Seismic mis‐tie resolution technique

Abstract

Efficient resolution of seismic time mis‐ties within a survey can be critical to the successful generation of a prospect. A mathematical technique for the automatic resolution of mis‐ties is presented that determines an optimal set of bulk time corrections to be applied to each line in a survey. A bulk time correction for a seismic line is a static time shift that is applied to every point on the line, thus preserving the dip of each seismic line. Dynamic time shifts that can vary over a seismic line are not addressed here. Solutions are presented for both the fully determined case and the over‐determined case where the squared error (or squared mis‐tie) is minimized. A mathematical weight, associated with each seismic line, is utilized within the technique to reflect line quality, desirability, vintage, or some other line attribute. The utilization of this technique extends beyond merely obtaining a set of optimal corrections for each seismic line. Problem lines may be identified for closer scrutiny, bulk time corrections for a group of lines as a function of vintage can be estimated, and statistical analyses can be performed on the results due to the least‐squares nature of the technique.