Synthetic Seismic Profile Plot Description
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Work is partially supported by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) under Grant Number DE-FE0002056.

Dr. Paul Glover Petrophysics MSc Course Notes 1 provides a step-by-step reference for creating the synthetic seismogram and is paraphrased below. This program uses a data structure that automatically ties all the log curves to the depth as well as the computed travel time.

The synthetic seismogram is a seismic trace that has been contructed from well log data. It represents the idealize trace that should be observed with the seismic method at the location of the well. The Synthetic Seismic can be compared with the seismic trace actually measured at the well to improve the picking of seismic horizons, and to improve the accuracy and resolution of formations of interest.

The observed seismic trace is primarily a record of the ability of interfaces between formations to reflect elastic waves, which is called the reflection coefficent R. The reflection coefficient depends on the properties of the rock at the interface of the beds and in particular on its acoustic impedance. The acoustic impedance is the product of the seismic velocity and the density of the rock.

The following procedure was performed to create the Synthetic Seismogram in the Applet,

Figure 1: Ricker Wavelet2


Note: The Acoustic Impedance track presents all three variations, to show that there is some variation between the three methods. Bulk Density (RHOB) is used to compute the Reflection Coefficient and if RHOB is not present then the Wave Velocity method is used.

This web application will take advantage of over 11 years of Java development experience at the Kansas Geological Survey (KGS) in developing web applications that plot oil & gas data and allows the geologist to perform analysis with that data, i.e. GEMINI Project & Tools on the KGS Web Site.

GEMINI (Geo-Engineering Modeling through INternet Informatics) Project was developed to allow the geologist to seamlessly integrate databases and geological analytical tools across the web. Analytical tools were designed for the independent oil and gas operators, consultants, and widely separated team members within and outside companies.

The web application can read up to 3 Log ASCII Standard (LAS) version 2.0 & 3.0 files using the standard developed by the Canadian Well Logging Society5 .

Reference:
(1) Petrophysics MSc Course Notes - 16. THE SONIC OR ACOUSTIC LOG pgs 187, 188, by Dr. Paul Glover http://www2.ggl.ulaval.ca/personnel/paglover/CD%20Contents/GGL-66565%20Petrophysics%20English/Chapter%2016.PDF
(2) Ricker, Ormsby, Klauder, Butterworth - A Choice of wavelets by Harold Ryan, September, 1994 CSEG Recorder http://www.cseg.ca/publications/recorder/1994/09sep/sep94-choice-of-wavelets.pdf
(3) Synthetic sonic logs-a process for stratigraphic interpretation by R.0. Lindseth, GEOPHYSICS, VOL. 44, NO. 1 (JANUARY 1979); P. 3-26, http://eps.mcgill.ca/~courses/c551/SEISMIC-DATA-PROCESSING-II/Chapter3-3D/Impedance/Lindseth1979-geo4401r00030026.pdf
(4) Tutorial: Good practice in well ties by Roy White and Rob Simm, First break volume 21, October 2003, FB october v5 18-09-2003 17:20 Pagina 75 http://www.rock-physics.com/papers_downloads/RPA_white_and_simm_2003.pdf
(5) LAS 3.0 Log ASCII Standard Document #1 File Structures by Canadian Well Logging Society: http://www.cwls.org/las_info.php

Author: John R. Victorine jvictor@kgs.ku.edu

The URL for this page is http://www.kgs.ku.edu/software/SS/description.html