Seismic data processing: Current industry practice and new directions

Abstract

The last ten years have seen an evolution in the state of the art for seismic data processing on a number of fronts. Data transformations investigated have made some types of analyses much more straightforward. Deconvolution has become a sophisticated process which includes statistical, model‐based, and deterministic methods. Vibroseis® processing has led to a greater understanding of the statistical limitations in recovery of the wave‐field amplitude from sign‐bit recording, and the deconvolution of Vibroseis data has improved. Multichannel filtering and analysis in transform domains have resulted in increasingly effective tools for noise reduction and signal enhancement. In statics analysis, surface consistency as a constraint remains a standard, and refraction analysis has become popular as a means of preconditioning data for residual statics estimation. Advances in stacking methodology have come mainly from addressing three effects: ray bending through lateral velocity variations, complex structure, and source‐receiver azimuth variations. Recently many techniques of interpretation processing have been introduced with the goal of improving the estimate of earth properties, rather than generating a stacked or imaged section of higher fidelity. The interaction among related disciplines has increased and this serves to amplify the effectiveness of each discipline because they are now developing in less isolation.