Spectral Decomposition in HRS

Kevin Gerlitz
This PowerPoint presentation illustrates a method of implementing
spectral decomposition within HRS by utilizing the Trace Maths utility.

What is Spectral Decomposition?

The Spectral Decomposition process is best described in a paper by Partyka et al. Interpretational
applications of spectral decomposition in reservoir characterization, The Leading Edge, March 1999,
353 360.
Essentially, the amplitude and phase spectra are computed and plotted for a window over the zone of
interest to create a tuning cube. Data slices of the common frequencies are extracted from the tuning
cube and examined. Slices from the amplitude tuning cube are a useful tool for defining and mapping
reservoir thickness. Slices from the phase spectrum volume are helpful in mapping geological
discontinuities.
Buried Channel
Seismic Signal Tuning

A
A
32 Hz

Spectral Decomposition
Map
32 Hz

64 Hz
64 Hz

Spectral Decomposition in Hampson-Russell

The Problem:

Given a 3D seismic volume,

use spectral decomposition to
create a tuning cube and
create data slices of the
frequencies

A sand channel in the

Blackfoot seismic dataset

The Solution:

A tuning cube can be created using a

Trace Maths script and slices
extracted from this cube.

16 Hz Amplitude Map from a

Tuning cube.

For comparison, a conventional

amplitude envelope extraction of the
mean value in a window 30 ms below
the Lower Mannville horizon from
slide 1.
The channel is oriented north-south
in the center of the window.

Creating a Tuning Cube in Hampson-Russell

Ensuring that the 3D seismic volume is displayed, click on Process -> Utility -> Trace Maths
You need the seismic
dataset as an input
variable for Trace
Maths. Ive renamed
the input dataset to a
Variable Name of in
and set its Usage to
used

Call the output volume something meaningful. I am going to calculate the spectra over a 63 ms window in
this example.

Copy and paste the

DFT_Hamp.prs Trace Maths
script into the Trace Maths
window. You will have to edit
the start time (t1 = ), the
window length (wLen = ) and
the output time. In this case, Im
starting at the Lower_Mannville
horizon and using a 63 ms
window. The spectrum will be
output starting from 300 ms.

Click on the icon below to copy and

paste the DFT Trace Maths script to
your system.

Dft_hamp.prs

Youll also need to know something about the DFT and the script
The Trace Maths script will plot the amplitude spectrum starting from 0 Hz up to the positive
Nyquist frequency. The frequency resolution is given by the inverse of the time window.
In my case, my dataset has a 2 ms sampling rate which corresponds to a Nyquist of 250 Hz (=
1/(2*0.002) ). For a 63 ms window, this corresponds to a frequency resolution of ( 1/0.063 = )
16 Hz. My first sample point will correspond to 0 Hz and my 16th data point will correspond
to 250 Hz. The amplitude spectrum is placed starting at the output time of 300 ms, which
corresponds to the start of the dataset.

(single trace showing amplitude spectrum)

(from the File > Export Trace option)

After Trace Maths has created the Tuning cube, create slices of the various frequencies.
In my example, the slice at 300 ms is 0 Hz, 302 ms is 16 Hz, 304 ms is 32 Hz, etc

0 Hz

16 Hz

32 Hz

48 Hz

64 Hz

80 Hz

96 Hz

By using a similar
process with the
DFT_Hphase.prs Trace
Maths script, you can
create maps of the phase
angle for the appropriate
frequencies.

16 Hz phase map

Drawbacks of the Spectral Decomposition method

Trace Maths scripts are slower to run than compiled code. The time to process 800 traces with a 63
ms window on my 1 GHz PC was 6 minutes.
There is a trade-off between the length of the data window and the spectral resolution. Using a longer
window will provide better resolution in the frequency domain. On the other hand, a long window
may be contaminated by the response from the underlying and overlying events of the zone of
interest. Having a high sampling rate may improve the situation but simply resampling the data will
not add any new information.
Viewing the frequency slices and interpreting the results as zone thickness can be misleading due to
wavelet effects. Like most geophysical imaging tools, care must be taken in the interpretation of the
results. A synthetic wedge model and the results of spectral decomposition are described in the
following slides.

Synthetic Wedge Modeling and Spectral Decomposition to Illustrate the Problems

of Wavelet Effects

Created a synthetic well with a 100 m thick channel

Created a wedge model synthetic using a 5/10 50/70 Hz bandpass

wavelet (dominant period of 33 ms). The channel thickness was changed
from 1 m to 100 m with a 1 m increment => each Inline corresponds to
the thickness of the channel.

Created the tuning cube using a 80 ms window from the top horizon.
This yields a spectral resolution of 12.5 Hz

0 Hz = 80 ms period

Strong low frequency

component below channel

Wavelet effect / Doublet

Separation of top & base

12.5 Hz = 80 ms period

25 Hz = 40 ms period

37.5 Hz = 26 ms period

50 Hz = 20 ms period

62.5 Hz = 16 ms period

75 Hz = 13 ms period

Interpretation
37.5 Hz

26 ms

Normal Polarity (positive frequencies)

62.5 Hz

50 Hz

37.5 Hz
50 Hz

50 Hz

62.5 Hz

75 Hz
12.5 Hz
0 Hz

Reversed Polarity (negative frequencies)

62.5 Hz

62.5 Hz

25 Hz
25 Hz

50 Hz
75 Hz

37.5 Hz

75 Hz