In this tutorial, a VSP 3-Component Data set for a Near Offset data set consisting of 85
traces for each component is loaded for processing with detailed steps for inputting header
parameters. Then the VSP | Geometry Window Display is used to fill the VISTA headers
for the depths and other critical parameters.
Finally, several job flow charts are provided which runs these multi-component traces
through standard VSP Near Offset processing steps to produce a final corridor stack
output.
Note that in multi-component VSP data the Near Offset is processed differently
than the Far Offset data.
The demonstration VSP data set provided for processing is a zero-offset VSP.
Start a new project called Near Offset and import the data Zero_offset.sgy to it.
This step has already been completed in the VSP Near Offset data provided. This
section is provided to review the steps necessary to input VSP data into the VISTA
processing environment.
First start the VISTA application and create a new project. Name the new project 'Near
Offset'.
Generally when creating a new project it is best to place it in a new directory possibly with
the same project name. This better helps to organize the project files.
Also note that at the start of a new project should set up the plot parameters for the
project in the Edit|Project Plotting Defaults.
Using the File|New Project on the main bar opens up the following dialog for entering
the project name 'Near Offset'.
file:///C:/Users/DELL/AppData/Local/Temp/~hh69FE.htm 07/09/2018
VSP Near Offset Processing Page 2 of 39
A Project Window then opens which allows the text input of project definitions along with
Project Type and Units selection.
Select <2D Survey> and check the box next to <VSP Survey>. Click OK to open the
Project Data List window.
It is critical in VSP processing to ensure that the Project Sort defaults are set properly.
Select Project | Sort Defaults to open the Data Creation Defaults dialog shown below.
Double click on item 1:SHOT_POINT_NO and modify the Secondary Sort Key to
DEPTH_RECV and the third to TRACE_ID_CODE.
file:///C:/Users/DELL/AppData/Local/Temp/~hh69FE.htm 07/09/2018
VSP Near Offset Processing Page 3 of 39
Next, click on the <ORDER> button and make sure that SHOT_POINT_NO is the only
header to be used.
Click <OK>, and <OK> once again to return to the Data Creation Defaults dialog.
Double click on item 2:CMP_NO and set the Secondary Sort Key to DEPTH_RECV and the
third to TRACE_ID_CODE. Click <OK> to close the Edit Existing Sort Index dialog.
Double click on item 3:TRCID and set the Secondary Sort Key to DEPTH_RECV and the
third to NO_SORT Key. Click <OK> to close the Edit Existing Sort Index dialog.
file:///C:/Users/DELL/AppData/Local/Temp/~hh69FE.htm 07/09/2018
VSP Near Offset Processing Page 4 of 39
Create a New sort for Depth Receiver by clicking the <New> button below. Select the
header DEPTH_RECV for the main sort key. Set the Secondary Sort Key to
SHOT_POINT_NO and the third to TRACE_ID_CODE. Click <OK> to close the Edit Existing
Sort Index dialog.
Click <OK> to close the Data Creation Defaults dialog, then select File | Save Project from
the VISTA menu bar to save the changes.
On the VISTA menu bar select Project | Plotting Defaults | UnStacked Data Options. Here
we will modify the seismic data plotting defaults to create a display for VSP data.
file:///C:/Users/DELL/AppData/Local/Temp/~hh69FE.htm 07/09/2018
VSP Near Offset Processing Page 5 of 39
Select the Annotation tab then click the <NEW> button to create a new Text Annotation.
On the Annotation Options tab, select to display the Header Item = DEPTH_RECV. Specify
a User Defined Annotation label with an Interval = 10 based on the Control Header =
TRACE_SEQ_NO.
On the Text Annotation Options dialog, select the Display Settings tab. Select the check
box next to Vertical Annotation. Click <OK> to close the Text Annotation Options window.
file:///C:/Users/DELL/AppData/Local/Temp/~hh69FE.htm 07/09/2018
VSP Near Offset Processing Page 6 of 39
Select the BOTTOM Axis tab and select the option <Hide BOTTOM Annotation>.
Click <OK> to close the dialog and then Save the project.
The proper dictionary must be used to transfer the header information from a SEGY file to
the VISTA project. In this tutorial there is a dictionary already prepared named 'SEG-Y
Header Seismic_VSP.dic' which provides a DEPTH_ELEV VISTA header item.
Press the "Read in New Dictionary File" icon from the tool bar, this will open the
following window.
file:///C:/Users/DELL/AppData/Local/Temp/~hh69FE.htm 07/09/2018
VSP Near Offset Processing Page 7 of 39
Browse to the 'VSP Near Offset' tutorial folder and select the file <SEG-Y Header
Seismic_VSP> and click <Open>.
Now press the "Save Defined Dictionary to Project" button from the tool bar to
save this dictionary for this project. We will use this dictionary when load the
SEG-Y file. When closing this window, "Save Changes to Project Dictionary List"
dialog will appear, click on the Save button.
SEG-Y data can be imported directly into the VISTA Project Data List. To display the list,
select Project| Project Data List from the VISTA menu bar.
file:///C:/Users/DELL/AppData/Local/Temp/~hh69FE.htm 07/09/2018
VSP Near Offset Processing Page 8 of 39
Left click on the green plus '+' icon, hold and select the SEG-Y sub-icon to import seismic
traces from a SEG-Y file.
Browse to the Near Offset VSP tutorial and select the file 'Zero_offset.sgy'.
Select the Trace Header Dictionary ‘IN:SEG-Y Header Seismic_VSP' then click <OK> to
begin loading the file.
file:///C:/Users/DELL/AppData/Local/Temp/~hh69FE.htm 07/09/2018
VSP Near Offset Processing Page 9 of 39
Preview the maximum and minimum values in the header list and then close the window.
TRACE_ID_CODE Mapping
As the header used in the SEG-Y file to identify the components is CHANNEL_NO, it is
necessary to map the CHANNEL_NO header to the TRACE_ID_CODE header using the
Seismic Header View/Edit spreadsheet.
Tip: The Header Spreadsheet can be displayed by clicking the "H" icon next to
the selected data set.
file:///C:/Users/DELL/AppData/Local/Temp/~hh69FE.htm 07/09/2018
VSP Near Offset Processing Page 10 of 39
On the Vertical Toolbar, select the icon to display the Header Function Toolbar.
In the mapping window select the TRACE_ID_CODE header from the list.
[Add an Equation]
Finally use the IF, ENDIF and CONSTANT buttons to build the formula shown in the next
figure.
file:///C:/Users/DELL/AppData/Local/Temp/~hh69FE.htm 07/09/2018
VSP Near Offset Processing Page 11 of 39
[Mapping Equation]
Click <OK> to close the dialog above, then select the icon to exit the Edit/Define
Header Mapping window. Select <SAVE>, <APPLY> and <CREATE> as the prompts
appear. This will apply the mapping equation specified.
Note that the above is an example for the data set provided in this Tutorial. Other data
sets might require other mapping procedures.
file:///C:/Users/DELL/AppData/Local/Temp/~hh69FE.htm 07/09/2018
VSP Near Offset Processing Page 12 of 39
Select the Seismic Display icon next to the Zero Offset data set below.
file:///C:/Users/DELL/AppData/Local/Temp/~hh69FE.htm 07/09/2018
VSP Near Offset Processing Page 13 of 39
On the vertical toolbar, click the Seismic Sort icon, hold and then select the User
Defined Sort Order icon to view the list of sorts defined for this seismic file.
Select the Sort = TRCID from the drop down list below.
file:///C:/Users/DELL/AppData/Local/Temp/~hh69FE.htm 07/09/2018
VSP Near Offset Processing Page 14 of 39
The first component (one of the horizontal) is currently displayed. Double click on the note
at the bottom-left corner to open the list of gathers in this sort domain.
Select sort number 3 to display the Vertical component (or use the top scrollbar to change
from gather to gather).
Component Separation
Component Separation
In a near offset VSP only the vertical component has significant signal, so after the
separation only the vertical component will be processed.
file:///C:/Users/DELL/AppData/Local/Temp/~hh69FE.htm 07/09/2018
VSP Near Offset Processing Page 15 of 39
Open the flow file: 'A_XYZ Components Separation.flw' from the Near Offset VSP VISTA 10
Tutorial Project.
Set the data sets for each of the Input commands to the 'Zero_offset' file in the 3 threads.
Right click on the background of the window and select the option <SET ALL EXECUTE
ON>.
Click the <GO> icon on the horizontal toolbar to execute the flow.
Note: A Data Header Selection is used on each Input command to separate each
component using the header TRACE_ID_CODE.
Open the Seismic Display for the Raw Vertical data set. Apply a sort by TRICD (see note
below). Select the Hotkey ‘a’ to apply an AGC. Zoom in on the vertical axis to emphasize
the first breaks.
Sort by TRCID:
On the vertical toolbar, click the Seismic Sort icon, hold and then select the
User Defined Sort Order icon to view the list of sorts defined for this seismic
file.
Select the Sort = TRCID from the drop down list below.
file:///C:/Users/DELL/AppData/Local/Temp/~hh69FE.htm 07/09/2018
VSP Near Offset Processing Page 16 of 39
Click on the 'O' icon to open the options dialog, use the parameters shown below.
The display parameters of the first breaks can be modified in the Display tab of
this dialogue.
Select the Auto Pick tool to pick the First Breaks. Picks are automatically saved to
the VISTA header FIRSTBREAK.
Geometry Setup
file:///C:/Users/DELL/AppData/Local/Temp/~hh69FE.htm 07/09/2018
VSP Near Offset Processing Page 17 of 39
Open the Geometry Window by selecting VSP | Geometry Window Display from the
VISTA menu bar.
· KB Elevation = 643.6m
· Datum=639.0m
file:///C:/Users/DELL/AppData/Local/Temp/~hh69FE.htm 07/09/2018
VSP Near Offset Processing Page 18 of 39
After entering the above 2 variables press the "Calculate TVD from the Measured
Depth" button, the TVD is automatically calculated and displayed.
The VSP Geometry Window with the correct values is shown below for this example:
Select the Save icon to write the VSP Geometry to the VISTA Headers. This opens
the VSP Geometry Header Items to Save dialog below.
A list of VISTA header words to update will open. In this tutorial we use the defaults. Click
<OK> to update the headers.
Select the VSP Geometry Plot icon to view of graphic of the VSP configuration.
file:///C:/Users/DELL/AppData/Local/Temp/~hh69FE.htm 07/09/2018
VSP Near Offset Processing Page 19 of 39
When the geometry has been written to the headers, close the VSP Geometry Window and
return to the Project Data List window.
The zero offset P-wave velocities can be derived from raw vertical VSP data with the VSP
|Velocity Profile Display window.
Clicking on this Interactive function opens the Velocity Profile Display window as shown
below.
file:///C:/Users/DELL/AppData/Local/Temp/~hh69FE.htm 07/09/2018
VSP Near Offset Processing Page 20 of 39
Select the VSP Data: Read 'P' Velocity icon to open the VSP 'P' Velocity Profile
Input spreadsheet for calculating the velocity information as a function of True
Vertical Depth. Select the 'Raw Vertical file
Selecting the Vertical component 'Raw Vertical' and clicking <OK> computes and loads the
velocity information as shown below:
file:///C:/Users/DELL/AppData/Local/Temp/~hh69FE.htm 07/09/2018
VSP Near Offset Processing Page 21 of 39
In the above display the left pane is the Travel Time versus True Vertical Depth curve (FB
Line), and in the right pane is the Velocity and Interval Velocity versus True Vertical Depth.
Note that the bottom panes provide both Time and Depth, and First Break Pick time,
Measured Depth and True Vertical Depth as a function of the cursor position.
Select the Save Current Velocity File icon and save the file with the name
'Near_Offset'. The saved file has an extension of *.vspvel.
file:///C:/Users/DELL/AppData/Local/Temp/~hh69FE.htm 07/09/2018
VSP Near Offset Processing Page 22 of 39
The VSP velocity file that is entered is the one that has been verified by the Velocity Profile
Display. Clicking open after selecting the file opens the Sonic Log Calibrate display as
shown below.
The next step to calculate the Sonic Log drift correction is to use the Open LAS
Sonic Log icon to load in the Sonic Log to calibrate. Select the Open LAS Sonic
Log icon and browse for the file '100092408211W600_2000_MD.las'. This file is
located in the LAS sub-folder of the Near Offset Tutorial.
This dialog above provides various tabs to provide the user with all of the Sonic Log
parameters.
Use the mouse on the above figure in the Pre-Drift panel and draw a set of straight line
segments along the pre-drift curve. Double click when finished and the post calibration
drift will appear in the Post-Drift panel as shown below.
file:///C:/Users/DELL/AppData/Local/Temp/~hh69FE.htm 07/09/2018
VSP Near Offset Processing Page 23 of 39
Normally the Post-Drift under optimum conditions should be +/- 1 millisecond. Practically
this Post-drift can be larger depending on the quality of the data used. This completes this
calibration process and the data computed should be saved using the Save icon.
The Calibrated LAS Sonic Log icon opens a Windows save dialog to save the
calibrated data as a *.las file.
Wave Field Separation of the raw vertical data into up going and down going
waves
file:///C:/Users/DELL/AppData/Local/Temp/~hh69FE.htm 07/09/2018
VSP Near Offset Processing Page 24 of 39
Each of the job flow tools are discussed in the VISTA Flow Commands help section. For
clarity each tool is outlined with key parameters values.
file:///C:/Users/DELL/AppData/Local/Temp/~hh69FE.htm 07/09/2018
VSP Near Offset Processing Page 25 of 39
Output Various output flow tools are used to provide the flattened up going,
down going, and for reference the flattened mean.
Example Outputs
The three output are summarized below to show the outputs of this processing flow.
The added file symbols (-tt) in the file name indicate when the displays have the First
Breaks (first arrivals) and down going P-waves time aligned.
In various VSP processing flows it is necessary to restore flatten data (by removing
inserted statics) to Field Recorded Time (FRT) and/or the flattened data events on the near
offset VSP are aligned at the same time coordinate and therefore should be positioned in
pseudo-two-way travel time indicated by the symbols (TWT) or (+tt).
The Flow C_FRT & TWT.flw below provides such an example. This example can be used on
non-decon data and decon processed data.
file:///C:/Users/DELL/AppData/Local/Temp/~hh69FE.htm 07/09/2018
VSP Near Offset Processing Page 26 of 39
Example Outputs
Examples of the upgoing wave field Field Recorded Time and Two-Way-Travel
time outputs are shown below.
file:///C:/Users/DELL/AppData/Local/Temp/~hh69FE.htm 07/09/2018
VSP Near Offset Processing Page 27 of 39
For tutorial purposes only the first 1600ms is displayed in the above pictures.
file:///C:/Users/DELL/AppData/Local/Temp/~hh69FE.htm 07/09/2018
VSP Near Offset Processing Page 28 of 39
Select the [F-K Spectrum Design Window] from the drop down list and click the
'+' icon to open the window.
From the Seismic Window select the [F-K Polygon Rejection] Icon from the
vertical toolbar.
file:///C:/Users/DELL/AppData/Local/Temp/~hh69FE.htm 07/09/2018
VSP Near Offset Processing Page 29 of 39
Save the filter to a file by selecting the [Save Current F-K Definition to File] icon
on the horizontal toolbar. Save the file using the name 'tube remove (No
Decon).fkl'. The filter will be used in the next flow.
The Non-Decon Corridor Stack provides a complete example for the complete processing
for a corridor stack of the VSP data. This step is repeated after the optimum deconvolution
parameters are determined in the next section.
This allows for comparative analysis between the stacked non-decon and deconvoluted
data. The complete VSP Non-Decon Stack is performed with the following job flow Flow
D_Non-Decon Stacking.flw.
file:///C:/Users/DELL/AppData/Local/Temp/~hh69FE.htm 07/09/2018
VSP Near Offset Processing Page 30 of 39
FK-Filter The input filter file for this function is 'tube remove (No Decon).fkl'
saved from the previous topic to minimize tube wave signals.
Power = 1, Trace Smooth = 7, and Freq. Smooth = 5.
Flatten The filtered data is flattened to 100 ms with the Header Value to
Flatten On being the DATA_FIRSTBREAK (Processing Step 10).
ExpGain The exponential gain constant was set to 1.5 for the removal of
absorption effects.
Flatten The gain corrected data was flattened to 100 ms with the Header
Value to Flatten On being the DATA_FIRSTBREAK and Flatten on
Reverse Time Value is checked to remove the previous applied
static to place data in FRT.
VSPNmo Apply Normal Move-out Correction. This function requires the
Near_Offset.vspvel developed earlier (Near Offset Velocity Profile
Display) and must be set to Use P Velocity (No P/S ratio).
Flatten & Edit Reverse flatten on First Break Picks to place data into Two-Way-
Header Traveltime (TWT).
MuteTrc Mute by Apply Top Mute Header.
OrsmbyBP Apply a band pass filter to clean up data.
VSPStk - 1 Set replicate traces to 10. Provides a VSP 'full stack' prior to
performing a corridor mute.
AtmFilter This alpha trim mean/median filter was set to a median filter with
5 points (traces).
OrsmbyBP - 2 Apply a band pass filter to clean up data after median filtering.
VSPCMute Apply a VSP Corridor mute with settings of a 50 millisecond
window to a depth of 1800 meters.
VSPStk - 2 Set replicate traces to 10. Provides a VSP corridor stack.
Output Many output files are generated so that the user can examine the
outputs at the various steps.
Examples of the Non-decon Full Stack and the Corridor Stack outputs are shown
below:
file:///C:/Users/DELL/AppData/Local/Temp/~hh69FE.htm 07/09/2018
VSP Near Offset Processing Page 31 of 39
file:///C:/Users/DELL/AppData/Local/Temp/~hh69FE.htm 07/09/2018
VSP Near Offset Processing Page 32 of 39
The other outputs can be viewed after running this flow in VSP Near Offset.
The VSP deconvolution is performed with the following job flow Flow E_Decon
Processing.flw.
file:///C:/Users/DELL/AppData/Local/Temp/~hh69FE.htm 07/09/2018
VSP Near Offset Processing Page 33 of 39
file:///C:/Users/DELL/AppData/Local/Temp/~hh69FE.htm 07/09/2018
VSP Near Offset Processing Page 34 of 39
VSPDDecon The optimized parameters shown above are used to perform the
deconvolution on the up going wave field.
Flatten MuteTrace - These tools are used to create the up going wave field in
FRT for use in the next section decon VSP processing flow for stack
generation.
Output The output file is 'Decon Downgoing'.
Example Outputs
Example output from the design deconvolution and the desired output
deconvolution are provided.
file:///C:/Users/DELL/AppData/Local/Temp/~hh69FE.htm 07/09/2018
VSP Near Offset Processing Page 35 of 39
The Decon Corridor Stack Flow provides a complete example for the complete processing
for a decon corridor stack of the VSP data.
This step uses the same type of job flow as used in the Non-Decon Stack (Flow D_Non
Decon Stacking) with some parameters changed and using the deconvoluted upgoing
(FRT) wave field as input.
The complete VSP Decon Stack is performed with the following job flow Flow F_Decon
Stacking.flw.
Note: Ensure that the paths to the files needed by the FK-Filt and VSP_NMO
commands are correct before executing the flow.
file:///C:/Users/DELL/AppData/Local/Temp/~hh69FE.htm 07/09/2018
VSP Near Offset Processing Page 36 of 39
Examples of the Non-decon Full Stack and the Corridor Stack outputs are shown
below.
file:///C:/Users/DELL/AppData/Local/Temp/~hh69FE.htm 07/09/2018
VSP Near Offset Processing Page 37 of 39
The availability of Near Offset down going VSP data allows the implementation of the VSP
|Q Attenuation display for estimating Q as a function of depth.
For optimum Q estimates the filter separating the down going wave field from the Raw
Vertical data should have the minimum number of traces employed in the median filter to
keep the role off at the edges to a minimum, while also keeping the up going wave field to
a minimum.
A typical flow to prepare the down going data for Q Attenuation processing is shown below.
file:///C:/Users/DELL/AppData/Local/Temp/~hh69FE.htm 07/09/2018
VSP Near Offset Processing Page 38 of 39
file:///C:/Users/DELL/AppData/Local/Temp/~hh69FE.htm 07/09/2018
VSP Near Offset Processing Page 39 of 39
Select the output of the last flow (Downgoing Q in (-tt)) and the Near_offset velocity file.
Pick straight line segments on the cumulative Attenuation window to get Q values.
file:///C:/Users/DELL/AppData/Local/Temp/~hh69FE.htm 07/09/2018