Beirut Arab University Spring 2015

Faculty of Engineering
Petroleum department

Ch. 4
Seismic reflection
surveying
Dr. Rami HARKOUSS
Petroleum & Petrochemical Eng.
Drilling and Production Petroleum Eng.
Introduction
Seismic reflection surveying is the most widely used and
well-known geophysical technique

Seismic sections can be produced to reveal details of

geological structures on scales from the top tens of meters
of drift to the whole lithosphere.
The raw data are processed to produce a
seismic section which is an image of the
subsurface structure.

By understanding how the reflection method

is used and seismic sections are created, can
the geologist make informed interpretations.
 Geometry of reflected ray paths

The travel times are measured and can be

converted into estimates of depths to the
interfaces.

Reflection surveys are carried out in areas where

velocity varies as a function of depth, due to the
differing physical properties of the individual
layers (Velocity may also vary horizontally, due to
lateral lithological changes within the individual
layers, but neglected).
A simple physical model of horizontally-layered
ground with vertical reflected ray paths from the
various layer boundaries

the interval velocity vi is:

the average velocity is:

 Single horizontal reflector

At a depth z beneath a
homogeneous top layer
of velocity V.

The equation for the travel

time t from a shot point to a
detector x, is given by:
Moveout is defined as the difference between the travel
times t1 and t2 of reflected-ray arrivals recorded at two
offset distances x1 and x2

Normal moveout (NMO) at an offset distance x is the

difference in travel time T between reflected arrivals at x
and at zero offset

Once the velocity has been derived,

it can be used to compute the depth
z to the reflector using z = Vt /2.
0
Sequence of horizontal reflectors
Dipping reflector

The dip moveout

 The reflection seismogram
Any display of a collection of one or more seismic
traces is termed a seismogram.
The seismic trace represents the combined
response of the layered ground and the
recording system to a seismic pulse.
A collection of the traces relating to the seismic
response at one surface mid-point is termed a
common mid-point gather (CMP gather).

A collection of such traces representing the

responses of a series of detectors to the energy
from one shot is termed a shot gather.
Design of detector arrays
Each detector in a conventional reflection consists of an
array (or group) of several geophones or hydrophones
arranged in a specific pattern and connected together
in series or parallel to produce a single channel of
output.

The effective offset of an array is taken to be the

distance from the shot to the center of the array.

Arrays of geophones provide a directional response and

are used to enhance the travelling reflected pulses and
to suppress several types of horizontally travelling
coherent noise.
Time corrections applied to seismic traces
Two main types of correction need to be applied
to reflection times on individual seismic traces in
order that the resultant seismic sections give a
true representation of geological structure.

1. Static correction

We have assumed that the source and detector are

placed on the planar horizontal surface of a uniform
velocity layer. This is clearly not true for field data
where the surface elevations vary, and the near-
surface geology is usually highly variable, primarily
due to variable weathering of bedrock, drift deposits
and variable depth of the water table.
Common
CommonScatter
ScatterPoint
Point
2. Velocity analysis

The dynamic correction is applied to reflection times

to remove the effect of normal moveout.

The correction is therefore numerically equal to the

NMO and, as such, is a function of offset, velocity
and reflector depth.

Consequently, the correction has to be calculated

separately for each time increment of a seismic
trace.
Filtering of seismic data

Several digital data processing techniques are

available for the enhancement of seismic
sections. In general, the aim of reflection data
processing is to increase further the SNR and
improve the vertical resolution of the individual
seismic traces.

Same as before:

1. Frequency filtering
2. Deconvolution (Inverse filtering)
3. Velocity filtering
 4D seismic

Effect of production on subsurface layers