and geophysical points of view. Multicomponent seismic with MEMS accelerometers: expectations and practical achievements. Ray-tracing and finite-difference modeling studies.

6. Multiple-fleet and high-productivity vibroseis techniques. New paradigm in seismic exploration: better sampling of noise and signal. The issues of data and equipment QC in high-productivity vibroseis.

7. Diversity stack in noisy areas.

8. Cableless recording systems. Innovative technologies enabling a new generation of recording systems without cables and radio: the importance of GPS in the evolution of land seismic acquisition techniques. Where cableless systems are applicable? Full cableless and infill modes. Testing of autonomous (nodal) and real-time recording systems in Russia.

9. Conclusions. Not all acquisition techniques are equal (status in Russia vs. Middle East and North America). What will be high-end land 3D surveys in the future: point 3C acquisition? A mix of cable and cableless, very dense and very noisy data?

Participants’ Profile

The course is appropriate not only for geophysicists involved in land survey design, acquisition, and modeling, but also for those involved in data processing and interpretation who wish to better understand the potential improvements that can be made.

Prerequisites

The course assumes familiarity with basic seismic acquisition techniques and equipment. No mathematical background is required, since physical concepts are graphically illustrated. A comprehensive list of references is given in the book.

Recommended Reading

Meunier, J., 2011, Seismic acquisition from yesterday to tomorrow: Distinguished Instructor Short Course, SEG / EAGE, Tulsa, OK USA.

About the Instructor

Anatoly Cherepovski received an MSc in Geophysics from Moscow State University in 1980. He joined OZGEO overseas geological exploration company (Moscow) and carried out seismic data processing including almost two years at the field data processing centre in Yemen. In 1991 he obtained a PhD at VNIIGeofizika Research Institute (Moscow) with a dissertation titled fImproving efficiency of vibroseis investigations in frontier areasf. In 1995 he joined Petrosystems division of CGG (Moscow) as a project manager. From 1998 to 2004 he worked for Green Mountain Geophysics (GMG), later I/O GMG, where he was involved in 3D survey design, refraction statics determination, and benchmark data processing. He presented courses on seismic survey design and refraction statics to numerous companies in Russia and CIS. In 2004 he joined I/O full-wave team and was involved in 3D/3C model-based survey design, ray-trace and finite-difference modeling. From 2008 to 2016 he served as regional geophysicist for Sercel, Moscow office, and provided consultancy on multicomponent equipment and survey design, high-density single-sensor and single-source seismic, broadband seismic, and high-productivity vibroseis techniques. From 2017 he works as seismic expert for NewTech Services company, Moscow office, and provides consultancy on cableless recording systems and high-density 3D surveys. Anatoly is a member of EAGE, SEG, and EAGS (EurAsian Geophysical Society). He is the author of English-Russian and Russian-English Dictionary of Exploration Geophysics, EAGE, 2008.