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US 10,379,240 B2Granted
Method and apparatus for geophysical surveys
AssigneeION Geophysical Corporation
InventorJohn Gregor
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Methods and apparatuses are disclosed that assist in correlating subsequent geophysical surveys. In some embodiments, geophysical data may be generated including a first set of data from a monitor survey that is matched with a second set of data from a baseline survey. An attribute value may be generated for each datum in the first set of data and each attribute value generated may be stored with its corresponding datum. Then, the first set of data may be processed based on the stored attribute values. In some embodiments, the attribute values may be based upon the geometric closeness of sources and receivers in the baseline and monitor surveys.
Claims18
A method of geophysical exploration by propagating seismic waves, the method comprising:
- matching a first set of data from a monitor survey with a second set of data from a baseline survey, the monitor survey occurring after the baseline survey, wherein the first and second sets of data comprise common mid-point positions (CMPs) between seismic sources controlling emission of seismic energy and seismic receivers monitoring response to the seismic sources, wherein the sources are configured to emit seismic energy that is reflected from the earth and the receivers are configured to receive the reflected seismic energy by the propagating seismic waves;
- comparing matched pairs of the CMPs to generate an attribute value for each datum in the first set, wherein the attribute value comprises a repeatability metric Dsrc+Drx, wherein Dsrc is a difference in source positions between the baseline survey CMP and the monitor survey CMP, and Drx is a difference in receiver positions between the baseline survey CMP and the monitor survey CMP;
- storing each attribute value with each of said datum, wherein each matched CMP from the monitor survey is binned together with its attribute value;
- processing the first set of data based on the stored attribute values, wherein the repeatability metric is used as a filter such that CMPs with attribute values within a specified parameter range remain in the binned data;
- and
- generating a visual representation of the binned data, wherein generating the visual representation comprises computing a difference between each datum in the first set with a correlated datum from the second set such that the processed data are responsive to composition of the earth proximate locations from which the seismic energy was reflected, and wherein the difference represents a depletion in petrochemical content in a reservoir, oil or gas removed from the reservoir, oil or gas that remains in the reservoir, or oil or gas that has moved within the reservoir over a period of time since the baseline survey.
3 more elements
A method of geophysical exploration by propagating seismic waves, the method comprising:
- matching a first set of data from a monitor survey with a second set of data from a baseline survey, the monitor survey occurring after the baseline survey, wherein the first and second sets of data comprise common mid-point positions (CMPs) between seismic sources controlling emission of seismic energy and seismic receivers monitoring response to the seismic sources, wherein the sources are configured to emit seismic energy that is reflected from the earth and the receivers are configured to receive the reflected seismic energy by the propagating seismic waves;
- comparing matched pairs of the CMPs to generate an attribute value for each datum in the first set, wherein the attribute values comprise a repeatability metric Dsrc+Drx, wherein Dsrc is a difference in source positions between the baseline survey CMP and the monitor survey CMP, and Drx is a difference in receiver positions between the baseline survey CMP and the monitor survey CMP;
- associating each generated attribute value with the datum from the first set of data from which the attribute value was generated;
- storing each attribute value with each of said datum, wherein each matched CMP from the monitor survey is binned together with its attribute value;
- processing the first set of data based on the attribute values, wherein the repeatability metric is used as a filter such that CMPs with attribute values within a specified parameter range remain in the binned data;
- and
- generating a visual representation of the binned data, wherein generating the visual representation comprises computing a difference between each datum in the first set with a correlated datum from the second set such that the processed data are responsive to composition of the earth proximate locations from which the seismic energy was reflected, and wherein the difference between each datum in the first set and the correlated data from the second set represents a depletion in petrochemical content of a reservoir, oil or gas removed from the reservoir, oil or gas that remains in the reservoir, or oil or gas that has moved within the reservoir over a period of time since the baseline survey.
4 more elements
A non-transitory, tangible computer-readable data storage medium for storing a plurality of instructions, the instructions executable by a computer processor according to a method of geophysical exploration by propagating seismic waves, the method comprising:
- matching a first set of data from a monitor survey with a second set of data from a baseline survey, the monitor survey occurring after the baseline survey, wherein the first and second sets of data comprise common mid-point positions (CMPs) between seismic sources controlling emission of seismic energy and seismic receivers monitoring response to the seismic sources, wherein the sources are configured to emit seismic energy that is reflected from the earth and the receivers are configured to receive the reflected seismic energy by the propagating seismic waves;
- comparing matched pairs of the CMPs to generate an attribute value for each datum in the first set, wherein the attribute values comprise a repeatability metric Dsrc+Drx, wherein Dsrc is a difference in source positions between the baseline survey CMP and the monitor survey CMP, and Drx is a difference in receiver positions between the baseline survey CMP and the monitor survey CMP;
- associating each generated attribute value with the datum from the first set of data from which the attribute value was generated;
- storing each attribute value with each of said datum, wherein each matched CMP from the monitor survey is binned together with its attribute value;
- processing the first set of data based on the attribute values, wherein the repeatability metric is used as a filter such that CMPs with attribute values within a specified parameter range remain in the binned data;
- and
- generating a visual representation of the binned data, wherein generating the visual representation comprises computing a difference between each datum in the first set with a correlated datum from the second set such that the processed data are responsive to composition of the earth proximate locations from which the seismic energy was reflected, and wherein the difference represents a depletion in petrochemical content of a reservoir, oil or gas removed from the reservoir, oil or gas that remains in the reservoir, or oil or gas that has moved within the reservoir over a period of time since the baseline survey.
4 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.