Dips And Chips -- Pc Programs For Analyzing Seismic Refraction Data

Over the past several years a number of programs have been written for analyzing<br>seismic refraction data on personal computers. Some of these programs are small<br>enough and fast enough to make on-site interpretation practical on a spread-by-spread,<br>or even shotpoint-by-shotpoint basis. The results can be used to plan and guide the<br>layout of additional shotpoints, spreads, and seismic lines to assure that sufficient data<br>have been collected before leaving the field site, and to avoid shooting unnecessary<br>spreads. Currently available public domain and commercial software packages can meet<br>the needs of a wide variety of objectives, ranging from simple forward and inverse<br>modeling to obtain approximate depths to refractors having uniform velocities, to<br>sophisticated techniques for determining depths to undulating refractors having lateral<br>changes in velocity. Each program has its specific area of applicability for solving<br>engineering and environmental problems, depending on the complexity of the geologic<br>setting, and on the level of detail desired in the resulting interpretation. This paper<br>compares characteristics and specifications of several refraction software packages, whose<br>capabilities are illustrated in examples of computer output for synthetic and real data sets.