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Appendix C
Useful formulas in 3D seismic survey design
c Vint 1
C.1 Introduction Rz = × × , (C.4)
2 fmax cos i
This appendix brings together a few formulas useful in
3D seismic survey design. Formulas in subsections 6 and c Vint 1
Rα = × × , (α = x or y). (C.5)
7 and the algorithm in section C.2 apply to orthogonal 2 fmax sin θ cos i
geometry but can also be used to find equivalent para­
meters (see Section 2.4.7) for areal geometry. Table 4.4 3. Bin size and station spacing.—Section 4.4.5.3 dis­
lists more relationships for regular orthogonal geometry. cusses inline bin size bi and crossline bin size bc:

1. Required maximum frequency fmax.—Formulas Va Vint

expressing the required maximum frequency in terms of
bi = bc = ≈ , (C.6)
2 fmax 4 fmax sin θ
required vertical resolution Rz and required horizontal
resolution Ra are as follows (Section 4.4.3): where Va is apparent velocity (measured in zero-offset
domain) of the event to be sampled without aliasing and
c Vint 1 q is required migration aperture in degrees. This angle
fmax = × × , (C.1)
2 Rz cos i should always be larger than the maximum dip angle. For
small dip angles, the recommended rule of thumb for q is
c Vint 1
fmax = × × , (α = x or y), (C.2) 30°. Station spacing is two times bin size.
2 Rα sin θ cos i

where q is maximum migration aperture, c is a constant 4. Mute offset as a function of maximum stretch
(c = 0.715 for Rayleigh criterion), Vint is interval velocity ­factor.—Section 4.4.6.2 discusses the relation between
at target level, and i is angle of incidence, which depends mute offset Xmute and maximum stretch factor Sfact,max:
on offset.
Note that 1/cosi is equal to the stretch factor applicable X mute ≈ t0Vrms Sfact
2
,max − 1, (C.7)

to a shot/receiver pair. In a survey, many different traces

are acquired with many different offsets and, hence, many
different stretch factors. The final resolution is an average
of all resolutions that can be obtained with subsets of a
small range of offsets. Therefore, in equations C.1 and
C.2, some average value has to be used. For a wide geom­
etry, the average stretch factor S3Davg is given by
S 3Davg =
1
= 1.0 +
( Sfact,max − 1) , (C.3)
cos i 2 b32 rm
where Sfact,max is maximum stretch factor (Section 4.4.6.3).
2. Horizontal and vertical resolution for a given
fmax.—Rewriting equations C.1 and C.2 allows us to
express resolution in terms of maximum frequency:
301
where t0 is traveltime at zero offset and Vrms is root-mean-
square velocity (formula assumes slowly varying Vrms).
5. 3D fold with equal S/N as 2D data with known
fold.—In Appendix D, a formula is derived for 3D fold
M3 that should produce 3D data with the same signal-to-
noise ratio (S/N) as the existing 2D data with fold M2:
M3 = 4.4 2
M 2 , (C.8a)
b2 rZOI
where b3 and b2 are 3D and 2D bin size, respectively;
rm is migration radius; and rZOI is radius of the zone
of influence. In a medium with constant velocity
V, this equation can also be written as
 302 Appendix C Useful formulas in 3D seismic survey design

b32 rm f p where fp is peak frequency of the Ricker wavelet. For

M3 = 2.54 M 2 , (C.8b)
b2 zV
where fp is peak frequency of the seismic wavelet and z
is depth of target. These formulas are derived for random
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this wavelet length, the absolute amplitude values that
are truncated (the theoretical Ricker wavelet has infinite
length) are more than 40 dB below the peak amplitude.
For all practical purposes, peak amplitude can be equated

noise. Coherent noise may look like random noise for
large station intervals, but for small station intervals pre­
stack processing can suppress coherent noise better than
random noise; this especially applies to 3D data. This for­
mula is discussed further in Section 4.4.7.3.
6. Maximum and minimum offset.—Maximum mini­
mum offset (Figure 2.16) or LMOS:
LMOS = RLI 2 + SLI 2 . (C.9)
to dominant frequency. Dominant frequency is usually
close to fmax/2.
C.2  Algorithm for average_fold
This algorithm is based on equation 4.17 discussed in
Section 4.4.7.2. The variable “temp” in this algorithm is
the area of the cross-spread inside the circle with radius
Xmute/2.

Maximum offset (Figure 2.9) Xmax:

a = Min (Xmax_inline, Xmax_xline);
X max = X max,
2
i + X max,c . (C.10)
2
b = Max (Xmax_inline, Xmax_xline);
Minimum maximum offset (Figure 2.37) Xminmax: f1[r] := 0.25 p r^2;
f2[r, a] := 0.5 r^2 ArcSin[a/r] + 0.5 a Sqrt[r^2 - a^2];
X min max = ( Mi − 1)2 SLI 2 + ( Mc − 1)2 RLI 2 . (C.11)
f3[r, a, b] := f 2[r, a] - 0.5 r^2 ArcCos[b/r] + 0.5 b
Here, RLI and SLI are receiver- and source-line intervals, Sqrt[r^2 - b^2];
respectively; Mi and Mc are inline and crossline folds, r = Xmute; (repeat for all Xmutes)
respectively; and Xmax,i and Xmax,c are maximum inline and
If (r < a) then
maximum crossline offsets, respectively.
temp = f1[r]
7. Line interval needed to achieve a desired fold else
for a given mute offset.—In Section 4.4.8, a formula is
derived that can be used to get an approximate value for If (r < b) then
line interval S based on desired fold M and mute offset temp = f2[r, a]
Xmute:
else
X p
S = mute . (C.12) If (r < Sqrt[a^2 + b^2]) then
2 M
temp = f3[r, a, b]
The line interval S can be computed for each level of
else
interest. Select the smallest line interval to satisfy all
requirements. Round off to an integer multiple of the sta­ temp = a b
tion spacing to achieve regular fold. endif

8. Wavelet length.—For a smooth wavelet such as a endif

Ricker wavelet, Section 4.5.3.2 discusses that the length endif
of the wavelet in seconds can be computed from
Fold_average = Fold_inline Fold_xline temp/(a b)
1.7
Wavelet length ≈ , (C.13) End_Average_fold
fp