DEAKIN UNIVERSITY 

 
 
 
SCHOOL OF  
 
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY 
 
 
 

TECHNICAL REPORTS 
COMPUTING SERIES 
 
 
 

A Comparative Study of Open Seismic 
Data Processing Packages 
 
 

Izzatdin A. Aziz, Andrzej M. Goscinski and Michael Hobbs 
{ia, ang, mick }@deakin.edu.au 
 
 
TR C11/2  May 2011 
 
GEELONG, VIC  3220 
AUSTRALIA 

1
 
 A Comparative Study of Open Seismic Data
Processing Packages
Izzatdin A. Aziz, Andrzej M. Goscinski and Michael Hobbs
{ia, ang, mick }@deakin.edu.au

School of Information Technology

Deakin University
Geelong

Abstract
New seismic computational functions are being actively developed by geophysicists and
computer experts for open seismic data processing packages, or in short open SDP packages.
However, vast contributions of seismic computational functions have caused redundancies
among open SDP packages in solving common seismic problems. Redundancies of seismic
functions have led to the uncertainty on which function to apply when dealing with a specific
problem. Therefore there is a need for a classification of seismic computational functions for
open SDP packages to guide the development of new seismic functions. In response,
presented in this paper, we have introduced a taxonomy that classifies seismic computational
functions into three distinct groups; Data Manipulation, Reflection Seismology and
Visualization. Each group consists of computational functions selected based on the
characteristic of seismic problem it is meant to solve. The taxonomy comprised of seismic
computational functions from three open SDP packages: Seismic UNIX or SU, Madagascar
and OpenDtect. To date, we have not seen any apparent comparative study between the
functionalities of the three open SDP packages. So, we have performed a functionality tests to
compare each open SDP package’s functional executions on a series of seismic data
processes, using a historical SEGY dataset of 122 Gigabytes in size. The execution was
conducted on a high performance cluster. The analysis of the tests was presented from the
view point of a system analysis, hence, structural geology such as identifying the Earth
subsurface’s faults and hydrocarbon reservoirs are not presented. The result of the tests is
significant: we discovered that it is possible to perform data format conversions between each
open SDP package. The original SEGY data size has been reduced when converted to the SU
format. This is due to the elimination of the header file that is not required in SU. The
original file has also been reduced to 115 GBytes when converted to Madagascar‘s format.
This is because Madagascar’s format uses a contemporary memory arrangement approach.
CPU Execution times for each open SDP package to complete the functionality test shows
that Madagascar performs faster by approximately 32 hours when compared to the other
packages.

1 Introduction
Hydrocarbon industry relies heavily on seismic data processing packages to facilitate the
discovery of new oil and gas traps. The richness and robustness of computational functions
which represent the reflection seismological methods determine the practicality of a software
package. Reflection seismology is defined as, the method of Exploration Geophysics using

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the principle of signal wave propagation through the Earth subsurface, to estimate the
properties of Earth [1]. Reflection seismology is often used during geological mapping to
map structures underneath the Earth surface. Geological mapping often uses acoustic signals
or echoes to propagate deeply beneath the Earth surface. In a typical geological mapping
operation, artificial signals are produced from vibrating devices, called vibroseis, such as
ground hammer and water gun. Signals generated from vibroseis travel beneath the earth and
bounce back to the surface of the earth where they are gathered by receivers. The series of
signal-reflection-times produced from this event are recorded to construct an image of the
Earth subsurface. The visual representation of the geological structure of the Earth subsurface
is commonly known in Exploration Geophysics as seismic time images.

The goal of many seismic data processing packages is to produce clear seismic time images.
Seismic data processing packages perform a series of analysis and data manipulations, such
as noise filtering, validation and rectification of signal reflection point, to finally construct a
clear seismic time image. The image represents the Earth properties, such as seismic lines or
faults, contours and colour intensities, which will then assist geophysical experts to predict
the possible existence of hydrocarbon traps. However, the processing of large seismic
datasets to produce seismic images is often computationally exhaustive. A small scale
seismic dataset will usually contain nothing less than 24 million signal reflections. Intensive
mathematical calculation needs to be performed on each signal reflection to validate the
correctness of a signal reflection point. The initial geological exploration process followed by
seismic data processing and interpretation before even the actual drilling of an oil and gas
well starts would take up to almost a year [2]. The computational part to process seismic data,
takes an average of 6 months. Our literature study [2-6] shows that open seismic data
processing packages were initially designed to process seismic data in a sequential execution.
Thus, a natural way to expedite computational process is by using distributed and parallel
systems.

The goal of this research project is to assist geophysical experts in processing large volumes
of seismic datasets in an accelerated manner through a high performance computing facility,
such as cluster computing and cloud computing. The subjects of our study are three seismic
data processing packages; Seismic UNIX or in short SU, Madagascar and OpenDtect. The
three packages are popular among geophysicists to conduct industrial scale seismic data
manipulations and analysis [4-6].

1.1 Seismic UNIX

According to [3], SU is one of the open seismic processing packages, which has been widely
used by academicians and researchers as a learning aid and lab tool [4-6]. It is also being used
by the hydrocarbon industry for actual field and onsite data processing and analysis [7]. This
open package has won several scientific awards throughout the years and is accredited by the
Society of Exploration Geophysicists (SEG). SU was initially developed by Colorado School
of Mines for the Centre for Wave Phenomena [7]. SU functions are executed by the user in
the form of a command execution line, via a command prompt console. SU was initially
written for sequential execution. Although there have been efforts to modify or enhance SU
to execute on a Parallel Virtual Machine (PVM) [8], there have been few enhancements
throughout the years on this work. SU was released in 1992 and since then there have been
many computational function contributions towards the enhancement of SU. The existence of
much recent open seismic data processing packages than SU, has shifted the interest of most

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geophysical community toward new seismic data processing packages such as the
Madagascar.

1.2 Madagascar

According to [9-10], Madagascar is an open package which has large geo-informatics

community support. This package was released in 2006 under the General Public Release
(GPL) open source license, which makes it freely distributed, and imposes no restriction on
the usage and alteration of its source code [11]. Computer, as well as geophysics, experts
contribute actively to the development and enhancement of this package. Madagascar
comprises a collection of computational functions, which represent important reflection
seismological models, and uses its own .rsf format. These functions are standalone
programs for geophysical data processing and imaging. It is apparent that many
functionalities and concepts in Madagascar are reimplementations from previous seismic data
processing packages such as, the SU and SEPlib [12].

As a modern seismic data processing package, Madagascar has been written with flexibility
for enhancement. Although the computational functions were initially designed for sequential
executions, recent work has been carried out for the package to run on high performance
computing clusters using SCONS [11]. SCONS is a software construction tool which uses
python programming language and scripts. It is a high level wrapper behaving similar to a
makefile in UNIX systems. Technically, there are two means to execute Madagascar
functions. User can either opt to use the classic command execution line via a common shell
prompt in LINUX or use a software construction tool, such as SCONS. However, it is
recommended for users to execute Madagascar commands via SCONS, which gives the
flexibility to design a sequence of seismic operations on a dataset in a single program
construct.

1.3 OpenDtect

OpenDtect was not initially designed as a seismic data processing package; instead it is rather
a seismic visualization and interpretation package. To date, four versions of OpenDtect have
been released. OpenDtect is supported by open and proprietary modules. The modules are
seismic visualization and interpretation functions. The modules are contributed to by
geophysics computing communities and commercial seismic data processing companies.
OpenDtect version four is released under a three licensing scheme; the GPL license,
Commercial license and Academic license.

The GPL license is equipped with the source code written in C++ programming language.
The source codes are not protected by any license manager and can be used by anyone even
for development of commercial purposes. However, the GPL licensing scheme does not
provide the access to proprietary visualization and interpretation modules. The Commercial
license is equipped with open and proprietary seismic interpretation and visualization
modules. Proprietary modules are available to users in two means. Under this scheme, the
user can either lease or purchase the proprietary seismic visualization and interpretation
modules. The Academic license is intended for research and teaching institutes. Under this
licensing scheme, researchers and academicians are allowed accesses to both types of seismic
visualization and interpretation modules. However, the usage of OpenDtect with the
academic license scheme is restricted to only research and teaching purposes, and not for
commercial development. OpenDtect has managed to run on a multiprocessor system through

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multiple machine batch processing [14]. Thus far, OpenDtect has been tested to execute on a
high performance cluster processing system using the Highly Scalable Resource Manager or
in short, known as the SLURM. SLURM is an open package design for LINUX clusters for
handling job prioritization and managing resource limits.

2 Taxonomy of Seismic Data Processing Function

Seismic data processing functions and methods often overlap each other in terms of their
usage and purpose. According to [15-17], various taxonomies exist to classify seismic data
processes. The existing taxonomies of seismic data processes, which are emphasized by
geophysical experts often, refer to the core physics aspect of geology. The common existing
taxonomies are in the form of linear listings of essential reflection seismological models to
process seismic datasets. Other types of taxonomies of seismic processes are based on a
broader scope which include interpretation and prediction functions. The taxonomy of
seismic data processing functions that we present are intricate from the aspect of computer
open software packages. Common seismic functions exist in seismic data processing
packages, however none have classified the seismic computational functions from the view
point of software packages. New seismic data processing functions are actively being
developed by geophysics and computer experts. The significance of having taxonomy of
seismic data processing functions is to allow users to identify and recognize the seismic
function groups, which are available in the seismic data processing packages.

In this section, we categorized the common functions that exist in SU, Madagascar and
OpenDtect. All three packages consist of collections of computer functions, which are
commonly categorized into three distinct function groups; Data Manipulation, Reflection
Seismology and Visualization. The Data Manipulation function group deals with editing
datasets and performing mathematical operations. The Reflection Seismology function group
conducts core geophysical seismic processing and analysis. The Visualization function group
is a collection of programs to construct seismic images.

Seismic Data Processes

Data Manipulation   Reflection Seismology   Visualization  

Editing  Velocity Analysis 2D and 3D Plot 

Format Conversion  NMO/DMO/CMP  Contour 

Smoothing  Stacking Surface 

Filtering and Transform  Depth and Time  Image and Grey 

Conversion 
Gain Control  Wiggle 
Gain Control 

Fig 1. Categorization map of seismic data processing functions.

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In figure 1, the Data Manipulation function group consists of functions to perform Data
Editing, Data Format Conversion between Madagascar, SU and OpenDtect, Noise Filtering
and Transformation.

The Reflection Seismology function group incorporates all of the important seismic data
processing functions. The functions categorized under this group involve complex
mathematical and geometrical calculations on seismic traces, amplitude, phase and energy.

The Visualization function group is foremost to display results of the processed seismic data.
Displaying seismic data is crucial to expert users in order to learn the geological structure of
an area, and to interpret and predict the existence of a hydrocarbon trap in a geologically
mapped area.

In sections 3, 4 and 5, we present the similarities and differences of functions with respect to
all three packages. We have assigned each package with an alphanumeric variable to
represent each package as follows; SU as P1, Madagascar as P2 and OpenDtect as P3 in order
to ease readers’ understanding, so as to remove the biasness and sensitivities when
performing the functional comparisons between the packages.

3 Data Manipulation Function

In this section, we list and discuss the group of functions that are available in the Data
Manipulation function group with respect to SU, Madagascar and OpenDtect. In subsection
3.1 we discuss the Data Editing Functions. Subsection 3.2 explains the data format
conversions between packages P1, P2 and P3. In subsection 3.3, we discuss the wavelet
transform functions prior to performing noise filtering in seismic datasets. Subsections 3.4
and 3.5 discuss Data Smoothing and Gain Control functions for all three packages,
respectively.

3.1 Data Editing Functions

According to [9], seismic datasets are often manipulated to comply with individual package
formats. such as the Seismic UNIX format or the .su and the Madagascar format or the
.rsf. Table 1 shows the Data Editing functions and descriptions available for packages P1,
P2 and P3.

P1 P2 P3
Function Description Function Description Function Description
suabshw Replace header keyword
by absolute value
suchw Change header value sfsegyheader Create trace header Load-Seismic Edit bytes in header
using one or two header
fields
susort Sort SEGY header sfheadersort Sort data header
keywords
susorty Show geometrical values Dump-2D- Create ASCII file with
to visualize data Geometry geometry of one or all 2D
lines
sfget Output parameters from Load-Well Define seismic header
suedit Examine SEGY diskfiles header value
and edit headers
sfin Display basic information SEGY- Examine textual, line and
examiner 1st trace of header
sushw Input the header word sfput Input parameter into
values from a file header file

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suhtmath Unary arithmetic sfadd Add, multiply, divide Mathematic- User defined expression
operation on SEGY datasets Attribute
traces with headers
values
suvcat Append one data set to sfcat Concatenate datasets Merge-File- Merging seismic datasets
another, with or without Window
an overlapping region
subset Select a subset of the sfimag Extract parts of dataset Put-Sample- Display sampling
samples from a 3D file In-File information 2D/3D
sukill Zero out traces sfcut Zero a portion of data Statistical- Muting or zero out trace
suzero Zero-out data within a Wavelet- and frequency
time window Extraction
sunull Create null (all zeroes)
traces
segyclean Zero out unassigned
portion of header
supickamp Pick amplitudes within sfmax Find max value in stack Stratal- Show maximum or
user defined and amplitude minimum
sfmin Find min value in stack
sampled window or average

surange Get max and min values

for non-zero header
entries
sustrip Remove the SEGY sfrm Delete data
headers from the traces
suflip Flip a data set in various sfrotate Rotate portion of data Edit-Cube- Flip inline and crossline in
Ways Flip various way
suhrot Horizontal Rotation of
data
suwind Window traces by sfwindow Window portion of dataset
keyword
suspike Make a small spike data spike Create simple data
suplane Create simple data
suimp2d Generate shot records sfcmplx Create complex data Prestack- Create pre-stack data
for line scatterer seismic
embedded in 3D using manager
Born integral equation
susynlv Synthetic seismograms Velocity- Create velocity model data
for Linear Velocity Conversion
function
susynvxz Synthetic seismograms
of common offset V(X,Z)
via Kirchhoff model
susynlvcw Create synthetic Create- Create synthetic wave
seismograms for Linear Wavelet
Velocity function for
converted waves
supack1 Pack SEGY trace data
into chars
supack2 Pack SEGY trace into 2
byte shorts
Tab 1. Groups of functions to perform data editing for packages P1, P2 and P3

Seismic datasets consist of two major segments; the header and the binary data stream. The
header contains information of the seismic data itself, such as data size, data types, data
formats and dimensions. The binary data streams segment is the actual seismic traces itself.
Seismic traces are acoustic signal travelling time recordings [3] captured in a geological
mapping operation as discussed earlier in section 1. The main operations in the Data
Manipulation functions group are seismic data header manipulation, data sorting and to
remove, as well as to append, the binary data stream. Operations performed on the binary
data stream segments include the creation of synthetic simple and complex seismic traces,
rotation of data dimensions and rescaling of data based on time or depth axis. All three
packages P1, P2 and P3 provide similar functions to perform data editing operations.

3.2 Data Conversion

In [9], we have explained that there is no standard convention when dealing with seismic data
formats. Each seismic data processing package uses its own specific format. Therefore

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exchanging of data from different packages is made possible by having data conversion
functions as shown in table 2.

P1 P2 P3
Function Description Function Description Function Description
dt1tosu Convert ground-penetrating Import- (GPR) systems in the
radar (GPR) data in the export- 'DZT' format
GPR and SU sensors GPR
format
SU
segyread Convert SEGY to sfsegyread Convert SEGY or SU to Import- Convert SEG-Y format to
SU format RSF format export- an OpenDtect format vice
sfsuread Convert SU to RSF Seismic-SEGY versa
format
sfsu2rsf Convert SU to RSF
format
sfsegy2rsf Convert SEGY to RSF
format
segywrite convert SU to SEGY sfsegywrite Convert RSF to SU or
SEGY format
sfsuwrite Convert RSF to SU
format
segyhdrs Make SEG-Y ascii and sfdd ASCII and RSF format Import- Import ASCII or binary
binary headers for function conversion Seismic file, with or without header
segywrite ASCII-Binary
Import- Import or export 3D ASCII
export-3D- and Binary data
format
Import- Import or export 2D,3D
export- and ASCII faults
Faults
Madagascar- Convert from RSF to
Processing OpenDtect format
Import- Import or export well
export-well- depths in OpenDtect
Data
Tab 2. Groups of functions to perform format conversion for packages P1, P2 and P3

Table 2 shows that the .su format of package P1 can be converted into the .rsf format of
package P2, to allow exchange of seismic data between the two packages. Package P2
functions; sfsegyread, sfsuread and sfsu2rsf allows data format conversion from
packages; P1 to P2. However package P1 does not provide any function to perform format
conversion from P2 to P1. The package P3 supports format from P2 through its Madagascar
processing module, but does not provide any data format conversion function for package P1.
It is possible to exchange data from P1 to P3, through conversion of P1 format into P2 and
processed in P3.

3.3 Filtering and Wavelet Transform

Signal reflections are used in geophysics to approximate the properties of the Earth’s
subsurface [3]. Artificial acoustic signals are propagated downwards to reflect on layers of
media underneath the Earth’s surface. The signal reflections gathered by receivers at the
Earth surface yields valuable information. Information, such as signal reflection points,
signal’s varying velocity values and reflection times, are gathered and used as an input to the
seismic data processing software package. However, during this process, true signal
reflections are often distorted by unwanted noise or interference. The two types of noises that
manifest in seismic signals are Coherent noise and Random noise. Coherent noise in
reflection seismology originates from signal reflection reverberations [18], whereby Random
noise is produced by the scattering and the diffraction of signals due to near-surface
irregularities [19].

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Noises overlap with the true signal reflection value when represented in the time and space
domain. A common technique to obtain clean signal reflection value is via the Frequency
Domain filter. By using the Frequency Domain filtering technique, the signal reflection value
needs to be transformed in a frequency domain to distinguish clearly noise and the true signal
reflection value. It is imperative for seismic data processing packages to be equipped with a
signal transformation function, prior to performing noise reduction or removal. Table 3 lists
and describes the available noise filtering and wave transformation functions for packages
P1, P2 and P3.
P1 P2 P3
Function Description Function Description Function Description
subflit Butterworth bandpass Bandpass Filter frequency within Frequency- Bandpass filter using
filter a range Filter FFT or Butterfly filter
sutvband Time-variant bandpass
filter
suband Trapezoid-like sine
squared tapered
bandpass filter
sudipfilter 2D dip or slope Filter sfdipfilter 2D and 3D dip or Velocity-Fan Filter energy in velocity
slope filter Filter dip within a specified
frequency range
suband Trapezoid-like sine sftrapez Trapezoidal filter
squared tapered
bandpass filter
sfintshow Interpolation filter
suxcor Correlation with user
supplied filter
suconv Convolution with user- GapDecon Attenuate repetition or
supplied filter multiples
Convolve Used with 3D specified
filter using Laplacian and
Prewitt technique
sufilter Zero-phase, sine-squared Azimuth Slope energy to pass
tapered filter Filter azimuth direction
supef Wiener predictive error
filtering
supofilt Polarization filter for
three-component data
sushape Wiener shaping filter
sukfilter Radial symmetric K-
domain, sine^2-tapered,
polygonal filter
sugabor Time-frequency filtering
via Gabor transform
sufft FFT real time traces to sfdwt 1D wave transform Spectral- FFT frequency resolution
complex frequency traces Decomposition and Continuous Wavelet
Transform
suifft FFT complex frequency sffft1 Fast Fourier
traces to real time traces Transform
suspecfx Fourier spectrum (T to F)
of traces domain data
suspecfk F-K Fourier spectrum sffft3 FFT transform on
extra axis.
suspeck1k2 2D (K1,K2) Fourier
spectrum of (x1,x2)
suradon Compute forward or sfveltran Hyperbolic Radon
reverse Radon transform transform
or remove multiples by
using the parabolic
Radon transform to
estimate multiples and
subtract
sutaup Forwarded and inverse T- sftaupfit Fitting tau-p
X and F-K global slant approximations
stacks
suharlan Signal-noise separation
invertible linear
transformation using
Harlan method
suhilb Hilbert transform Hilbert-Quad- Hilbert transform
Amp
suinterp Interpolate traces using sftri2reg Interpolate Between- Surface interpolation
automatic event picking triangulated shot Horizons

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 record triplets into grid
intsinc8 Interpolate uniformly- sflapfill Missing data
sampled data interpolation
sfshapebin1 1D inverse
interpolation
intcub Piecewise cubic sfspline 1D cubic interpolation
interpolation
intlin Evaluate y(x) via linear sfinttest1 1D interpolation
interpolation
inttable8 Interpolation of uniformly- sfremap1 1D essentially non
sampled complex function oscillatory
y(x) interpolation
mksinc Least-squares optimal sfenoint2 2D Essentially Non
sinc interpolation Oscillatory
interpolation
intl2b bilinear interpolation of a sfextract 2D Forward Derive-2D-or- Inverse distance
2-D array of bytes interpolation 3D-Horizon interpolation and
sfshapebin 2D inverse triangulation
interpolation
suresamp Re-sampling data via sfinttest2 2D interpolation Gridding Interpolate sparse
interpolation dataset and coarse
dataset
mrafxzwt Multi-Resolution Analysis
of a function F(X,Z) by
Wavelet Transform
suamp Output amplitude , phase,
real or image trace from
domain data
suattributes Trace attributes Instantaneous Instantiate amplitude,
instantaneous phase and frequency
amplitude, phase or determined from complex
frequency trace
sureduce Convert traces to display
in reduced time
entropy Compute the entropy of a Cosine Normalize amplitude
signal
wpccompress Compress a 2D section
using wavelet Packets
wpc1comp1 Compress 2D seismic
section trace-by-trace
using Wavelet Packets
dctcomp Compression by Discrete sfcostft Cosine transform Cosine-Phase Unravels seismic signal
Cosine Transform (DCT) Spectral- into its constituents
dctuncomp DCT Uncompress Decomposition frequencies
Tab 3. Groups of functions to perform Noise filtering and Wavelet Transform techniques for packages
P1,P2 and P3

Package P1 provides a variety of methods to perform signal transformation and filtering

functions. Signal transformation can be achieved through functions; sufft, suifft,
suspecfx and suspecfk to perform Fourier transformation. Package P2 also provides
wavelet Fourier transforms via functions, sffft1 and sffft3. Package P3 uses
Spectral-Decomposition function to perform a similar signal transformation method
as packages P1 and P2. All three packages are equipped with a bandpass filter to shape
seismic signal frequency within a desired user defined range. Filtering noise in a dipping1
Earth subsurface is also provided by packages P1, P2 and P3 using functions
sudipfilter, sfdipfilter and Velocity-Fan-Filter, respectively.

3.4 Data Smoothing

Data smoothing is a form of a low frequency pass filter. Data Smoothing obstructs high
frequency signals in order to accentuate low frequency signals [20]. Low frequency signals
travel longer distances and propagates even deeper into the Earth subsurface. With regards to
seismic data processing packages, high frequencies signals are often represented by short
wiggles and can be reduced through Data Smoothing functions as shown in table 4.
                                                            
1
Dipping in Exploration Geophysics refers to slope based formations within the Earth subsurface.

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 P1 P2 P3
Function Description Function Description Function Description
unisam2 Uniformly sample 2D
function f(x1,x2)
smooth2 Uniformly sampled 2D
function with user- defined
window, using least
squares technique
smooth3d 3D velocity smoothing by sfgrad3 3D smooth gradient smoother 3D smoothing method
least squares technique
smoothint2 Non-uniformly sampled
Interfaces using least-
squares technique
unisam Uniformly sample function
y(x) specified as x and y
pair
sfsmoothder Smooth data of first
derivative on first axis
sfboxsmooth Multidimensional Lateral- 2D smoothing method
smoothing smoother
sfsmooth Multidimensional
triangle smoothing
Tab 4. Data Smoothing functions for packages P1, P2 and P3

All packages provide smoothing functions for 2 and 3 dimensional data. The smooth3d
function in package P1 allows velocity data smoothing using the Least Squares2 technique.
Similar smoothing functions are provided by packages P2 and P3 through functions
sfgrad3 and Smoother, respectively. Package P2 is equipped with smoothing
functionality for 3D and higher dimensional data via sfboxsmooth. The Lateral-
smoother function in package P3 performs similar task as sfboxsmooth.

3.5 Gain Control

Signal frequencies often suffer from attenuation when propagated through various media
underneath the Earth subsurface. Frequency attenuation happens due to the effect of
atmospheric absorption especially when obstructed with material containing large volume of
water [22]. Gain Control or GC, is a method to amplify signal amplitude and increasing
signal reflection energy.
P1 P2 P3
Function Description Function Description Function Description
suagc Perform AGC on SU sfagc Performs AGC on RSF Automatic- Adjust signal power and
dataset dataset gain- control amplitude level using
user defined size window
Tab 5. Gain Control functions for packages P1, P2 and P3

Table 5 shows the gain control function for all three packages. Each package provides a
similar method to manage signal amplitude. GC is commonly used in seismic processing to
improve visibility of late-arriving signalling events, which commonly suffers amplitude
decay the most. GC is applied in the earlier step of processing to prepare seismic data prior to
performing core reflection seismology methods.

                                                            
2
Least Square is a statistical method used to find the solution that most closely approximates a set of data. It is
based on minimizing the difference between two or more signal travel time readings by adjusting depth and
velocity values [21].

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4 Reflection Seismology Function
In this section we identify and group the Reflection Seismology functions, which are
commonly made available by seismic data processing packages P1, P2 and P3. In subsection
4.1 we describe the Velocity Analysis functions. Subsection 4.2 discusses the Moveout
method, which includes Normal Moveout and Dip Moveout. In subsection 4.3, we explain
the seismic trace stacking methods to improve signal to noise ratio and the available
functions. Subsection 4.4 explains the Time and Depth Stretch Conversion available cross all
three packages. Subsequently in subsection 4.5, we discuss the Migration methods to
geometrically correct signal reflection points.

4.1 Velocity Analysis

According to [9], velocity in Geophysics is defined as the rate of a wave or signal that travels
through medium; it is commonly symbolized by ‘v’. In seismic data processing, the velocity
value that is obtained when analyzing signal reflection points or shot records, is called
stacking velocity. During a geological mapping operation, each seismic trace is recorded in
the form of signal travelling time. The constant movement of the signal transmission source
and its receivers often results in each seismic trace being stacked on top of each other when
the signals reflection points are recorded [9].

Performing velocity analysis via seismic data computing functions yields valuable
information to understand the material and the composition of the Earth subsurface. In
physics, acoustic signal velocity varies when travelling through media with contrasting
impedance level. Each medium that lies underneath the Earth surface is associated with a
unique velocity reading [23], which assist experts in predicting the types of media and gives
rough estimates on the geological formations underneath the Earth surface.

P1 P2 P3
Function Description Function Description Function Description
sffourvc Prestack velocity
continuation
sffourvc0 Velocity continuation
after NMO
suvelan Compute stacking velocity sffourvc2 Velocity continuation Velocity- Normal Moveout
semblance for CDP with semblance Correction Correction based on
gathers computation velocity volume
sfdsr Prestack 2-D v(z)
modelling and
migration by DSR
sfdsr2 2-D prestack modelling
and migration with split-
step DSR
sfpveltran Slope-based velocity
transforms
sfpveltran3 Slope-based tau-p 3D Loading- Gridding 3D scenes
velocity transform for anisotropy
elliptical anisotropy
sfvelmod Velocity transforms Velocity- Convert input velocity
Conversion RMS
sunmo NMO for an arbitrary sfvoft Analysis of V(t) function
velocity function of time for a linear
and CDP stack V(z) profile
Generate 2D sample sfvofz Analytical travelling
unif2 velocity profile from layered time in a linear V(z)
model model.
makevel Make velocity function sfvscan Velocity analysis
v(x,y,z) inverse of transform
Tab 6. Moveout and CMP stack functions for packages P1, P2 and P3

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In table 6, packages P1, P2 and P3 are equipped with velocity stacking and semblance3
functions; suvelan, sffourvc2 and Velocity-Correction, respectively. Velocity
semblance acts as a guide to velocity picking4. In reality, seismic traces do not correspond
exactly to the energy level of the seismic traces, therefore velocity picking is necessary. The
seismic traces, which are signal reflection travelling time recordings, and signal velocity
energy value needs to be matched. In order to match the seismic traces with its corresponding
signal velocity energy value, the velocity with high energy value will need to be firstly
identified. The semblance of the signal velocity energy value will act as a guide to pick the
matching seismic trace. Seismic traces are matched with the signal velocity energy according
to heuristics. There is however, no exact seismological method to accurately pick the velocity
energy value to match the seismic traces thus far [2][24]. Package P1 performs velocity
picking through functions, unif2 and makevel. Package P2 and P3 are capable of
performing velocity picking and semblance for 3D seismic datasets through functions;
sfpveltran3 and Loading-anisotropy, respectively.

4.2 Normal Moveout, Dip Moveout and Common Midpoint

In [9], we have explained in detail how Moveout occur. Moveout is defined as the effect of
separation between the source of the signal transmission and the receiver [26]. There are two
types of Moveout; Normal Moveout, abbreviated as NMO and Dip Moveout or DMO. NMO
deals with signal reflection on flat geologically horizontal surfaces, while DMO refers to
signal reflection on dip or slope based geological formations.

The signal reflection times recorded during a seismic mapping operation are influenced by
the movement of the signal transmitter and receivers. Exploration vessels were used for a
marine-based survey and hammering trucks for a land-based survey. Both marine and land
based surveys carry devices known as vibroseis [3] as a source to generate signals and at the
same time heave a stream of receivers to gather the reflected signals. NMO or DMO is
caused by the constant horizontal movement of these vehicles during the geological mapping
activity. The movement of the transmitter source and receivers produces a significant
displacement for each common signal reflection point or CMP. A series of signal reflections
are obtained and stacked for a common reflection point known as the CMP stack. Table 7,
shows the NMO, DMO and CMP stack functions and their corresponding descriptions in the
Reflection Seismology Process class for packages P1, P2 and P3.
P1 P2 P3
Function Description Function Description Function Description
sunmo Moveout for signal velocity sfimospray Inversion of constant
and time. velocity nearest
neighbour inverse
NMO.
sfinmo Inverse Normal
Moveout.
sfinmo3 3-D Inverse normal
Moveout.
sfitaupmo Inverse normal
Moveout in tau-p
domain.
sfitaupmo2 Inverse normal
Moveout in tau-p-x
domain.
sfitaupmo3 3-D Inverse Tau-p
normal Moveout.

                                                            
3
Semblance is often referred to as signal velocity energy level.
4
Velocity picking is defined as the picking of velocity and time pairs based on the coherency between multiple
seismic signals [25] 

13
 
 sudmovz DMO for V(Z) media sfpnmo Slope-based normal
Moveout
sfpnmo3d Slope-based normal
Moveout for 3-D CMP
geometry
sfnmo Normal Moveout
sfnmostretch Stretch of the time axis
suazimuth Compute trace Azimuth sffkamo Azimuth Moveout by Steered- Pre-Calculate slope/dip
log-stretch F-K Attribute azimuth
operator
sfptaupmo Slope-based tau-p
Moveout
sfptaupmo3 Slope-based tau-p 3D
Moveout
sudmofk DMO via FK log stretch sffkdmo Offset continuation by
log-stretch F-K
operator
sftaupmo Normal Moveout in tau-
p domain
sudmotx DMO via T-X domain sfdmo Kirchhoff DMO anti-
using Kirchhoff method for aliasing by re-
common offset gathers parameterization.
sfcmp2shot Convert CMP to shots
for regular 2D
geometry
sfpp2psang Transform PP angle Prestack Extract statistic on angle
gathers to PS angle gathers amplitude and
gathers AVO
sfpp2psang2 Transform PP angle
gathers to PS angle
gathers
sfpp2pstsic Compute angle gathers
for time-shift imaging
condition
sfshot2cmp Convert shot to CMP
for regular 2D
geometry
sftshift Compute angle gathers
for time-shift imaging
condition
sfshotholes Remove random shot
gathers from a 2-D
dataset
sfaastack Stack with anti-aliasing
sffinstack DMO and stack by
finite difference offset
continuation
Tab 7. Moveout and CMP stack functions for packages P1, P2 and P3

Table 7 shows that both packages P1 and P2 provide the ability to perform NMO and DMO
on seismic traces. Apparently, package P2 is equipped with various modifications of
Moveout functions which include antialiasing5 capability through functions sfaastack
and sfdmo. In Reflection Seismology, antialiasing is used to remove signal components
with higher frequency. This removal is conducted by sampling at a lower resolution to give a
clearer CMP stack image. All three packages; P1, P2 and P3 have the ability to calculate the
seismic stretch azimuth6 through functions; suazimuth, sffkamo and Steered-
Attribute, respectively.

4.3 Seismic Stacking

In subsection 4.2, we explained that the signal reflection point is influenced by the constant
displacement of the signal transmission source and receivers. The movement of the signal

                                                            
5
Antialiasing is a method of blurring the edges of a jagged image to give a smooth appearance.
6
Azimuth in seismology refers to the best fit plane (3D) between immediate neighbouring seismic traces on a
horizon, and outputs the direction of maximum slope (dip direction) measured in degrees, clockwise from north
[27].

14
 
source naturally induces latency in the signal reflection time to the receivers. The delay of
signal reflection time at a vertical depth, combined with the delay caused by the moving of
the receivers at a horizontal sea surface, will eventually result in a stacking of a signal
reflection point recording. Seismic stack is an important process to remove the offset7
dependence for each signal travelling time record. The result of removing the offset
dependence for each signal reflection point in a stack produces seismic traces with zero offset
dependence or value. Seismic stack with zero offset value will, in turn, produce a credible
construction of a seismic time image. Table 8 summarized the available seismic trace
stacking computational functions for packages P1, P2 and P3.

P1 P2 P3
Function Description Function Description Function Description
sustack Stack adjacent traces sftristack Re-sampling with
triangle weights
sfsmstack Stack a dataset over
the second dimensions
by smart stacking
sfsnrstack Stack a dataset over Vertical- Stack trace to increase
the second dimensions Stack SNR
by SNR weighted
method
sfbilstack Bilateral stacking
sfstack Stack a dataset over
one of the dimensions
surecip Sum opposing offsets
sudivstack Diversity Stacking using
either average power or
peak power
Tab 8. Seismic Stack functions for packages P1, P2 and P3

In table 8, package P3 provides a seismic trace stacking function to increase Signal-to-Noise

(SNR) ratio, which is the Vertical-Stack. The stacking of all signal travel time records
in a spatially coherent line increases the energy of the reflected signals because the reflected
waves are spatially consistent between each of the signal reflection point. Package P2 is
equipped with a function sfstack to perform stacking of traces for 3D and higher
dimension seismic datasets.

4.4 Time and Depth Stretch Conversion

Temporal depth and signal velocity are important elements in seismic data processing. It
gives geologists the estimated depth of a medium or earth layer based on a signal’s velocity
and travelling time. Representing depth in time domain however, has been a classical
problem among geophysicists and drilling engineers [28]. For instance, targeting how deep
to drill a hydrocarbon trap by scaling the depth in time domain reduces the accuracy of a
drilling operation. Therefore depth conversion, or some may called it depth migration, is vital
to give an accurate prediction of a hydrocarbon trap.
P1 P2 P3
Function Description Function Description Function Description
sutsq Time axis stretch of sfdatstretch Stretch of the time Edit-Well- Stretching depth in Z-
seismic traces axis. Track Scale
sulog Log-stretch of seismic sflmostretch
traces
suilog Inverse log-stretch of sflogstretch
seismic traces
sft2chebstretch
sfstretch

                                                            
7
Offset in seismology refers to the displacement of the signal source and receivers. The constant displacement
of both source and receiver causes a signal reflection point reading to overlap with its previous recording [3].

15
 
 sft2stretch
sfdepth2time Conversion from Well-Track Conversion from depth
depth to time in a to time
velocity V(z) medium
suttoz Re-sample seismic trace sftime2depth Time to depth Well-Track Conversion from time to
from time to depth conversion in velocity depth
Re-sample variable V(z).
suvlength length traces to common
length
Tab 9. Seismic Stack functions for packages P1, P2 and P3

Table 9, shows the available depth to time and time to depth conversions for packages P1, P2
and P3. Functions suttoz and sutsq from package P1 are used to perform time to depth
conversion. Functions sftime2depth from package P2 and Well-Track from package
P3 performs similar time to depth conversion as in P1. Further explanation on the
technicalities behind how these functions perform time to depth and depth to time conversion
is as follows.

According to [9], the temporal depth is not the actual depth (z) in the vertical plane. It is an
area measurement of depth estimated in time (t) domain or vertical travel time [29].
Consequently, depth in seismic signal reflection is not measured in kilometres or metres but
instead in seconds (t). Therefore, equation 1 shows the approximation of temporal depth in
time domain in relation to the actual depth or distance in kilometre or metre.

t≈z (1)
where,
t is temporal depth in seconds (s)
z is distance in metres (m)

Modelling temporal depth (t) to the actual depth or distance (z) requires vertical amplification
as the signal travel time is measured in a two-way direction. In order to relate temporal depth
(t) to the effect of the two-way signal travelling time, equation 1 is further refined producing
equation 2.
t ≈ z1 + z2
t ≈ 2z (2)
where,
t is temporal depth in seconds (s)
z1 is distance of signal transmission from source to reflection point in metres (m)
z2 is distance of signal transmission from reflection point to receiver in metres (m)

In Equation 2, the transmitted signal propagates downwards having distance denoted as z1.
The signal then reflects upwards to the surface having the distance denoted as z2. Relatively
z1 and z2 are having the same distance as both signals travel through the same earth mediums
with similar velocity. The sum of z1 and z2 is 2z as shown in equation 2.

Subsequently, equation 3 shows that both signals distance z1 and z2 share a common velocity
(v), which is due to the fact that both signals travel through the same earth media while
propagating downwards then upwards to the surface.

(3)
where,
t is temporal depth in seconds (s)

16
 
 2z is the sum of the two-way signal travelling distances in metres (m)
v is the signal velocity (ms-1) [29]

Therefore, temporal depth is estimated to be 2 times the actual depth divided by the velocity
of the signal, as shown in equation 3. Depth migration or depth conversion is essentially
important to estimate the true measurement of depth in metric scale.

4.5 Migration

In Reflection Seismology, acoustic signals are propagated downwards passing through

various layers and material underneath the Earth surface as explained in section 1. However,
reflecting signals tend to diffract and bend due to the fact that each Earth layer is made from
composites of different densities and thickness. The migration process is a method of
geometrically correcting the signal reflection point into its true reflection point value.
Migration process was previously defined and discussed in [3]. Table 10, lists and describes
the computational functions to perform migration methods available for packages P1, P2 and
P3. There are two migration methods available when dealing with seismic data processing.
Time Migration, abbreviated as TM, and Depth Migration, in short DM. TM uses the average
signal velocity values and is computationally less complicated as compared to DM. TM is
normally used when dealing with less complex geological formation and far quicker when it
performs computation. However, TM has one disadvantage; it produces less accurate
migration results.

P1 P2 P3
Function Description Function Description Function Description
sfagmig Angle gather constant
velocity time migration
sfcascade Velocity partitioning for
cascaded migrations
sumigffd Fourier finite difference sfconstfdmig2 2D implicit finite-
migration for zero-offset difference migration in
sumigfd 45 and 60 degree Finite constant velocity
difference migration
zero-offset
sugazmig Gazdag's phase-shift Post-stack 2D v(z) time VMB- Velocity model building
migration for zero-offset sfgazdag modelling and migration module with velocity picking
data with Gazdag phase-shift
sumigps Migration by Phase Shift technique
with turning rays
sumigpspi Gazdag’s phase-shift
interpolation migration
for zero-offset data,
handle lateral velocity
variation.
sukdmig2d Kirchhoff Depth sfkirmig 2D Prestack Kirchhoff PSDM- Kirchhoff migration
Migration of 2D post- depth migration Kirchhoff
stack and prestack data
sumigtopo2d Kirchhoff Depth sfkirmig0 2- Post-stack Kirchhoff PSDM- Tomography prestack
Migration 2D post-stack depth migration Tomograph depth migration
and prestack y
sfkirchinv Kirchhoff 2D post-stack
least-squares time
migration with anti-
aliasing
sfkirchnew Kirchhoff 2D post-stack
time migration and
modelling with anti-
aliasing
sfmigsteep3 3D Kirchhoff time
migration for anti-aliased
steep dips
sudatumk2ds Kirchhoff datuming 2D sfpreconstkirch Prestack Kirchhoff
prestack for seismic modelling and migration
gathers constant velocity

17
 
 sudatumk2dr Kirchhoff datuming of sfshotconstkirch Prestack shot-profile
receivers for 2D prestack Kirchhoff migration in
for shot gathers as the constant velocity
input
sumigtk Migration via T-K domain
for CMP stacked data
sfmig45 Migration for 15 and 45-
degree approximation
sfrwesrmig Riemannian Wave field
extrapolation of shot-
record migration
sustolt Stolt migration for sfprestolt Prestack Stolt modelling
stacked data or and migration
common-offset gathers sfstolt Post-stack Stolt
modelling migration over
lateral axis
sfstolt2 Post-stack Stolt
modelling and migration
sumigsplit Split-step depth sfzomig 3-D zero-offset
migration for zero-offset modelling and migration
data with extended split-step
sfsstep2 3-D post-stack modelling
and migration with
extended split step
Tab 10. Time and Depth Migration functions for packages P1, P2 and P3

DM on the other hand, is used when processing complex geological formations. DM uses the
full scale signal velocity model which makes computation more complicated and exhaustive.
Signal migration results produced from DM are far more accurate and much more reliable
[2]. Several Migration methods are available in table 10. Geometrical correction techniques
such as; Stolt8, Gazdag9 and Finite Difference10 are forms of TM methods, where as
Kirchhoff11 and Gaussian Beam12 are forms of DM methods. All packages provide functions
to perform both TM and DM methods. Package P2 is further equipped with functions to
perform migration on 3D seismic datasets.

5 Visual and Plotting Process Class

Visualization is an important aspect of seismic data processing, prediction and interpretation.
The ultimate goal of all geophysical methods is to construct a clear and accurate seismic
image. The Visualization functions are aimed to present seismic images in various graphic
formats and display environments. Table 11 shows the functions for packages P1, P2 and P3
to visualize and plot seismic images.

P1 P2 P3
Function Description Function Description Function Description
suxmovie Xwindow frames plot for sfstdplot Setting up frames for Cross-Plot Plot 2D and 3D well
seismic data generic plot data
sfcubeplot Generate 3D cube plot. Generic-Mapping Cube plot
Tools

                                                            
8
Stolt R.H developed the frequency wave-number migration or F-K. Today, F-K migration is still regarded as
the most efficient migration method for simple velocity models [30].
9
Gazdag introduced seismic migration for vertical varying signal velocity and constant signal velocity by phase
shift in the F-K domain [31].
10
Finite Difference method is efficient when dealing with signal reflection with lateral velocity variations with
great accuracy [30].
11
Gustav Robert Kirchhoff was a German physicist who developed the method for implementing seismic
modelling and depth migration, which can handle velocity variation.
12
The Gaussian-beam migration method has advantages for imaging complex structures. It is especially
compatible with lateral variations in velocity. Gaussian beam migration can image steep dip or slope and will
not produce unwanted reflections from structure in the velocity model [32]. 

18
 
 sfplotrays Plot rays
sfthplot Hidden-line surface plot
suxcontour Xwindow seismic contour sfcontour Contour plot Generic-Mapping Create contour Map
plot Tools
supscontour PostScript contour plot sfcontour Generate 3D contour plot
suxgraph Xwindow graph plot SU data sfgraph Graph plot
supsgraph PostScript graph plot
supscube PostScript cube plot sfgraph3 Generate 3D cube plot for
seismic surfaces
sfgrey3 Generate 3D cube image
plot
sfplas Convert ascii to vplot
sfpldb Convert vplot to ascii
suxwigb Xwindow Wiggle-seismic sfwiggle Plot data with wiggly traces. Generic-Mapping Create postscript plot
trace plot via Bitmap Tools
supswigb PostScript Bit-mapped
wiggle
supswigp PostScript Polygon-filled sfpspen Vplot filter for Postscript. Polygon- Point data that can be
wiggle plot Pickset used for drawing
contour and faults
suximage Xwindow image plot of SU sfplsurf Generate a surface plot. Generic-Mapping Create postscript
dataset Tools image plot
supsimage PostScript image plot sfgrey Generate raster plot.
Tab 11. Visualization and Plotting functions for packages P1, P2 and P3

It has been identified in table 11 that visualization and plotting functions for all three
packages are set to support common purposes, which are to display seismic contours13,
seismic images in greyscale14 and seismic traces or wiggles15. Package P1 has an extension to
support seismic images in the Xwindow16 environment through functions; suxmovie,
suxcontour, suxgraph, suxwigb and suximage. P1 also supports seismic time
image construction in postscript and bitmap format via functions; supscontour,
supsgraph, supscube, supswigb, supswigp and supsimage.

Package P2 and P3 are suitable to construct seismic images in three dimensional form.
Functions; sfcubeplot, sfcontour, sfgraph3 and sfgrey3 from package P2 are
able to plot seismic contour and greyscale images in three dimension forms or higher. The
ability to display seismic images in greyscale and contour plot has become a requirement in
any seismic data processing packages. In section 4, we have explained how signal frequency
plays an important role to determine signal reflection points. In relation to signal frequency
and reflections; greyscale images in Reflection Seismology refer to the measuring of signal
frequency intensity. A white spot in a greyscale seismic time image reflects the high signal
frequency reading, while a dark spot indicates low signal frequency reading.

Package P3 has the advantage of displaying seismic images in the Windows operating system
platform. Package P3 is the most advanced package when dealing with seismic visualization
and graphical image generation. The advancement in graphics display by P3 is achieved
                                                            
13
Contours are commonly drawn on maps to portray the structural configuration of the Earth's surface or
formations in the subsurface. For example, structure maps contain contours of constant elevation with respect to
a datum such as sea level [33].
14
Grayscale or greyscale is an image in which the value of each pixel is a single sample, that is, it carries only
intensity information. Images of this sort, also known as black-and-white, are composed exclusively of shades
of gray, varying from black at the weakest intensity to white at the strongest [34].
15
In reflection seismology, each time a signal-reflection occurs, a wiggle is recorded based on the two way
travel time taken for the signal to be collected back at the receiver. The collection of wiggles resembles an
estimation of earth structures based on signal-reflection-time at a geologically mapped area [3]
16
Xwindow is a computer software system and network protocol that provides a basis for graphical user
interfaces for networked computers via command execution line [35]. 

19
 
through the Generic Mapping Tool abbreviated as GMT. GMT is an open-source
collection of computer software tools for processing and displaying pixel in a XYZ plane
coordinate system. Package P3 uses GMT to perform image rastering, filtering and other
image processing operations, including various kinds of map projections [36]. Package P3 is
able to perform all visual and plotting functions by packages P1 and P2.

7 Seismic Data Processing Workflow

The seismic data processes were carried out on both P1 and P2 for a common seismic dataset.
We refer to the processes as a workflow, WF, which describes nine main steps, s, of seismic
data functions and operations that we have carried out on a historical seismic dataset. The
seismic data processing workflow is presented in table 12. Package P3 was not included in
the overall test due to the fact that it is a visualization and interpretation tool. Many of its
specific Reflection Seismology functions are proprietary based, hence limiting our capability
to perform tests on the package.

Steps, s Seismic Data Processing Workflow, WF

s1 Automatic Gain Control (AGC)
s2 Muting
s3 Noise Filtering
s4 Static Correction
s5 Velocity Filter
s6 Normal Moveout (NMO) Correction
s7 Velocity Analysis
s8 Seismic Trace Stacking
s9 Post-Stack Depth Migration
Tab 12. Seismic Data Processing Workflow

The historical seismic dataset that we have obtained is 11 Gigabytes in size and consists of 27
million signal reflection points. The initial data format is in SEGY. Format conversions were
carried out to accommodate both P1 and P2 data formats prior to performing the seismic data
processing workflow. The technical detail of each seismic data processing step in the
workflow is described as follows.

 AGC
The seismic signal’s energy and amplitude are often the strongest when they are near to
the source of transmission. The far offset signal reflection usually shows low or weak
energy readings. In this evaluation we apply AGC to our dataset to increase weak signal
reflection reading.
 Muting
Signal reflection or trace muting is used to eliminate extraordinary signal events that do
not match with our primary signal reflections. Such extraordinary events are amplitude,
that is, reverberation near the surface which regularly arrives earlier than the true signal
reflection.
 Noise Filtering
In this evaluation we applied the most common type of noise filtering, which is the
Bandpass filter. We have set the filter to remove low pass frequency noise which is
commonly caused by surface waves, such as the air coupling effect and mechanical noise.

20
 
  Static Correction
Signal reflections are subject to two types of delays. The vertical depth from the signal
transmitter to the receivers is known to cause significant delay on the signal arrival time.
The consistent horizontal movement of the survey vessel causes displacement between
the transmitter and the receivers resulting in a signal reflection delay. The static problem
is commonly caused by the combination of both types of delays. The static correction is
applied to rectify the geometry of signal reflection points to give true signal reflectivity
when gathered by the receiver at the surface. Signal reflections were subject to two types
of delays.
 Velocity Filter
Velocity filter is applied to remove near surface noise. The velocity of the noise can be
distinguished from the apparently deep signal reflection velocity. The F-K filter, known
as the Frequency Wave-number filter, is a common approach when dealing with near
surface noise. Transformation from time and spatial domain to the frequency domain is
necessary to distinguish the true signal reflections and noises that manifest the signal
frequency. Subsequently, near surface noises are removed.
 NMO Correction
NMO correction is applied in our evaluation to stack all seismic shots in a single
horizontal line for a Common Midpoint Signal Reflection or in short, CMP stack. NMO
correction removes the offset dependence for each signal travelling time recorded in the
CMP stack. The result of removing the offset dependence for each signal travel time
record in the CMP stack produces seismic traces with a zero offset value.
 Velocity Analysis
The seismic traces, which are the signal travelling time recordings and the signal velocity
energy values, need to be matched. In order to match the seismic traces and its
corresponding signal velocity energy value, the velocity with high energy value is
identified. The semblance of the signal velocity energy value acted as a guide to pick the
matching seismic trace. The process of matching the velocity energy value with the
seismic traces produces a velocity model that we have built. The same velocity model
will be used when dealing with other seismic traces within this dataset.
 Seismic Trace Stacking
The stacking of all signal travel time with zero offset values increases the energy of the
reflected signals, because the reflected waves are spatially coherent or spatially consistent
between each of the signal travel time records. The spatial coherency of all the signal
travel time records in the same stack increases the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and
decreases the energy of the noise.
 Post-Stack Depth Migration
Post-Stack Depth Migration is the most time consuming and CPU exhaustive operation of
all the seismic data processes listed in the workflow. However, it is an important step to
obtain an accurate signal reflection point in a highly complex geological formation.
Signal reflections are subject to diffraction and scattering when propagating via the Earth
subsurface. In this evaluation and testing we apply Post-Stack Depth Migration to
geometrically correct the signal reflection point to give an accurate depiction of a seismic
time image.

6.1 Experimental Testbed

The seismic data processing workflow has been executed on the Deakin University Computer
Cluster, which is physically located in the School of Information Technology. The cluster
consists of 20 physical nodes with each node consisting of an Intel based dual 1.6 Gigahertz
21
 
CPU. Each CPU in a node is made of quad core processors, which makes a total of 8
processors per node. Each node is allocated 8 Gigabytes of memory.

These nodes are interconnected with a 10 Gigabit infiniband network. The computer cluster
runs on Centos Linux operating systems and uses SUN Grid Engine version 6.1 to perform
job queuing and management. The computer cluster is designed as such that 10 physical
nodes are used to support 20 virtual nodes and the remaining 10 act as normal physical nodes.

6.2 Comparative study on Data Format Conversions

The fraction of a historical data that we have obtained from an oil and gas company17 is 122
Gbytes in size, containing 28 billion elements of seismic shot records. These shot records or
seismic traces are time recordings of acoustic signal reflections obtained during a geological
mapping operation.

The original historical dataset that we have acquired is in the form of SEGY format which is
the most dominant seismic data format [37]. Released by the Society of Exploration
Geophysicist (SEG) in 1975, hence the name SEGY; it is an open format controlled by a
technical committee. SEG-Y format allows storing of seismic digital data on magnetic tapes.
However, packages P1 and P2 own a specific seismic data format and do not comply directly
with the SEGY format. Therefore, format conversion from SEGY to .su18 is necessary for
the seismic data to be processed with package P1. Subsequently, format conversion from
SEGY to .rsf19 is also necessary prior to executing the seismic data on package P2. The
format conversion executions were made on the experimental testbed as indicated in 6.1. The
CPU execution times and seismic data size after each format conversion were recorded as
shown in table 13.

Format Conversion Conversion Execution Trials for P1 Data Size after

Operation (minutes) conversion
Column, c Conversion type t1 t2 t3 ttotal tave (GBytes)
1 .su .segy 67 72 77 216 72 122
2 .su .rsf 63 70 56 189 63 115
3 .rsf .su 69 71 67 207 69 122
4 .rsf .segy 74 81 79 234 78 122
Tab 13. Execution of seismic data conversions for format of packages P1 and P2

Table 13 shows a cross conversion from different seismic data formats. The purpose of this
test was to analyse the CPU execution time and changes in data size for each format
conversion operation. Each of the seismic data format conversion operations is represented
by columns cn, from c1 up to c4.

                                                            
17
 The name of this company is not disclosed due to privacy concern and because the hydrocarbon basin is still
subject to a revisit in the future. 
18
The .su seismic data format for package P1 was thoroughly discussed in our 1st technical report titled,
Izzatdin A.A, Goscinski A. (2010). The Study of Seismic UNIX in Relation to Reflection Seismology Models.
School of Information Technology Technical Report TR C10/2. Deakin University Australia.
19
The .rsf seismic data format for package P2 was earlier discussed in the 2nd Technical report titled Izzatdin
A.A, Goscinski, A. (2010). The Study of Madagascar Seismic Data Processing Package in Relation to
Reflection Seismology Models. School of Information Technology Technical Report TR C10/5. Deakin
University Australia. 

22
 
From table 13, we have formulated a mathematical model to obtain the total CPU execution
time for each column, c derived in equation (4):-

 
(4)

Each conversion type or column c, undergoes a repetitive execution three times and is
summed up to obtain the total CPU execution time denoted as ttotal. Based on equation (4), we
derived the average time taken for each column, cn as shown in equation (5):-

 
3 (5)

The CPU execution time ttotal, for each column cn, is then divided by the number of execution
repetitions, to obtain the average cntave for each format conversion operation. It is emphasized
again over here that the initial data size for the testing that we have conducted is 122 GBytes.

From table 13, we have identified that from c1tave, package P1 (.su) took an average of 72
minutes to convert to the SEGY (.segy) format. The data size after conversion from
package P1 format into SEGY format is 122 GBytes, which is similar to the initial data size.
It is noticed however, that there is small difference in size between package P1 data size and
the SEGY data size. The SEGY data is 3.6 Mbytes more than package P1 data size. This is
due to the fact that the SEGY data structure consists of 2 segments, the header segment and
the seismic trace segment. The header segment is approximately 3600 bytes in size
containing the description20 of the SEGY data. Package P1 (.su) data structure does not
have the header segment. This explains the minor difference of 3.6 Mbytes between both
.su and .segy formats.

Package P1 took an average of 63 minutes to convert to package P2 (.rsf) format as

denoted by c2tave. The data size after conversion from package P1 (.su) format into package
P2 (.rsf) format is 115 GBytes, which is similar to the initial size of the data.

Package P2 executes at an average of 69 minutes to convert to package P1 (.su) format as

indicate by c3tave. The data size after conversion from package P2 (.rsf) format into
package P1 (.su) format is 122 GBytes.

Package P2 executes at an average of 78 minutes to convert to the SEGY (.segy) format as

indicate by c4tave. The data size after conversion from package P2 (.rsf) format into the
SEGY (.segy) format is 122 GBytes, which is consistent with the previously recorded data
size in c1tave.

Following the data format conversion, we have conducted an evaluation and testing of
packages P1 and P2 according to the workflow WF depicted from table 12.

                                                            
20
Description of SEGY data was discussed thoroughly in our 1st Technical Report, “The Study of Seismic
UNIX in Relation to Reflection Seismology Models” [3].

23
 
6.3 Evaluation and Testing

Table 14 shows the CPU execution time for sequential execution for both packages P1 and
P2. Package P3 was not included in the table due to the fact that it is a seismic visualization
and interpretation package. Seismic data processing programs in package P1 were initially
written to only support sequential execution. Thus a comparison of sequential execution
between packages P1 and P2 was carried out.

Steps Seismic Data Seismic Data Processing Function Execution

(s) Processing (in Minutes)
Workflow, (WF) P1 P2
Exec1 Exec2 Exec3 ExecAve Exec1 Exec2 Exec3 ExecAve
s1 Automatic Gain 23 19 21 21 27 19 29 25
Control (AGC)
s2 Muting 37 28 31 32 26 21 25 24
s3 Noise Filtering 182 165 190 179 194 179 173 182
s4 Static Correction 67 59 60 62 107 95 83 95
s5 Velocity Filter to 503 479 461 481 382 368 384 378
remove near surface
noise
s6 Normal Moveout 535 531 557 541 230 206 221 219
(NMO) Correction
s7 Velocity Analysis 329 361 342 344 285 292 293 290
s8 Seismic Trace 17 12 19 16 25 31 28 28
Stacking to remove
coherent and
random noise
s9 Post-Stack Depth 8931 9521 9484 9312 7950 8012 7513 7825
Migration
Total CPU Execution time 10988 9066
Tab 14. Sequential execution of Seismic Data Processing Workflow for packages P1 and P2

Each seismic data processing step, s, was sequentially executed three times, indicated as
Exec1, Exec2 and Exec3. The purpose of repeating each step three times is to take the average
reading, ExecAve as recorded in table 14. The overall seismic data processing execution for
package P1 is 10988 minutes, which took approximately 7 days. Package P2 consumed 9066
minutes or approximately 6 days to complete the overall tasks. Obvious similarity between
both packages P1 and P2 are that, both packages took longer CPU execution time to complete
WFs9. As expected, based on the literature studies in [2-3], both packages consumed lengthy
duration to perform the Post-Stack Depth Migration. Package P2 however, performed the
computation of Post-Stack Depth Migration much faster than Package P1.

Conclusion
In this report, we have presented a result of seismic data processing workflow on packages P1
and P2 using a historical seismic dataset. Package P3 acts as a seismic data visualization and
interpretation tool and was not included together in the evaluation and testing. It is apparent
that from the overall execution of our workflow, WF, package P2 completed earlier than P1.
However, the individual CPU execution time of the WF for both P1 and P2 differs
considerably. For instance, P1WFs1 completed 4 minutes earlier than P2WFs1 and P1WFs3

24
 
finished 3 minutes earlier than P2WFs3. However, a significant comparison in CPU execution
time took place on WFs9. The 9066 minutes completion time for P2WFs9 shows that the
package P2 completed approximately 32 hours earlier than the execution of P1WFs9. The
reason for a faster P2 CPU execution time lies on its .rsf data structure and format. We
have learned from [9] and from the series of CPU execution of WFs for both packages P1 and
P2, that P2 data format, which is the .rsf, is structured with less complexity and uses a
contemporary memory arrangement approach.

P2 data format consists of two segments, which are the meta-information and data sequence.
The meta-information describes the basic information about the dataset, and the data
sequence contains the actual seismic traces or shot records in binary form. Following the
meta-information is the data sequence segment which describes the primary content for the
input. Data sequence contains time recordings of acoustic signal reflections sampled during a
typical seismic mapping. Each signal reflection called shot records is represented as an
element in a multiple dimensional array. The data format design for P2 eased the accessibility
of the binary data for complex computation which resulted in P2WFs9 completing much
earlier than P1WFs9.

In this report, we have also introduced a taxonomy of seismic data processing functions.
Although, seismic data processing functions have been classified by many geophysical
experts, thus far from our literature studies [1-7], very few have described and classified
seismic data processing functions from the view point of open seismic data processing
packages.

We have introduced a different representation of taxonomy for seismic data processing

methods with respect to computing and seismic data processing packages. Instead of
representing seismic data processes in a linear listing, we classify the processes into three
function groups which are; Data Manipulation, Reflection Seismology Process and
Visualization. Arbitrarily the classes reflect the standard processes available in numerous
seismic data processing software packages.

The Data Manipulation function group deals with modification of fundamental systems
commands to better suit the administrative purposes of a software package. For example, the
fin function in UNIX is to display general information of a file. Package P2, however,
modifies it to sfin, to be used by the package when displaying information for package P2
file format. The Systems class also inherits similar Pre-processing methods as described in
the existing categorization of seismic methods, such as seismic Data Editing and Format
Conversions.

The Reflection Seismology function group comprises of core geophysical processing

methods to manipulate seismic datasets and to perform analysis. Velocity analysis, Moveout
Corrections, Seismic Trace Stacking, Time and Depth Conversions and Migration techniques
are grouped in this class. Apparently the methods grouped under this class reflect the existing
category of seismic Processing methods. However, the seismic Image Construction method is
removed due to the fact that they are closely related to the field of seismic interpretation and
prediction rather than visualization.

The Visualization function group is essential in constructing credible seismic image for the
purpose of interpreting and predicting possible hydrocarbon traps. Seismic image
construction is the ultimate goal of seismic data processing. In this function group, we

25
 
identified common and unique features possessed by each packages P1, P2 and P3. Package
P1 supports variety of graphic formats which includes bitmap, postscript and displaying in
Xwndows environment. Package P2 on the other hand supports image construction of three
dimension and higher data representation. Package P3 virtually supports all graphical
functionality of P1 and P2. Package P3 is a graphical user interface (GUI) based package and
complies with UNIX distributions as well as Windows operating systems.

In the future, we intend to explore the possibilities of performing parallel processing on a

distributed system for packages P1, P2 and P3. By having these packages to execute in a
distributed processing environment, such as the cloud or a computer cluster, we can then
measure the functions execution performance and speed up for all three packages. However,
from our preliminary studies, several issues will need to be addressed.

 Data Security –Seismic data is extremely valuable to the hydrocarbon exploration

industry as it indicates important information such as the oil and gas well location, as
well as hydrocarbon drilling points. Hence, it is vital to secure the seismic data when
being transferred over a vast network.
 Network Latency and Reliability – Streams of massive seismic dataset needs to be
transferred in a reliable and accelerated manner to the cloud or computer cluster in
order to realize real-time processing. The transmission of large volumes of seismic
data via the IP network through the best effort delivery could possibly cause
expensive data to be lost.
 Storage – The high volume of raw seismic data obtained from the geological survey
would need to be amassed in a suitable location with reasonable storage cost and
capacity.

Further testing on the open seismic data processing packages functionalities and their ability
to execute on a distributed processing environment is necessary, and shall be discussed in the
upcoming report.

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