Day 1

SEISMIC SURVEY DESIGN

By Carlos Tarazona
 OUTLINE
I - Brief Introduction.
II - Fundamental Elements of the Design.
III - 2D Profiles (Onshore-Offshore)/3D Inline(Offshore).
1 – Objective.
a – Type of Play & Depth of the Objective
b – Density (Recognisance vs. Detail surveys)
c – Orientation (factors affecting the orientation).
2 – Energy Source.
a – Energy Source types, Size & arrays.
b – Energy Source Signature.
c – Energy Source Depth.
3 – Receivers.
a – String Patterns (onshore).
b– Group Interval (onshore/offshore).
c – Split-Spread (onshore) - Single End (onshore/offshore).
d – Energy Source and Receivers Gap.
e– Nominal Fold/Bin size.
f - The recorded signals and the effects of the receiving string.
IV – Field Tests.
a – Source depth & size; Geoph. String position and elements spacing,
 I - Brief Introduction
• Increasing hydrocarbons demand, is forcing companies to search for it in more
challenging areas . In the last decade exploration in deep waters, has increase
exponentially in Indonesia.

• This challenge is demanding innovations in the acquisition techniques as well

as in the equipment required to meet them.

• Combination with other non-seismic techniques is increasingly being used to

map deep hydrocarbons bearing reservoirs. The most frequently used are
Gravity, Electromagnetic and Magneto-telluric.

• This first day of the course is dedicated to review the key elements of the
seismic acquisition design, and it should be kept in mind that, each area has
their own particularities, both from the geological point of view, as well as
from the specific objectives of project.
II - Fundamental Elements of the Design.

• Objective .
• Energy Source.
• Receivers.
III - 2D Profiles (Onshore-Offshore)/3D Inlines (Offshore).
1 - Objective.
a – Type of Play & Depth of the Objective

• Structural. (Depth penetration, spatial & Time Resolution, fault definition )

• Stratigraphic. (Same as above.)
• Structural & Stratigraphic. (Same as above.)
III - 2D Profiles (Onshore-Offshore)/3D Inlines (Offshore).
1 – Objective.
b – Density (Reconnaissance vs. Detail surveys).

• Depend on the coverage of legacy data and its quality.

• Type of “Exploration Plays” the Company is pursuing (structural,

stratigraphic or both).

• Level of knowledge of the subsurface both, stratigraphy and

structure.

• Intends to make a “ready to drill prospect” from a lead ?.

• Available Budget.

• Reconnaissance required in general, a set of 2D lines.

• For detail development work, 3D is the common practice today.

III - 2D Profiles (Onshore-Offshore)/3D Inlines (Offshore).
1 – Objective.
c – Orientation . (Factors affecting the orientation).

DIP STRIKE DIRECTION

DIRECTION
 2D Grid
survey

Do not forget to tie

the available wells !!!

Factors affecting the orientation

• Accessibility.
• Environmental restrictions.
• In the marine case , prevalent wind and water currents
directions and, water depth.
III - 2D Profiles (Onshore-Offshore)/3D Inlines (Offshore).
2 – Energy Source.
a – Energy Source types, Size & arrays.

• There are many energy sources that have been developed in the
Applied Seismology for the prospecting hydrocarbons however, it would
be safe to say that in Indonesia , Dynamite is the king of sources on land
as are Air guns in the marine environment. In view of the above, those
two types will be our main concern here.
• Dynamite comes in cartridges of 500 grams and, they are exploded by
sympathy by the explosion of a detonator inserted inside the cartridge.
Any specific source size, is made by adding the necessary number of
cartridges to complete the desired size.
• Larger charges generate more low frequencies and, because the
absorption effect of the earth materials (which always like to pray in high
frequencies ) these larger sources are suitable for deep targets, as well as,
for Refraction Prospecting.
 WATER GUNS
Operation of a S15 water gun. Air pushes
water through the portholes creating cavities
that collapse and create a strong high frequent
acoustic signal. Copyright: Sercel
Schematic diagram of air gun geometry

An array is a geometrical
arrangement of seismic
sources. This schematic
diagram shows an air-gun array
towed several hundred meters
behind a seismic vessel to
provide an energy source for
the acquisition of marine
seismic data.
 AIR GUN SIZES
* Airguns as small as 10 cu in, are used for shallow surveys requiring
high frequencies. Such guns have a source levels of 210-220 dB).

* Larger airguns have source levels, in the order of 220 dB but the energy
is more concentrated in lower frequency ranges and the
main pulse is only a few milliseconds in duration.

* The small guns used in high resolution work are fired from every 7 sec. To
as rapidly as every 0.25 sec.

* Arrays used in petroleum industry surveys typically have

far field source levels in the range of 240-246 dB for vertical propagation
but 10-30 dB lower for horizontal propagation, ( It should be remembered
that these are signatures of the notional point source with the same far
field signature and that closer to the array, the sound levels do not reach
as high as the notional point source ).

* Large arrays are designed to image deep into the earth’s crust and so fire
every 8 to 19 sec.
 III - 2D Profiles (Onshore-Offshore)/3D Inlines (Offshore).
2 – Energy Source.
b – Energy Source Signature.

™ It is very difficult to know the actual signature of a dynamite source.

™ Reasons among others are, variability from shot to shot of the media where
the explosion take place, size of the charge and coupling of the charge.

™ It is generally accepted for theoretical reasons that, the generated pulse of a

dynamite charge respond to a Ricker wavelet or, to a Minimum delay pulse.
These type source signatures although theoretical, are widely used in modelling.
Single Air Gun pulse
Source signature & Amplitude Spectrum of a typical gun array
III - 2D Profiles (Onshore-Offshore)/3D Inlines (Offshore).
2 – Energy Source.
c – Energy Source Depth..

• - Dynamite energy sources should be located below the Weathered

Layer (WL) to achieve an effective coupling between the energy source
and a competent ground. In addition to this there are the ghost effect
that require further discussion later.
• - Marine energy source arrays should be located at a sufficient distance
from the stern of the vessel (typically about 400 – 500 meters). The
depth however required as in the Onshore case further discussion.
 Ghost effect on Energy sources
Receiver
(simple case)
Shot hole Air Air

Water
WL
Ghost
Source Source
Ghost
Primary
Primary

Reflecting interface

Onshore (case A ) Offshore

Gun signature in the marine case
Ghost effect on the source pulse

62 Hz.

50 Hz.

36 Hz.
 Receiver
Shot hole Air Shot hole Receiver Air
Reflec. Coef. = -0.99
WL
WL
7 m.
Reflec. Coef. = -0,2
Source Source

Ghost Ghost

Primary Primary

Reflecting interface Reflecting interface

(A) (B)
In case B, if the source is located well below the WL, the generated ghost closest to
the primary source, is coming from the base of the WL. This ghost is propagating in a
media with higher velocity than that of the WL and therefore, its expected delay with
respect to the primary is much smaller than in the previous case and in all probability,
the reflection coefficient also smaller than in the WL / Air interface and consequently the
generated ghost less destructive.
 The dynamite source has 2kg strength and is about 1 meter long.
The centre of it is located 6,5 meters below the WL.

Shot hole Receiver Air

WL

7 m.
Reflec. Coef. = -0,2
Source

Ghost

Primary

Reflecting
interface

Onshore (case B )
 What have we learned?
• From the previous slides, we can see the lengthening of
the of the resulting source signature, (this implies a decay of
the high frequencies content of the Amplitude Spectrum and
therefore diminishing the thickness resolving power). In the
marine case, the deeper the gun array is the further
lengthening of the of the resulting source signature.

• The same comments apply for the onshore case, when

the energy source is within the WL or very close to its base.
III - 2D Profiles (Onshore-Offshore)/3D Inlines (Offshore).
3 – Receivers.
• A device used in surface seismic acquisition, both onshore
and on the seabed offshore, that detects ground velocity
produced by seismic waves and transforms the motion into
electrical impulses. Geophones detect motion in only one
direction. Conventional seismic surveys on land use one string
of geophones connected in series per group, to detect motion
in the vertical direction. Three mutually orthogonal geophones
are typically used in combination to collect 3C data.

• Hydrophones, unlike geophones, detect changes in

pressure rather than motion.
Land Geophones
III - 2D Profiles (Onshore-Offshore)/3D Inlines (Offshore).
3 – Receivers.
a – String Patterns (onshore).

Geophone String

Shot point 12 geophones connected in serie

Group 1 Group 2
Receiver Group
III - 2D Profiles (Onshore-Offshore)/3D Inlines (Offshore).
3 – Receivers.
b – Group Interval (onshore/offshore )

The figure illustrate the concept of Group interval,

Line array and the Subsurface Reflection Points, also
called Subsurface Coverage.
Group interval Recording truck
III - 2D Profiles (Onshore-Offshore)/3D Inlines (Offshore).
3 – Receivers.
c – Split-Spread (onshore) - Single End (onshore/offshore).

Split-Spread (onshore)
Active recording groups are in both sides from the source (Symmetric or
Asymmetric)
Single End (offshore/onshore)
Conventional marine seismic data acquisition method using a single vessel to
tow one or more seismic source arrays and streamers in a straight line as the
vessel records seismic data.
In the land case the active recording groups are only in one side from the
source (called front end or back end).

III - 2D Profiles (Onshore-Offshore)/3D Inlines (Offshore).

3 – Receivers.
d – Energy Source and Receivers Gap.)
The horizontal distance from the source to the first receiver group.
III - 2D Profiles (Onshore-Offshore)/3D Inlines (Offshore).
3 – Receivers.
e – Nominal Fold/Bin size.

FOLD
The number of traces that have been added together during stacking is called the fold.
• If we are shooting on every group into a single end spread with N number of groups, the fold
that we get is equal N/2.
• If we are shooting on every other group into a single end spread with N number of groups,
the fold that we get is equal N/4.
• If we are shooting on every group into a split-spread with N number of groups, the fold that
we get is equal N/2.
• If we are shooting on every other group into a split-spread with N number of groups, the
fold that we get is equal N/4.
 AZIMUTH
The angle between the vertical projection of a line of interest onto a horizontal
surface and true north or magnetic north measured in a horizontal plane, typically
measured clockwise from north.

BIN
A subdivision of a seismic survey. The area of a 3D survey is divided into bins, which are
commonly on the order of 25 m [82 ft] long and 25 m wide; traces are assigned to
specific bins according to the midpoint between the sources and the receiver , reflection
point or conversion point. Bins are commonly assigned according to common midpoint
(CMP), but more sophisticated seismic processing allows for other types of binning.
Traces within a bin are stacked to generate the output trace for that bin. Data quality
depends in part on the number of traces per bin, or the fold.
III - 2D Profiles (Onshore-Offshore)/3D Inlines (Offshore).
3 – Receivers.
f - The recorded signals and the effects of the receiving string.

Ground Roll and & other noise waves

A type of coherent noise
generated by a surface
wave, typically a low-
velocity, low-frequency,
high-amplitude Rayleigh
wave. Ground roll can
obscure signal and degrade
overall data quality, but
can be alleviated through
careful selection of source
and geophone arrays,
filters and stacking
parameters.
Measuring wavelength
on noise records
Let us assume we want to eliminate a surface wave with a 27 meter
wave length arriving to a 12 geophone string as shown below.

Geophone String

12 geophones connected in serie

Shot point

Group 1 Group 2

Arriving Surface Wave

 Response of a string of geophones

sin(nsPi)
R(s) = ---------------
n x sin(sxPi)

Notation key:

R(s) = Array Response ( 0 < R < 1 )

n = number of geophones
s = geophone spacing / noise wavelength ( 0 < s < 1 )
Pi = 3,14....
Note: these apply only to
waves travelling horizontally
Linear noises nowadays are efficiently eliminated by digital filtering
during processing. However, we need to remember that the arrivals
at each geophone of an array are electronically summed in the field
and therefore, “what is done is done !!!”. In other words, we should
be more concerned with what we have done to the reflected signals
in the field when trying to Reduce Ground roll or other linear noises.
 Angle of emergence

Receiver 1 Receiver 2
X2 – X1

a = arc sin ((t2-t1) / (x2-x1))

a = angle of emergence
t2 – t1 = arrival delay time
x2 – x1 = receivers distance
 Geophone array of 12 geophones with 5 meters interval
1.2
Arrival wave
1
Total Response
33 Hz Peak freq.
0.8
The sweeping wave across
Amplitude

the array is 2500 m/sec. It is

0.6
assumed there is only a
27 Hz peak freq. linear moveout across the
0.4 array.

0.2

0
0 0.05 0.1 0.15 0.2
-0.2
Time in seconds

-0.4

-0.6
From the previous slide is easy to understand that for a given
velocity, the larger the angle of emergence, the bigger will be
t2 – t1 and therefore, the stronger the deterioration by narrowing
the bandwidth of the arriving wave.

Let us see now what happens when the reflecting interface is not
horizontal.
 Shooting up-dip

Shooting down-dip

Surface

Reflector
Remember that, standard geophones
are only sensitive to vertical ground
motion !.

Particle Velocity
Vertical component
Horizontal component
What happens when there is a non linear moveout across a geophone
string?, in other words, what the string array will do to the reflections ?
.
0 6 12 18 24 30 36 42
0.89992
Distance (m.)
0.89994
Two way time (sec.)

We know the zero offset time.

0.89996 We know the RMS velocity.
0.89998
We know the arrival time at offset 18 m.
We can calculate the Va.
0.9

0.90002 Tangent = dx/dt = apparent velocity, Va

0.90004

0.90006

0.90008

0.9001

0.90012

0.90014
MOVEOUT
What we have learned from the two previous slides ?:
1 – It is better to have short string of geophones.

2 - It is better to have small number of geophones per string (5 or less ?).

3 – It is better to have small distance between geophones (2 to meters or less ?).

or:

4 – Would it be better to have just one geophone per group only?. This is
something worth to think about it !
The effect of the streamer depth in the marine case on the
recorded signal, is the same to that of the source array depth
i.e., the deeper the streamer the further reduction is made
to the high frequency content of the recorded signal.
Vessels are typically about 75 m [246 ft] long and travel about 5 knots [9.3 km/hr
or 5.75 statute miles/hr] while towing arrays of air guns and streamers containing
hydrophones a few meters below the surface of the water. The tail buoy helps the
crew locate the end of the streamers. The air guns are activated periodically, such
as every 25 m (about 10 seconds), and the resulting sound wave travels into the
Earth and is reflected back by the underlying rock layers to a hydrophone and
relayed to the recording vessel.
 How these parameters are related ?.
• Speed of the Vessel
• Shot interval
• Recording time
• Feathering
• Weather
• Streamer depth

Let us define first a couple of concepts.

 Feathering
In marine seismic acquisition, the lateral deviation of a streamer away from the towing
direction caused by water currents.

Footprint

The area covered by an array of towed

streamers in marine seismic acquisition
or, in the onshore acquisition case, a grid
of receivers planted in the ground.
9If the speed of the vessel is 9.3 Km/hr and we are shooting every 25 meters
it means that, we have a maximum time of 10 seconds between shots and
therefore, that is all the time we have to record the incoming signals, record
positioning information and the compressor on board to the build up the pressure
on the guns to shoot again.

9It seems plenty of time but, if we need higher spatial resolution ,let us say shot
every 20 meters then the required shooting time interval will be 8 seconds.

9When strong water currents occurs, feathering could be very severe and, this will
force us to increase the speed of the vessel and consequently, reduce the time to
accomplish all the tasks we have mentioned above. In this case let us increase the
speed from 9.3 Km/hr to 11.3 Km/hr then now, we have only available 6.4 sec.
between shots. What happens in this situation when we are shooting in deep
water trying to map deep targets ?. I am sure you can answer this !.
 Near and Far Offsets
Source Near Offset Far offset
Surface

Reflector 1
For a given offset, notice
the decrease of the
angle of incidence with
the Increase of the
Reflector 2 depth of the reflector
From the previous slide we know that for a given spread length,
the deeper our target is, the smaller become the angles of
incidence. Therefore, in the case in which we are seeking deep
targets, longer streamers are required to ensure we get a wide
range of pre-critical angles of incidence. This can create
significant operational problems. Long streamers are more
difficult to manage when feathering occurs, turning takes longer
also and, take more power towing them. To overcome these
difficulties two vessel are used, one carrying guns and, a second
one navigating one streamer length behind carrying also guns and
a short streamer.
 TWO VESSELS CONFIGURATION

Vessel 1
Vessel 2
spread
Gun array
Gun array

The shooting of the first vessel into the spread towed by the
second will generate long offsets while, the shooting of the
second vessel will generate the near offsets. This approach
required a sophisticated recording and navigation system to
synchronize properly such operation.
The fundamental aim of the design of a seismic survey is the
imaging of the subsurface with as many as possible of its
complexities. In achieving this many methods and techniques
have and are being developed and refined. With the more
frequent use of 3D surveys (both Onshore & Offshore) it has
become clear that a sufficient fold, range of azimuths
and pre-critical angles are key parameters of the
design.
 IV – Field Tests.
a – Source depth & size; Geophone String position and elements spacing.

When not sure what parameters you want, field testing before
the survey starts should be done.
In the onshore case have a spreads laid out with the group
interval that will give you the required subsurface space
resolution and pre-critical angles.
Have drilled as many shot holes as you will require to test the
source size and its depth.
Sources
Small spreads with
different geophones
per string
 Onshore source testing

• Two parameters are important: Depth and Size.

For deciding on the depth, the most critical is determining where is the WL.
In finding that, a hole should be drilled deep enough to detect a lithology
change that may suggest you have reached it. If you have Legacy data, read
the previous acquisitions and processing (refraction statics info !.) reports. If
these are not available , try to interpret a seismic contact.

• As for size is concerned, it will depend on the depth of your target. The
deeper the target is, the bigger the source. The higher the resolution you
need the smaller the charge. A balance of these two parameters should be
determine in order to meet the specific requirements of your project. Each
project is a different ball game !!.
 Length of the spread

• In determining the length of the spread you need to consider three

parameters : Fold, Pre-critical angles (azimuths also in 3D) and Subsurface
spatial resolution.
• The fold will depend on the number of groups on the spread and the
shooting interval which in turn, will determine the subsurface space sampling
you will get.
• As for the angles remember that the deeper your target is, the longer offsets
you will need. The best approach to this is to do a ray tracing modelling of your
particular objective .
Before you star a seismic survey whether, 2D or
3D, Onshore or Offshore, it is important that you
model different approaches that are consistent
with the objectives you are looking for. This will
help you to decide the optimum parameters to
achieve it.
 END
&
THANK YOU !