Method of processing acquired seismic data

Abstract

A method of processing acquired seismic data which comprises extracting seismic information from the acquired data in a direction along the spatial direction of a body of interest thereby producing directional seismic attributes. Any preferred embodiment, the method incorporated unsupervised or supervised learning techniques.

1 . A method of processing acquired seismic data which comprises extracting seismic information from the acquired data in a direction along the spatial direction of a body of interest thereby producing directional seismic attributes.  
     
     
         2 . The method as claimed in  claim 1 , characterized in that the seismic information is extracted from a control volume, where the control volume has a size, shape and orientation determined by a typical size, shape and orientation of the body of interest.  
     
     
         3 . The method as claimed in  claim 1 , characterized in that the directional seismic attributes are used to enhance a texture of the body of interest.  
     
     
         4 . The method as claimed in  claim 3 , characterized in that the texture enhancement step is the first step of a two step procedure, and the second step comprises a post-processing procedure applied to the enhanced texture volume in a direction along the spatial direction of the body of interest.  
     
     
         5 . The method as claimed in  claim 4 , characterized in that the second step comprises applying geometrical constraints to the enhanced texture volume of the body of interest.  
     
     
         6 . The method as claimed in  claim 1 , characterized in that the procedure is applied to multiple seismic volumes in an iterative manner.  
     
     
         7 . The method is claimed in  claim 6 , characterized by extracting attributes in multiple volumes on each side of an extraction point.  
     
     
         8 . The method as claimed in claim,  3  characterized in that when enhanced texture volumes are recognized they are extracted and displayed for characterization.  
     
     
         9 . The method as claimed in  claim 1 , characterized in that one or more spatial filters are used to increase the signal to noise ratio of the data.  
     
     
         10 . The method as claimed in  claim 9 , characterized in that the local direction at every seismic sample position is used to adapt the orientation of the spatial filters.  
     
     
         11 . The method as claimed in  claim 1 , characterized in that the directional attributes are combined in an intelligent way to enhance the difference between a particular body of interest and background.  
     
     
         12 . The method as claimed in  claim 11 , characterized in that the directional attributes are combined using an unsupervised learning approach.  
     
     
         13 . The method as claimed in  claim 10 , characterized in that the unsupervised learning approach is used to analyze the internal structure of the acquired seismic data.  
     
     
         14 . The method as claimed in  claim 13 , characterized in that an algorithm used segments the data into a series of data segments, each segment containing a combination of attributes for subsequent interpretation.  
     
     
         15 . The method as claimed in  claim 1 , characterized in that, after a probable body of interest is detected, the size and shape of a control volume is varied during extraction to find a control volume to give a maximal contrast between attributes calculated over the control volume and the same attributes calculated outside the control volume.  
     
     
         16 . The method as claimed in  claim 1 , characterized by the use of edge detection algorithms to establish boundaries of bodies with similar characteristics.  
     
     
         17 . The method as claimed in  claim 1  for mapping a generally vertical feature, such as a fault or a gas chimney, which comprise extracting seismic information from data acquired using generally vertically orientated seismic control volumes sequentially in the region of the vertical feature.  
     
     
         18 . The method as claimed in  claim 1 , characterized by the use of time lapse seismic techniques in order to detect changes in shape over time of a feature, such as a reservoir.