Method and apparatus for seismic noise reduction

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10310119-B2
Application number	US-201214128884-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jun 22, 2012
Priority date	Jun 24, 2011
Publication date	Jun 4, 2019
Grant date	Jun 4, 2019

Abstract

Methods, apparatuses, and systems are disclosed that reduce seismic noise. In one embodiment, a method of processing seismic data includes accessing seismic data representative of a plurality of seismic input traces acquired by one or more seismic sensors. The method also includes stacking the plurality of seismic input traces into a stacked trace. The method also includes generating, utilizing at least one processor unit, a function of similarity between at least two of the plurality of seismic input traces. The method also includes scaling at least one of the seismic input traces or the stacked trace with the function of similarity.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method for reducing noise in geophysical data processing and imaging of acquired seismic data, the method comprising:
accessing seismic data representative of a plurality of seismic input traces acquired by one or more seismic sensors, wherein each of the plurality of seismic input traces is recorded at a seismic sensor;
stacking the plurality of seismic input traces into a stacked trace;
generating, utilizing at least one processor unit, a function of similarity between at least two of the plurality of seismic input traces, wherein the function of similarity comprises a plurality of respective measurements of similarity generated from a plurality of covariance matrices measuring the similarity of the seismic input traces over a respective plurality of sample windows;
calculating the similarity between the respective plurality of sample windows in the at least two of the plurality of seismic input traces and corresponding sample windows in the stacked trace, wherein the sample windows are selected to differentiate noise from signal in the seismic data;
scaling at least one of the seismic input traces or the stacked trace with the function of similarity, wherein scaling with the function of similarity reduces the noise;
applying an imaging condition to the scaled stacked trace or input traces to generate image data representing a portion of the Earth's subsurface; and
displaying the image data representing a portion of the Earth's subsurface on a display device coupled to the processor unit.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising storing data representative of at least one of the scaled at least one seismic input trace, the scaled stacked trace, or a derived property from the scaled at least one seismic input trace or the scaled stacked trace in a computer readable tangible storage medium.

3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising the image data being representative of at least one of the scaled at least one seismic input trace, the scaled stacked trace, or a derived property from the scaled at least one seismic input trace or the scaled stacked trace.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the function of similarity is a function of a sample domain of the seismic input traces, and wherein the sample domain is a time domain or a depth domain.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the respective measurements of similarity are generated by:
selecting a first sample window of the plurality of sample windows;
calculating a first measurement of the similarity for the first sample window;
sliding the first window by at least one sample to select a second sample window of the plurality of sample windows; and
calculating a second measurement of the similarity for the second sample window.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein at least one of the respective measurements of similarity is generated responsive to similarities between all of the plurality of input traces.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein at least one of the respective sample windows is approximately three times a dominant wavelength of an anticipated seismic event.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein a size of at least one of the plurality of sample windows is designed to isolate an anticipated seismic event.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the respective plurality of sample windows in the at least two of the plurality of seismic input traces form a first plurality of sample windows, and the corresponding sample windows in the stacked trace form a second plurality of sample windows.

10. The method of claim 9 , wherein at least one of the plurality of measurements of similarity comprises a mean derived from a covariance matrix for a respective one of the first plurality of sample windows and a corresponding respective one of the second plurality of sample windows.

11. The method of claim 9 , further comprising:
generating the respective covariance matrix for each of the respective first and second pluralities of sample windows using the at least two of the plurality of input traces; and
generating the respective measurements of similarity by determining a mean of each respective covariance matrix.

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein the mean is determined by summing all elements of each respective covariance matrix and dividing a resulting sum by a number of the elements in each respective covariance matrix.

13. The method of claim 11 , wherein elements of the covariance matrix for each respective sample window are generated by the equation

C
ij

=

1

N
-
1

⁢

∑

k
=
1

N

⁢

(

t
ki

-

t
k

_

)

⁢

(

t
kj

-

t
k

_

)

where C ij denotes a covariance in a sample window between a seismic input trace i and a seismic input trace j, t ki is a k th sample in seismic input trace i, N is a number of samples in the sample window, and t k is a k th sample in the stacked trace.

14. The method of claim 1 , wherein the stacked trace is scaled with the function of similarity and further comprising applying the imaging condition to the scaled, stacked trace after it has been scaled with the function of similarity, such that scaling with the function of similarity reduces the noise prior to imaging the data.

15. The method of claim 1 , wherein at least one of the seismic input traces is scaled with the function of similarity and said stacking of the seismic input traces is done after said scaling of the seismic input traces, such that scaling with the function of similarity reduces the noise prior to imaging the data.

16. A method of reducing noise in geophysical data processing and imaging for acquired seismic data, the method comprising:
correcting a plurality of seismic input traces acquired by one or more seismic sensors, wherein each of the plurality of seismic input traces is recorded at a seismic sensor;
stacking the corrected plurality of seismic input traces into a stacked trace;
generating a plurality of covariance matrices measuring the similarity of the corrected seismic input traces over a respective p

Assignees

• Hofland Gregg S
• Douma Huub
• Leveille Jacques
• Ion Geophysical Corp

Inventors

• Hofland Gregg S
• Douma Huub
• Leveille Jacques

Classifications

• G01V1/362 Primary

  Effecting static or dynamic corrections; Stacking · CPC title

• G01V2210/322

  Trace stacking · CPC title