Method and system for determining seismic velocities using global path tracing

A system, comprising:

• a seismic surveying system comprising a seismic source and a plurality of seismic receivers;
• and
• a seismic interpreter comprising a computer processor, wherein the seismic interpreter is coupled to the seismic surveying system, the seismic interpreter comprising functionality for:
• obtaining seismic data for a geological region of interest;
• determining a plurality of velocity semblance values for the geological region of interest using a time window and the seismic data;
• determining automatically a plurality of stacking velocities for the geological region of interest using a traced path based on the plurality of velocity semblance values and a path tracing algorithm,
• wherein the path tracing algorithm recursively determines an accumulated amplitude array based on the plurality of velocity semblance values, and
• wherein the path tracing algorithm further determines the traced path among the plurality of velocity semblance values and the accumulated amplitude array, the traced path corresponding to the plurality of stacking velocities;
• generating a stacked image by applying a normal moveout to the plurality of stacking velocities based on the path tracing algorithm;
• updating one or more parameters of the path tracing algorithm in response to determining that the stacked image fails to satisfy a predetermined criterion;
• and
• generating a velocity model of the geological region of interest using the plurality of stacking velocities and the one or more parameters of the path tracing algorithm that are updated.

A non-transitory computer readable medium storing instructions executable by a computer processor, the instructions comprising functionality for:

• obtaining seismic data for a geological region of interest;
• determining a plurality of velocity semblance values for the geological region of interest using a time window and the seismic data;
• determining automatically one or more stacking velocities for the geological region of interest using a traced path based on the plurality of velocity semblance values and a path tracing algorithm,
• wherein the path tracing algorithm recursively determines an accumulated amplitude array based on the plurality of velocity semblance values, and
• wherein the path tracing algorithm further determines the traced path among the plurality of velocity semblance values and the accumulated amplitude array, the traced path corresponding to the one or more stacking velocities;
• generating a velocity model of the geological region of interest using the one or more stacking velocities;
• and
• generating a seismic image of the geological region of interest using the velocity model.