BASIC SEISMIC DATA PROCESSING

PART 20

MIGRATION - METHODS

Cefoga

DPST15 Part 20 - Page 1 January 2003 Geoscience Training Centre

 Kirchhoff Summation Migration - 1

consider the location of each Trace DISTANCE

seismic sample to be a pigeon T

Sample

hole M
E

Trace 'N' DISTANCE

superimpose a wavefront chart
onto a trace T
I
M
E

Cefoga

DPST15 Part 20 - Page 2 January 2003 Geoscience Training Centre

 Kirchhoff Summation Migration - 2

each sample value is copied into Trace 'N' DISTANCE

the pigeon holes through which T

I
the wavefront curves pass M
E

this procedure is repeated on all

traces

net result is a build-up of energy Surface

Distance
at the migrated position Unmigrated
reflector
position
Build up of energy
(Kirchhoff Method can also use on common tangent
of wavefronts =
Depth Migrated position
Diffraction Curves)

Cefoga

DPST15 Part 20 - Page 3 January 2003 Geoscience Training Centre

 Finite Difference Migration - 2

If all diffraction origin points Surface

could be placed at the surface Distance

Zn = VoTn
Diffraction 2
then seismic energy is Curves

concentrated only at their Depth Z

VELOCITY = CONSTANT

points of origin (the apex of the

curves). The data is therefore
migrated

The finite difference method uses a wave equation to strip

off layers of the earth (z steps) effectively projecting the
source and receivers down to each successive layer
Cefoga

DPST15 Part 20 - Page 4 January 2003 Geoscience Training Centre

 Finite Difference Migration - 3

consider a simple anticlinal

Z0
Distance

DEPTH P2

model in depth and time P1

T0

TIME Distance

starting at T=0 the first layer S1 Z0

Distance

is stripped from the section and DEPTH P2

P1

stored T0
S1

TIME Distance
P2'

P1'

S1

Cefoga

DPST15 Part 20 - Page 5 January 2003 Geoscience Training Centre

 Finite Difference Migration - 4
Z0

the receivers are placed at depth

Z1 Distance

DEPTH
P2

Z1 and the wavefield P1

T0
S2

recalculated: layer S2 is then TIME

P2'
Distance
P1'

removed and stored

S2

Z0
Distance
Z2
the receivers are placed at depth DEPTH
P2

P1
Z2 and the wavefield T0
P2' S3

recalculated: layer S3 is then TIME

P1' Distance

removed and stored S3

Cefoga

DPST15 Part 20 - Page 6 January 2003 Geoscience Training Centre

 Finite Difference Migration - 5
Z0

repeat for depth Z3 and Layer S4 Z3 DEPTH

Distance

P2

P1
T0
S4

P1'
TIME Distance

S4

Z0
Distance

DEPTH
P2
and finally for depth Z4 and Layer Z4

P1
T0
S5 P1'
S5

TIME Distance

S5

Cefoga

DPST15 Part 20 - Page 7 January 2003 Geoscience Training Centre

 Finite Difference Migration - 6

collect together the time slices S1

S1, S2, S3, S4, S5 together S2

S3

S4

S5

T0

and combine to form the Time

migrated section

Cefoga

DPST15 Part 20 - Page 8 January 2003 Geoscience Training Centre

 Frequency / Wavenumber (f-k) Migration - 1

Consider two time sections S

UNMIGRATED
X N S
MIGRATED
X N

m
with the position of a dipping Distance Distance

event pre- and post- migration P

P' Depth P' Depth

It can be shown that V = Velocity (Constant)

T = Two-Way Time

tan = sinm

The migration of a dipping S1 S2

N Surface

Distance

event can, in part, be Depth Q'

Q

considered to be a rotation
P
P'

about point N

Cefoga

DPST15 Part 20 - Page 9 January 2003 Geoscience Training Centre

 Frequency / Wavenumber (f-k) Migration - 2

Now consider what Surface

Distance
happens to the period of a
Time T

wavelet during migration T'

The apparent spatial

wavelength , and thus the
wavenumber is
unchanged, but the
migrated events
temporal period,t, is
increased, thus reducing unmigrated
events
the frequency
Cefoga

DPST15 Part 20 - Page 10 January 2003 Geoscience Training Centre

 Frequency / Wavenumber (f-k) Migration - 3
FREQUENCY - W AVENUMBER SPACE
An unmigrated event in the f-k Frequency Unmigrated
Event P'Q'

domain will plot thus: F

-K 0 K Wavenumber +K

FREQUENCY - W AVENUMBER SPACE

Frequency

After migration the event will plot

thus:
Fm
m Migrated
event PQ

-K 0 Km Wavenumber +K

Cefoga

DPST15 Part 20 - Page 11 January 2003 Geoscience Training Centre

 Frequency / Wavenumber (f-k) Migration - 4
FREQUENCY - W AVENUMBER SPACE
Plotting together Frequency Unmigrated
Event P'Q'

Migration in the f-k domain is a F

downwards vertical frequency shift Fm

m Migrated
event PQ

The method requires -K 0 K=Km Wavenumber +K

constant velocity field (Stolt Method -

remaps times to effective constant
velocity)

Vertically changing velocity field

(Gazdag Method) - phase rotation

Cefoga

DPST15 Part 20 - Page 12 January 2003 Geoscience Training Centre