Approximate computation of the acoustic impedance from seismic data

Abstract

The approximate computation of the acoustic impedance from seismic data is usually based on the recursive formula [Formula: see text] where [Formula: see text] is the acoustic impedance in layer number k and [Formula: see text] is the pressure reflection coefficient for the interface between layer k and [Formula: see text]. The above formula is derived from a discrete layered earth model. When we consider a continuous earth model and discretize the results, we obtain the recursive formula [Formula: see text] The two expressions give very similar numerical results. For [Formula: see text], the relative difference is less than 5 percent and this cannot be visually recognized on an acoustic impedance section. The expression for the continuous model is more suitable for understanding the result of the approximate computation of the acoustic impedance function from band‐limited seismic data. The calculated impedance minus the impedance in the top layer is approximately equal to the reflectivity function convolved with the integrated seismic pulse multiplied with twice the impedance in the top layer. For impedance values less than 0.2 in absolute value this is also equal to the acoustic impedance function (minus the acoustic impedance in the top layer) convolved with the seismic pulse. The computation of the acoustic impedance from band‐limited seismic data corresponds to an exponential transformation of the integrated seismic trace. On a band‐limited acoustic impedance section with well‐separated reflectors and low noise level the direction of change in the acoustic impedance can be correctly identified. The effect of additive noise in the seismic data is governed by a nonlinear transformation. Our data examples show that the computation of acoustic impedance becomes unstable when noise is added. In order to avoid the nonlinear transformation of the seismic data, it has been suggested to integrate the seismic data. This results in an estimate of the logarithm of the acoustic impedance. For band‐limited seismic data with noise this gives a band‐limited estimate of the logarithm of the acoustic impedance plus the integrated noise. A disadvantage of this method is that the variance of the integrated noise increases linearly with time.