SURVEY DESIGN

Why survey design ?

 As oil companies strive for efficiency and seek to acquire

higher-quality and more cost-effective seismic surveys,
greater emphasis is being placed on the design process

 An efficient design is usually a compromise—between

information that is expected to be retrieved and the cost of
data acquisition and processing.

 As new acquisition systems and techniques appear, they

alter the limitations placed on survey designers.
Ex : increasing numbers of channels
 Survey Design

 Designing parameters for 2-D / 3-D data acquisition

 A good survey design achieves geophysical objectives in a cost-effective

manner, within the given time schedule.
 Factors controlling survey design
(cannot be constrained by people)

1. Target depth and size

2. Shallowest depth of interest
3. Dip
4. Noise
5. Dominant frequency
 Geophysical Problem
 Redefining geological problem that can be related to
field measurements

• Structure
• Bed thickness
• Target depth
• Lithology
• Max dip to be resolved
• Target depth
• Vertical resolution
• Max dip to be resolved
• Horizontal
• Vertical resolution
resolution
• Horizontal resolution
 Resolution

In order for us to see our stratigraphic

trap on our seismic section, the
dimensions (width and thickness) of
the trap must exceed the limitations of
both the reflection method and the
acquisition and processing parameters
we are using.
 Resolution (continued)
Lateral Resolution
• Fresnel Zone - the portion of a reflector from
which reflected energy can reach a detector
within one-half wavelength of the first
reflected energy.
Each reflection is a summation of responses
within a circular area with the centre of the
circle being the "understood" point reflector.
 Resolution (continued)
Mathematically, we can
approximate the radius, r,
of the Fresnel zone as
VRMS T0
RF 
2 f dom

where
VRMS= the rms velocity to
the reflecting surface,
T0 = the two-way
traveltime, and
f dom= the dominant
frequency of the seismic
signal
 Resolution (cont.)
 Vertical Resolution :
It is a function of the thickness of the subject
layer, the frequency of the source wavelet as it
propagates through the layer, and the velocity of the
layer

V
Rz 
4 f max cos i
  Shooting Direction :

 The most preferred direction is the dip

direction.

 Cost: Longer lines are more

economical

 Logistic considerations e.g. population

area, unsuitable terrain, shallow water,
currents
Basic Parameters for 2D Seismic Survey
 Source Parameters :
• Source Effort
• Source Type
• Source Interval
 Receiver Parameters :
• Number of Channels
• Number of Receivers per Station
• Receiver Interval
 Data Parameters :
• Nominal Fold
• CMP Interval
• Min Offset
• Max Offset
 Basic Parameters For 3D Seismic
Survey
 Patch:
 Source Parameters :
• Source Point Interval
• Source Line Interval
• Source Points per Swath
• Source Density per sq. km
• Source Line Direction
 Receiver Parameters :
• Number of Channels
• Receiver Line
• Receiver Interval
• Receiver Line Interval
• Receiver Density per sq. km
 Basic Parameters For 3D Seismic Survey
(continued)
 Patch:
Other Parameters :
• Patch Length
• Patch Width
• Inline Fold Taper
• Cross Line Fold Taper
• Roll inline
• Roll Cross-line
• Source Line Bearing (azimuth)
• Receiver Line Bearing (azimuth)
 Basic Parameters For 3D Seismic Survey
(continued)
 Geophysical Attributes :
• Bin Size
• Inline Fold
• Cross-line Fold
• Nominal Fold
• Minimum Offset
• Largest Minimum Offset
• Inline Maximum Offset
• Cross-line Maximum Offset
• Maximum Offset
 Introduction
• Terminology

– inline: direction parallel receiver lines

– crossline: direction orthogonal receiver lines
– CMP bin: a small rectangle all the traces of which
are stacked and contribute to fold
– box (unit cell): area bounded by two adjacent
receiver lines and two adjacent source lines
– patch (template): area of all live receivers recording
from the same source
– swath: length over which sources are recorded
without crossline roll
Introduction
Introduction
Introduction

SI

RI
 Controlling Factors

• Factors controlling 3-D survey design

(cannot be constrained by people)

1. Target depth and size constrained by geology

2. Shallowest depth of interest
3. Dip
4. Noise constrained by equipment
5. Dominant frequency
 Survey Parameters
• Parameters of 3-D survey design
(can be constrained by people)

1. Migration aperture (apron)

2. Fold
3. Fold taper
4. Xmin
5. Xmax
6. Bin size
7. Record length
 Survey Parameters (cont.)
 Migration aperture (apron) is affected by:
1. Fresnel zone:
- defined as the portion of a reflector from which
reflected energy can reach a detector within one-half
wavelength from the first reflected energy.
- Radius of first Fresnel zone:

Vrms T0
RF 
2 f dom

VRMS: RMS velocity to reflector

T0: zero-offset TWTT to reflector
fd: dominant frequency at reflector
 Survey Parameters (cont.)
 Migration aperture (apron)
 Survey Parameters (cont.)
 Migration aperture (cont.):
1. Fresnel zone (cont.):
 Survey Parameters (cont.)
 Migration aperture (cont.):
2. Diffracted energy:
- Scattering angles of 300 contain 95% of
the diffracted energy. Therefore,
migration aperture should be ≥ XDE:

X DE  Z tan 300  0.58Z

Z: target depth
 Survey Parameters (cont.)
 Migration aperture (cont.):
2. Diffracted energy (cont.):
300 scattering
angle
 Survey Parameters (cont.)
 Migration aperture (cont.):
3. Migration lateral displacement:
- Migrating a point on a dipping reflector
moves the point in the updip direction a lateral
distance DX:
DX  Z tan 
Z: target depth
⍬: reflector true dip
Rule: choose the migration aperture as the
largest of RF, XDE, and DX.
 Survey Parameters (cont.)
 Fold:
– It is the number of traces in a CMP bin.
– Stacking M traces enhances the S/N by an amount of M1/2.
 Inline fold :
NumberOf Re ceivers*RI

2*SLI

InlinePatchDimension

2*SLI
 X-line fold :
SourceLineLength CrosslinePatchDimension
 
2 * Re ceiverLineInterval 2 * RLI

Re ceiverLines * RLI NRL

 
2 * RLI 2
 Survey Parameters (cont.)
Fold
 Total Fold :

Total fold = inline fold * cross-line fold

 Survey Parameters (cont.)
 Fold:
• Inline fold (FI) = (NSL - 1) / 2.
• Crossline fold (FX) = (NRL – 1) / 2.
• Total fold (F) = FI * FX = (NSL -1) * (NRL – 1) /
4.
– NSL: number of source lines in the patch
– NRL: number of receiver lines in the patch

Rule: choose the 3-D total fold to be

greater than half the nominal 2-D fold.
 Survey Parameters (cont.)
 Fold taper:
• It is the area around the edges of the full-fold
area where the fold builds-up from minimum to
full-fold.
InlinePatchSize SLI
• Inline fold taper (FT I )  
4 2

CrosslineP atchSize RLI

• Crossline fold taper (FTX)  
4 2

Rule: choose the fold taper to be ¼

of patch dimension.
 Survey Parameters (cont.)
 Fold taper (cont.):
- Relation between migration aperture and fold
taper
 Survey Parameters (cont.)
 Fold taper (cont.):
- Relation among areas covered by
acquisition, processing, and interpretation
 Survey Parameters (cont.)
 Xmin:

- The largest minimum offset in a survey.

- It is the minimum offset that belongs to the
CMP bin at the exact center of a box.
- In an orthogonal survey:
X min  ( RLI  SLI )
2 2

Rule: choose Xmin to be less than 1 -1.2

of the shallowest depth of interest.
 Survey Parameters (cont.)
 Xmin (cont.):

RLI
SI

SLI RI
 Survey Parameters (cont.)
 Xmax:
- The maximum recorded offset in a
survey.
- It is the length of the diagonal of
the patch in an orthogonal survey:

X max  [( NRL  1) * RLI ]  [( NSL  1) * SLI ]

2 2
 Survey Parameters (cont.)
 Xmax (cont.):

Xmax
 Survey Parameters (cont.)
 Xmax (cont.): It is affected by:
1. Target depth:
‾ Choose Xmax ≈ target depth.
2. Direct-wave interference:
‾ Given sufficiently large offset, the direct wave
will interfere with the primary reflection from
the target reflector at an offset Xd given by:
VRMSV1[TmVRMS  Tm2V12  T02 (VRMS
2
 V12 ) ]
Xd  2
VRMS  V12
 Survey Parameters (cont.)
 Xmax (cont.):
2. Direct-wave interference (cont):
VRMS: RMS velocity
to target reflector
V1: velocity of near-
surface layer
Tm: mute time (~ 0.2
s)
T0: zero-offset TWTT
to target reflector
 Survey Parameters (cont.)
 Xmax (cont.):
3. Head-wave interference:
‾ The head wave will interfere with the primary
reflection from the target reflector at an offset
Xh given by:

VRMSV2 [TmVRMS  T V  T (V 2 2 2 2
V )]
2
Xh  m 2 0 RMS 2

VRMS  V2
2 2

‾ V2: velocity of head-wave generating layer

‾ Choose X <X.
 Survey Parameters (cont.)
 Xmax (cont.):
 Survey Parameters (cont.)
 Xmax (cont.):
4. Deep-horizon head waves:
‾ A deep horizon will have its head wave at an offset
Xhd: 2
T0VRMS
X hd 
V V
2 2
RMS

‾ V: interval velocity of deep horizon

‾ VRMS: RMS velocity to top of deep horizon

‾ T0: zero-offset TWTT to top of deep horizon

‾ We would like to include as much of the reflections of
the deep horizons as possible. Therefore, choose Xmax
 Survey Parameters (cont.)
 Xmax (cont.):
5. Maximum allowable NMO stretch:
‾ The stretch introduced by the NMO correction
is given by: 2
X
S NMO ( X )  2 2
2T0 VRMS
 X mute  T0VRMS 2 S NMO

‾ Traces with offsets > Xmute at the target horizon

will be muted.
‾ Choose X <X .
 Survey Parameters (cont.)
 Xmax (cont.):
6. Head-wave from a deep LVL:
‾ If a deep LVL (low-velocity layer) exists, then its
critical offset XLVL must be taken into account such
that: Xmax > XLVL.
7. NMO discrimination:
‾ To discriminate NMO effects, we need an offset XNMO:

XNMO V RMS T  2T T
d
2
d 0

‾ Td: dominant period at target reflector

‾ Xmax > XNMO.

 Survey Parameters (cont.)
 Xmax (cont.):
8. Multiple cancellation:
‾ In order to cancel multiples, we need an offset
Xmult:

X mult  Vmult T  4Td Tmult

d
2

‾ Vmult: RMS velocity of multiple

‾ Tmult: zero-offset TWTT of multiple
‾ Choose Xmax > Xmult.
 Survey Parameters (cont.)
 Xmax (cont.):
9. AVO effects:
‾ If AVO (amplitude variation with offset)
analysis is expected, larger offsets should be
used.
‾ For a maximum incidence angle of 300, the
offset required for AVO analysis XAVO is given
by: V T
X AVO  RMS 0
 Target depth
3
Choose Xmax > XAVO.
 Survey Parameters (cont.)
 Xmax (cont.):
10.Dip effects
‾ Offset is larger in the downdip direction for a
dipping layer.
‾ Choose Xmax large enough to allow true dip
measurement.
Offset increase due to dip

S Rh Rd

CMP
 Survey Parameters (cont.)
 Xmax (cont.):

Rule: choose Xmax to satisfy all these 10

criteria.
 Survey Parameters (cont.)
 Bin size (B):
‾ Its dimensions are: SI/2 * RI/2.
‾ The most preferable bin shape is square.
‾ The S/N ratio is proportional to bin size.
 Survey Parameters (cont.)
 Bin size (B):
 Survey Parameters (cont.)
 Bin size (cont.): It is affected by:
1. Target size:
‾ Normally, three traces are needed across a target in order to
define it on the seismic section.
‾ Choose: Bt ≤ target size / 3.
 Survey Parameters (cont.)
 Bin size (cont.):
2. Maximum unaliased frequency:
‾ For a dipping target, the optimum bin size is given by:
Vi
Bf 
4 f max sin 
‾ Vi: interval velocity at target depth

‾ fmax: maximum frequency at target depth

‾ ⍬: target dip

‾ Choose: B ≤ Bf.
 Survey Parameters (cont.)
 Bin size (cont.):
3. Lateral resolution:
‾ Choose: λmin / 4 ≤ Br ≤ λmin / 2
‾ λmin: minimum wavelength at target depth

Rule: choose the bin size as the smallest of Bt,

Bf, and Br.
 Survey Parameters (cont.)
 Group Interval

1. Traces needed across the smallest geological features

2. Spatial aliasing constraints – depends on dip, velocity,
dominant frequency
3. Short enough to sample variations in static corrections
 Survey Parameters (cont.)
 Source Interval
• Stack array approach uses SI = ½ RI
• 6 sec (record) +2 sec (writing) = 8 sec cycle
• Minimum Vessel speed for streamer stability – 8 Km/hr
• Therefore Minimum SI = 18m
 Survey Parameters (cont.)
 Record length (TR): It must satisfy the following:
1. It has to include the deepest event of interest (Td) and allow for
its:
- NMO correction (+ 0.3 s)
- DMO correction (+ 0.4 s)
- Migration (+ 0.5 s)
2. It has to allow for maximum static shifts (+ 0.1 s).
3. It has to allow for equipment delays (+ 0.2 s)
Rule: choose TR ≥ Td + 1.5 s.
 Survey Parameters (cont.)
 Input parameters :
Determine the following parameters from exploration objectives and
from existing 2-D seismic data:
• Fold of good 2-D data
• Steepest dip
•Target depth and mute distance
• Target two-way time
•Vint immediately above the target horizon
• fdom at the target horizon
• fmax at the target horizon
• Lateral target size
• Area to be fully imaged
• Layout method.
 Survey Parameters (cont.)
 Calculated parameters
 Aspect Ratio
• It is defined as:
Crossline patch dimension NRL * RLI
R 
Inline patch dimension NSL * SLI

• Narrow-azimuth patches have R < 0.5, while wide-azimuth

patches have R > 0.5.
• Narrow-azimuth patches are good for analyzing DMO,
AVO, and lateral heterogeneities.
• Wide-azimuth patches are good for velocity analysis, static
correction, and multiple attenuation.
 Aspect Ratio (cont.)

Wide-azimuth survey Narrow-azimuth survey

 Aspect Ratio (cont.)
 The 85% rule:
• Xmute defines a circle, while Xmax defines a rectangle.

• If we inscribe the Xmute circle inside an Xmax rectangle, we

record 27% more traces than we need.
• If we inscribe the Xmax rectangle inside the Xmute circle, we
discard 36% of our recorded data.
• The optimum compromise is the 85% rule defined as:
- Choose inline patch dimension = 0.85 * Xmute.
- Choose crossline patch dimension = 0.85 * inline patch dimension.
- Therefore; R = 0.85.
 Aspect Ratio (cont.)
• The 85% rule (cont.):
 K Y OU
TH A N