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- Volume 36, Issue 2, 1988
Geophysical Prospecting - Volume 36, Issue 2, 1988
Volume 36, Issue 2, 1988
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TOWARDS OPTIMUM ONE‐WAY WAVE PROPAGATION1
By O. HOLBERGABSTRACTNumerical wavefield extrapolation represents the backbone of any algorithm for depth migration pre‐ or post‐stack. For such depth imaging techniques to yield reliable and interpretable results, the underlying wavefield extrapolation algorithm must propagate the waves through inhomogeneous media with a minimum of numerically induced distortion, over a range of frequencies and angles of propagation.
A review of finite‐difference (FD) approximations to the acoustic one‐way wave equation in the space‐frequency domain is presented. A straightforward generalization of the conventional FD formulation leads to an algorithm where the wavefield is continued downwards with space‐variant symmetric convolutional operators. The operators can be precomputed and made accessible in tables such that the ratio between the temporal frequency and the local velocity is used to determine the correct operator at each grid point during the downward continuation.
Convolutional operators are designed to fit the desired dispersion relation over a range of frequencies and angles of propagation such that the resulting numerical distortion is minimized. The optimization is constrained to ensure that evanescent energy and waves propagating at angles higher than the maximum design angle are attenuated in each extrapolation step. The resulting operators may be viewed as optimally truncated and bandlimited spatial versions of the familiar phase shift operator. They are unconditionally stable and can be applied explicitly. This results in a simple wave propagation algorithm, eminently suited for implementation on pipelined computers and on large parallel computing systems.
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PRINCIPLES AND APPLICATION OF MAXIMUM KURTOSIS PHASE ESTIMATION1
Authors J. LONGBOTTOM, A. T. WALDEN and R. E. WHITEABSTRACTMethods of minimum entropy deconvolution (MED) try to take advantage of the non‐Gaussian distribution of primary reflectivities in the design of deconvolution operators. Of these, Wiggins’(1978) original method performs as well as any in practice. However, we present examples to show that it does not provide a reliable means of deconvolving seismic data: its operators are not stable and, instead of whitening the data, they often band‐pass filter it severely. The method could be more appropriately called maximum kurtosis deconvolution since the varimax norm it employs is really an estimate of kurtosis. Its poor performance is explained in terms of the relation between the kurtosis of a noisy band‐limited seismic trace and the kurtosis of the underlying reflectivity sequence, and between the estimation errors in a maximum kurtosis operator and the data and design parameters.
The scheme put forward by Fourmann in 1984, whereby the data are corrected by the phase rotation that maximizes their kurtosis, is a more practical method. This preserves the main attraction of MED, its potential for phase control, and leaves trace whitening and noise control to proven conventional methods. The correction can be determined without actually applying a whole series of phase shifts to the data. The application of the method is illustrated by means of practical and synthetic examples, and summarized by rules derived from theory. In particular, the signal‐dominated bandwidth must exceed a threshold for the method to work at all and estimation of the phase correction requires a considerable amount of data.
Kurtosis can estimate phase better than other norms that are misleadingly declared to be more efficient by theory based on full‐band, noise‐free data.
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CONVOLUTIONAL BACK‐PROJECTION IMAGING OF PHYSICAL MODELS WITH CROSSHOLE SEISMIC DATA1
Authors R. J. R. EAST, M. H. WORTHINGTON and N. R. GOULTYABSTRACTThe development of crosshole seismic tomography as an imaging method for the subsurface has been hampered by the scarcity of real data. For boreholes in excess of a few hundred metres depth, crosshole seismic data acquisition is still a poorly developed and expensive technology. A partial solution to this relative lack of data has been achieved by the use of an ultrasonic seismic modelling system. Such ultrasonic data, obtained in the laboratory from physical models, provide a useful test of crosshole imaging software.
In particular, ultrasonic data have been used to test the efficacy of a convolutional back‐projection algorithm, designed for crosshole imaging. The algorithm is described and shown to be less susceptible to noise contamination than a Simultaneous Iterative Reconstruction Technique (SIRT) algorithm, and much more computationally efficient.
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SEISMIC ATTENUATION IN THE VICINITY OF THE GEOTHERMAL ANOMALY AT URACH OBTAINED FROM NEAR‐VERTICAL REFLECTION PROFILES1
By H. TRAPPEABSTRACTThe attenuation in the vicinity of the geothermal anomaly at Urach was determined by means of two near‐vertical reflection profiles. The attenuation in the sediments and in the upper crust (3‐4 km depth) was estimated by interpretation of the first (refracted) arrivals. For calculating the attenuation, the amplitude decay with respect to distance was used. Corrections for the spread factor, i.e. the geometric amplitude divergence was deduced from the traveltime curves. Below the anomaly, higher attenuation values (Q−1∼ 0.008) were observed compared with those in the undisturbed crust (Q−1∼ 0.002). This effect is probably due to the cracks and fissures in the upper part of the crystalline basement.
The attenuation in the middle and lower crust was determined using near‐vertical reflections from this depth interval. The use of the spectral ratio method leads to higher values of the effective attenuation Q−1eff below the heat flow anomaly compared to those of the‘ normal’crust. This zone of high Q−1eff coincides with the low velocity body below the heat flow anomaly. Both effects, the higher attenuation and the lower velocities, could be caused by high temperatures, cracks and fissures in the crust.
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A NOVEL FIXED‐SOURCE ELECTROMAGNETIC SYSTEM1
Authors I. JOHNSON and Z. DOBORZYNSKIABSTRACTA novel fixed‐source electromagnetic system has been developed. The transmitter is a large rectangular loop or grounded dipole. The transmitted waveform consists of up to five superimposed pure sinusoids at well‐separated frequencies. The receiver measures the amplitude and phase at two frequencies from a single receiver coil. The amplitude ratio is routinely calculated. Field trials with both surface and downhole configurations show that the method has advantages over the more traditional frequency‐domain Turam type and downhole electromagnetic (DHEM) systems. Among such advantages are the use of a single receiver coil and the removal of noise due to free‐space variations in transmitter‐receiver geometry. The latter is important for DHEM surveys. In terms of field procedures and quantities measured, the system is similar to time‐domain methods.
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EXAMINATION OF SOUNDING CURVE EXTRAPOLATION USED BY THE OFFSET WENNER SYSTEM1
Authors P. A. WHITE and D. M. SCOTTABSTRACTThe Offset Wenner resistivity sounding system provides for the extrapolation of the Wenner resistivity curve. The extrapolation technique was applied to data measured in the Solomon Islands and it is shown to be unreliable. An accurate method of predicting the reliability of extrapolation using measured resistances could not be found.
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Volumes & issues
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Volume 72 (2023 - 2024)
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Volume 70 (2021 - 2022)
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Volume 69 (2021)
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Volume 68 (2020)
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Volume 67 (2019)
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Volume 66 (2018)
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Volume 65 (2017)
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Volume 64 (2015 - 2016)
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Volume 63 (2015)
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Volume 62 (2014)
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Volume 61 (2013)
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Volume 60 (2012)
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Volume 59 (2011)
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Volume 58 (2010)
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Volume 57 (2009)
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Volume 56 (2008)
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Volume 55 (2007)
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Volume 54 (2006)
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Volume 18 (1970 - 2006)
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Volume 53 (2005)
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Volume 52 (2004)
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Volume 51 (2003)
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Volume 50 (2002)
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Volume 49 (2001)
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Volume 48 (2000)
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Volume 47 (1999)
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Volume 46 (1998)
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Volume 45 (1997)
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Volume 44 (1996)
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Volume 43 (1995)
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Volume 42 (1994)
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Volume 41 (1993)
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Volume 40 (1992)
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Volume 39 (1991)
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Volume 38 (1990)
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Volume 37 (1989)
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Volume 36 (1988)
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Volume 35 (1987)
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Volume 34 (1986)
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Volume 33 (1985)
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Volume 32 (1984)
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Volume 31 (1983)
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Volume 30 (1982)
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Volume 29 (1981)
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Volume 28 (1980)
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Volume 27 (1979)
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Volume 26 (1978)
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Volume 25 (1977)
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Volume 24 (1976)
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Volume 23 (1975)
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Volume 22 (1974)
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Volume 21 (1973)
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Volume 20 (1972)
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Volume 19 (1971)
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Volume 17 (1969)
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Volume 16 (1968)
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Volume 15 (1967)
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Volume 14 (1966)
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Volume 13 (1965)
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Volume 12 (1964)
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Volume 11 (1963)
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Volume 10 (1962)
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Volume 9 (1961)
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Volume 8 (1960)
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Volume 7 (1959)
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Volume 6 (1958)
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Volume 5 (1957)
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Volume 4 (1956)
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Volume 3 (1955)
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Volume 2 (1954)
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Volume 1 (1953)