ATTRIBUTE ANALYSIS

ADVANCED SEISMIC PROSPECTING

ATTRIBUTES
Reflection strength

Instantaneous phase
Arrival times of event
Amount of normal moveout

Associated amplitude variation

Dominant frequency

COLOR DISPLAY
Allows association of measurements and changes in
them with structural features, e.g. locating and
understanding faults, unconformities , pinch- outs,
prograding deposition, seismic sequence boundaries,
hydrocarbon accumulation & stratigraphic & other
variations which might be misinterpreted as
hydrocarbon accumulations

SEISMIC CHARACTER
Used for correlation (e.g. certain reflecting sequence

or depositional wave situation characterized by

distinctive waveform use this for jump corr., corr.
across fault & verification that reflection has been
picked correctly.
Change in waveform correct with change in

thickness of interval, in facies , in the no. & thickness

of beds etc.

Why is it easier to recognize

changes attributed to subsurface
condition now?
1. Better recording & processing techniques. Data less
distorted, less noise, amplitude information & wideband frequency better preserved, seismic waveform
shortened & stabilized, multiple energy & other noise
removed & the data migrated without amplitude or
waveform distortion. To derive stratigraphic meaning variations in seismic record must be associated with
variation in the subsurface.
2. Availability of more types of measurements - provide
more ways of looking at the data.

Ex. of types of measurements arrival time of event

(traditional), amount of NMO, AVO, dominant frequency &
others.
3. Better display- able to see significant details . There are
too many measurements - position along seismic line,
arrival time, NMO amplitude, dominant freq. intelligent
display or 2D graphs not possible. Use multiple display. Exa. sections at different amplitude
b. Sections using different stacking velocity
c. Sections using different filters
d. Display of velocity analysis
e. Spectral plots to show frequency, contents & other
quantities.
f. Problem of multiple display - difficult to relate solution.
Use color display.

Recorded seismic trace

g(t)
R(t)- time dependent
phaser, a vector
perpendicular to time
axis, rotates about time
axis & length varies as
a function of time.
(t)= phase
g(t)=R(t)cos[(t)],
projection on real
plane
h(t)= R(t)sin [(t)],
projection on
imaginary plane
*use Hilbert transform
to generate h(t) from
g(t).

SEISMIC WAVE AS ANALYTICAL

SIGNAL

Seismic Trace- measure of velocity of

motion(geophones) and measure of pressure variation
(hydrophone)

Seismic wave- involves moving particles from their

equilibrium.
Position- involves kinetic energy
Hence, seismic trace g(t) - measure of kinetic energy
Particle motion - resisted by elastic restoring force energy becomes stored as potential energy. As particle
moves in response to passage of seismic wave - energy
transfers back & forth between kinetic & potential energy.
h2(t) - measure of potential energy

 =
t =

g2 t + h2 t
tan1

h t
g t

For every sample point t determine R(t) and (t)

rather than taking average over a number of samples.
Reflective strength on arrival of the seismic
reflection first it increases and then decreases
hence there is a local maxima in the reflective
strength.
Polarity at the time of maxima it maybe +ve or ve
depending on whether the reflective coefficient is +ve
or ve.

 Reflective strength may have its maxima at

phase points other than peaks or troughs especially
where the reflection is the interference composite of
several sub reflections.

 Maximum reflective strength gives

additional information color coded reflective
strength display provides a measure of reflective
character.
1. It is sometimes an aid in distinguishing
reflective from massive reflectors and those
that are interference composite. Reflection
massive interfaces tend to remain constant
over a large region. Such reflection provide
the best reference for smoothing or flattering
data or for measuring time thickness
variations which might indicate differential
compaction, local or regional thinning, facies
changes, velocity variation etc.

2. Reflection which result from the interference of several

separate reflection tend to vary along a seismic line as
the thickness or the contrast of the individual
composition reflector changes.
3. Variations which are systematic with structure may
indicate growth during deposition.
4. Unconformities often show changes in reflective
strength character as the sub-cropping beds change.
This maybe the indicator for unconformities which are
otherwise difficult to detect.
5. Seismic sequences boundaries tend to have fairly large
reflective strength.

Phase Display
Instantaneous phase is a quantity independent of

reflective strength. Phase emphasizes the

continuity of events.
In phase displays every peak, trough and zero
crossing which are assigned a particular color each.
Phase color wheel is such that +180 and -180 are
the same color because they are the same phase
angle.
Such phase displays are especially effective in
showing pinch-outs, angularities and the
interference of events with different dip altitude
like turbidities.

Instantaneous Frequency
The time derivative of instantaneous phase is called

instantaneous frequency.
Like instantaneous phase, it is a value appropriate to
a point rather than being an average over some
interval.
The instantaneous frequency can vary abruptly,
which is sometimes an advantage because abrupt
changes do not output in an averaging process.
It is also sometimes a disadvantage because there
maybe so many changes that the interpreter cannot
comprehend them.

 It is useful to smooth frequency measurements.

Smoothing can be done in many ways such as

using time windows of varying shape and length
in time.
One particularly useful scheme is to use a
weighting according to reflective strength, which
produces average weighted frequency.
The above methods of determining frequency (both
instantaneous and weighted) are different from the
more familiar FT methods in which the data over
and appreciable length of trace are fitted with sine
curves of different frequency, amplitude and phase
shifts.

 The amplitude of the different frequency

components are thus averages over the entire part

of the trace being fitted, rather than values
approximation to a single instant in time.
In some areas instantaneous frequency has been a
good indicator of condensate reservoirs.
These are associated with a characteristic low
frequency anomaly directly underneath them.
Use of weighted frequency as an indicator of a
condensate reservoir is an empirical relation based
on a number of observations. The mechanism by
which such zones attenuate high frequency is not
known.

Polarity
The sign of the seismic trace (+ve or -ve) when the

reflective strength has its maximum value is

determined and called polarity.
A magenta or blue color is assigned to suggest that
the reflective coefficient ( if the event indicator a
single dominant interface) is +ve or ve.
The intensity of the color is varied according to the
magnitude of the reflective strength.

Use of color sections for display

Useful for display of large masses of data for

optimum correlations, comprehension and

interpretation.
Color coded section superimposed on a conventional
record-section plot makes interrelations easier to
see.

 The seismic measurements most commonly color

coded are:
1. Reflective strength
2. Instantaneous phase
3. Frequency (instantaneous or weighted )
4. Polarity
5. Velocity
6. Dip
7. Rate of change of dip these are displayed
separately.