3-Component Processing

This chapter contains information to orientate or rotate data, rotate seismic data as though it were recorded with geophones in another orientation, obtain three-component data transforms that ease some event picking jobs, and create data traces representing the direction of particle motion recorded on a set of three-component geophones.

In this Chapter

3-Component Processing Overview 1158 3-Component Receiver Orientation 1164 3-Component Reorientation 1170 3-Component Transforms 1174 Direction of Motion 1176

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3-Component Processing Overview

The ProMAX processing system has several modules for processing 3-component data. This overview discusses terminology that is used for receiver components and direction specications.

Component Terminology
The naming conventions for the three traces in a threecomponent set, unrotated and rotated, are dened in this section. Naming of Unrotated Traces The three input traces are assumed to have been recorded on three mutually-perpendicular receivers. One of the three receivers, the vertical component, is dened as the receiver component that would be vertical in a vertical borehole or if the 3-component receivers were sitting on the ground. In a deviated borehole this component could be maintained in a vertical position by special equipment, such as a gimbal, or the component would be parallel to the borehole. The other two components are assumed as horizontal components. These components would be horizontal when the receiver is in a vertical borehole or when the receiver is sitting on horizontal ground. One of the horizontal components is referred to as H1 and the other horizontal component as H2. Throughout the 3-component processes, it is assumed that the H1 component is 90 degrees in a clockwise direction from the H2 component when viewed from above the H1-H2 plane.

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Vertical Component (pointing upward)

H2 Component

H1 Component
Figure 1. Naming convention for three components. H1 is 90 degrees clockwise of the H2 component when viewed from above.

Many of the menus for 3-component processes ask for a trace header name and number to identify the components as being the vertical, H1, and H2 components. A trace header name such as GEO_COMP is commonly used. Naming of Rotated Traces An important task in 3-component processing is called component rotation. If we think of the mutually-orthogonal receivers in Figure 1 as an x,y,z cartesian coordinate reference frame, then rotation of the data traces is equivalent to rotating the coordinate axes in space. After rotation, the data traces appear as they would if the receiver components had been in a different orientation at the time of recording. Rotation, or coordinate transformation, is accomplished through projection of the data onto new coordinate axes. A coordinate rotation in 3-dimensional space can be decomposed into two separate 2-dimensional rotations. In the case of 3-component seismology a rotation in the horizontal plane (H1-H2) is followed by a rotation in the plane made dened by the vertical component and the rotated H1 component.

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Figure 2 shows a rotation of H1 and H2 axes through an angle theta. Note that the direction of the vertical component is unaffected by this rotation. The new coordinate axes after the rotation are solid lines, the original positions of the axes are in dashed lines. In the ProMAX processing system we call the angle, through which horizontal components are rotated, theta. Theta is measured in a counter-clockwise direction, that is, the H1-axis is rotated through an angle theta in the direction of the H2-axis. As a short hand notation for differentiating between original components and rotated components, the H1 component after rotation through the angle theta is referred to as H1(theta); the rotated H2 component is likewise referred to as H2(theta).

Vertical Component (pointing upward)

Rotated H2 or H2(theta) H2

H1

Rotated H1 or H1(theta)

Figure 2. Rotation of H1 and H2 axis through an angle theta

The second rotation is done in the plane dened by the vertical axis and H1(theta). In this case, the angle, phi, is measured from the vertical axis in the direction of H1(theta). Figure 3 shows the phi rotation looking down the H2(theta) axis. Note that this rotation leaves the direction of the Rotated H2 component unchanged. The original Vertical and H1(theta) axes are dashed and the new Rotated Vertical and Rotated H1(theta) are shown as solid lines.

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Original Vertical Rotated Vertical or V(phi)

Angle phi

H1(theta) Angle phi H1(theta, phi)

Figure 3. Rotation in the verticle-H1 (theta) plane. This view is along the H2 (theta) axis.

The vertical axis after rotation through the angle phi is referred to as V(phi), and the H1(theta) axis after rotation through the angle phi is referred to as H1(theta,phi). 3-Component Hodogram Analysis outputs ve data traces for every three data traces that are input. The input traces are the Vertical, H1, and H2 traces (un-rotated traces). The output traces are the original, unchanged, vertical trace, H1(theta), H2(theta), V(phi), and H1(theta,phi).

Directions: Azimuth and Inclination

One of the functions of multi-component analysis and processing tools is to estimate the orientation of geophones. This is done through knowing the source and receiver locations, using the rotation angles, and by assuming that the rst break energy arrives in the vertical plane containing the source and receiver. Receiver component orientation is expressed in terms of Azimuth and Inclination. Azimuth is the number of degrees

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east of north in which a component points. (A component points in the direction that will give a positive rst motion when a compressional wave moves the geophone.) The azimuth of a component pointing East is 90.0, South is 180.0, and West is 270.0. North is considered to have an Azimuth of 0.0. Inclination is the number of degrees that a component is inclined from a vertically-upward axis. The value of Inclination is from 0.0 through 180.0. with 0.0 being vertically upward, 90.0 degrees being horizontal, and 180.0 degrees being vertically downward. Figure 3 shows a component with an Azimuth of 45 degrees and inclination of 20 degrees. A component points in the direction that will give a positive rst motion when a compressional wave moves the geophone. In crosswell seismic applications, the rst motion is negative when the source is below the receiver and this is accounted for in 3-Component Orientation.

Peak Vector Amplitude

In some of the 3-Component processes, the direction of motion is determined by peak vector amplitude. Vector amplitude of multiple component data is simply the vector magnitude of the samples at any given sample time. The vector magnitude of a sample X is simply the square root of the sum of squared amplitudes at sample X of all of the components. The Peak Vector Amplitude is the largest vector

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amplitude of all the vector amplitudes in the analysis window. Up Inclination=20 degrees

North Azimuth=45 degrees

East
Figure 4. This component (dashed vector) has an inclination of 20 degrees and an azimuth of 45 degrees.

References
DiSiena, J. P., Gaiser, J. E., and Corrigan, D., 1984, Horizontal components and shear wave analysis of three-component VSP data. in Vertical Seismic Proling, Part B: Advanced Concepts. Toksoz and Stewart (editors). Geophysical Press, pp 177-188.

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