May 12, 2012

Seismic attributes:
A measurable property of seismic data, such as amplitude , dip, frequency, phase and polarity.
Attributes can be measured at one instant in time or over a time window, and may be measured on a
single trace, on a set of traces or on a surface interpreted from seismic data.
Attributes analysis includes assessment of various reservoir parameters, including hydrocarbon
indicators...( bright spot and dim-spot analysis), by techniques such as amplitude variation with offset
(AVO) analysis and acoustic and elastic impedance inversion and forward seismic modeling.
The seismic amplitude, representing primarily contrasts in elastic properties between individual layers,
contain information about lithology, porosity, pore-fluid type and saturation, as well as pore pressureinformations.
Types of Attributes and geological significance
- Amplitude represinting for
Lithological contrasts(elastic properties), Bedding continuity, Bed spacing, porosity and Fluid content
- Frequency
Bedding thickness, Lithological contrast and Fluid conet
- Reflectivity strength
Lithological contrast, Bedding continuity, Bed spacing and porosity

May 12, 2012

Amplitude and refelctivity
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1- Bright Spots
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Bright spot could be associated with hydrocarbon traps.
-In relatively soft sand, the presence of gas and/or light oil will decrease the velocity and amplitude
decrease to negative.
-If the sand is relatively hars and saturated with brine may induce a "Bright Spot" anomaly, while the
gas-filled sand may be transparent causing "Dim Spot" and the problem in the identification of dim

spots is that they are dim - they are hard to see (This issue can be dealt with by investigating limitedrange stack sections).Only a quantitative analysis of the change in near- to far-offset amplitude, a
gradient analysis, will be able to reveal the sand with any considerable degree of confidence.
There have been several cases where bright-spot anomalies have been drilled, and turned out not to be
hydrocarbons.
Some common "false bright spots" include:
Volcanic intrusions and volcanic ash layers
Highly cemented sands, often calcite cement in thin pinch-out zones
Low-porosity heterolithic sands
Overpressured sands or shales
Coal beds
Top of salt diapirs
"Flat spots"
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Flat spots occur at the reflective boundary between different fluids, either gas-oil, gas- water, or wateroil contacts. These can be easy to detect in areas where the background stratigraphy is tilted, so the flat
spot will stick out. However, if the stratigraphy is more or less flat, the fluid-related flat spot can be
difficult to discover. Then, quantitative methods like AVO analysis can help to discriminate the fluidrelated flat spot from the flat-lying lithostratigraphy.
There are other causes that can give rise to flat spot:
Ocean bottom multiples
Flat stratigraphy. The bases of sand lobes especially tend to be flat.
Opal-A to opal-CT diagenetic boundary
Paleo-contacts, either related to diagenesis or residual hydrocarbon saturation
Volcanic sills

May 18, 2012

The Classification of Attributes
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A)
Attributes can be computed from prestack or from poststack
data, before or after time migration. The procedure is the same in all of these cases. Attributes can be
classified in many different ways.
1- Pre-Stack Attributes
Input data are CDP or image gather traces. They will have directional (azimuth) and offset related
information. These computations generate huge amounts of data; hence they are not practical for initial
studies. However, they contain considerable amounts of information that can be directly related to fluid
content and fractureorientation. AVO, velocities and azimuthal variation of all attributes are included in
this class.
2-Post-Stack Attributes
Stacking is an averaging process which eliminates offset and
azimuth related information. Input data could be CDP stacked or
migrated. One should note that time migrated data will maintain
their time relationships, hence temporal variables,such as frequency, will also retain their physical
dimensions. For depth migrated sections,frequency is replaced by wave number,
which is a function of propagation velocity and frequency.
Post-stack attributes are a more manageable approach for observing large amounts of data in initial
reconnaissance investigations.
B)
Attributes may be further classified by their computational characteristics:
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1-Instantaneous Attributes
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Instantaneous attributes are computed sample by sample, and represent instantaneous variations of
various parameters.
Instantaneous values of attributes such as trace envelope, its derivatives, frequency and phase may be
determined from complex traces.
2-Wavelet Attributes
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This class comprises those instantaneous attributes that are computed at the peak of the trace envelope
and have a direct relationship to the Fourier transform of the wavelet in the
vicinity of the envelope peak. For example, instantaneous frequency at the peak of the envelope is
equal to the mean frequency of the wavelet amplitude spectrum. Instantaneous
phase corresponds to the intercept phase of the wavelet. This attribute is also called the response

attribute. (Bodine, 1984).

C) Also attributes may be sub-classified on the basis of the relationship to the geology:
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1-Physical Attributes
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Physical attributes relate to physical qualities and quantities. The magnitude of the trace envelope is
proportional to the acoustic impedance contrast; frequencies relate to bed thickness, wave scattering
and absorption. Instantaneous and average velocities directly relate to rock properties. Consequently,
these attributes are mostly used for lithological classification and reservoir characterization.
2-Geometrical Attributes
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Geometrical attributes describe the spatial and temporal relationship of all other attributes. Lateral
continuity measured by semblance is a good indicator of bedding similarity as well as discontinuity.
Bedding dips and curvatures give depositional information. Geometrical attributes are also of use for
stratigraphic
interpretation since they define event characteristics and their spatial relationships, and may be used to
quantify features that directly assist in the recognition of depositional patterns, and related lithology.
Most of Seismic attributes, instantaneous or wavelet, are a function of the characteristics of the
reflected seismic wavelet. That is, we consider the interfaces between two beds. However, velocity and
absorption are measured as quantities occurring between two interfaces, or within a bed.
Therefore, we can further sub-divide the attributes into two categories, as follows:
1-Reflective Attributes
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Attributes corresponding to the characteristics of interfaces. All instantaneous and wavelet attributes
can be included under this category. Pre-stack attributes such as AVO are also reflective attributes,
since AVO studies the angle dependent reflection response of an interface.
2-Transmissive Attributes
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Transmissive attributes relate to the characteristics of a bed between two interfaces. Interval, RMS and
average velocities, Q, absorption and dispersion come under this category. Because individual
attributes may be representative of several possible conditions we attempt to minimize this inherent
uncertainty, or non-uniqueness, by combining multiple attributes in a logical fashion. Individual
attributes measuring only one quantity are termed Primitive attributes. These primitive attributes may
be logically, statistically or mathematically combined to form Hybrid attributes. The most common
tool for performing this combination is through the use of Artificial Neural Networks.