Displacement field calculation

A computer system, comprising:

• a processor;
• a display, and
• a memory comprising program instructions executable by the processor to:
• (a) select a first trace from a first seismic data set and a second trace from a second seismic data set, wherein the first seismic data set is acquired from a first survey and the second seismic data set is acquired from a second survey after a predetermined amount of time has lapsed, and wherein the first seismic data set and the second seismic data set were acquired from one or more seismic receivers;
• (b) extract one or more features of a same type from the first trace and the second trace, wherein the extracted features comprise only a portion of the first trace and the second trace;
• (c) match the extracted features from the first trace with the extracted features from the second trace;
• (d) calculate for a displacement field using one or more of the matching features of the first trace and the second trace, wherein the displacement field is a regularly sampled trace representing a time shift between the first trace and the second trace;
• and
• (e) apply the displacement field to the second trace to align the second trace to the first trace.

A method for processing seismic data performed by a processor executing program instructions on a computer readable memory, the method comprising:

• selecting a first trace from a first seismic data set and a second trace from a second seismic data set, wherein the first seismic data set is acquired from a first survey and the second seismic data set is acquired from a second survey after a predetermined amount of time has lapsed, and wherein the first seismic data set and the second seismic data set were acquired from one or more seismic receivers;
• extracting one or more features of a same type from the first trace and the second trace, wherein the same type is selected from a group consisting of a local curve maxima, local curve minima, zero crossing positive, zero crossing negative and curve inflection point and wherein the extracted features comprise only a portion of the first trace and the second trace;
• matching the extracted features from the first trace with the extracted features from the second trace;
• calculating for a displacement field using one or more of the matching features of the first trace and the second trace, wherein the displacement field is a regularly sampled trace representing a time shift between the first trace and the second trace;
• and
• applying the displacement field to the second trace to align the second trace to the first trace.