Imaging Properties of Modern 3-D Seismic Acquisition Systems

The patterns of source and receiver locations, i.e., the acquisition geometry, used in a seismic survey affect the resulting data in a variety of ways. Herein is a study of the relationships between the acquisition geometry and the resulting subsurface illumination patterns by comparing basic land and Ocean Bottom Cable geometries with modern marine geometries. From the imaging point of view, there are certain advantages to some of the land-type acquisition geometries. By examining a new set of acquisition attributes based on imaging properties, such differences in image quality can be predicted and perhaps corrected in the survey design stage.