Glossary

Amplitude Spectra- Plot of the peak amplitude as a function of frequency

Bin- A subdivision of a seismic survey. The area of a three-dimensional survey is divided into
bins; traces are assigned to specific bins according to the midpoint between the source and the
receiver, reflection point or conversion point. Bins are commonly assigned according to
common midpoint (CMP). Traces within a bin are stacked to generate the output trace for that
bin. Data quality depends in part on the number of traces per bin, or the fold.

Common Midpoint - In multichannel seismic acquisition, the point on the surface halfway
between the source and receiver that is shared by numerous source-receiver pairs. Such
redundancy among source-receiver pairs enhances the quality of seismic data when the data
are stacked. The common midpoint is vertically above the common depth point, or common
reflection point. Common midpoint is not the same as common depth point, but the terms are
often incorrectly used as synonyms.

Common midpoint gather (CMP) - The stereotypical gather: traces are sorted by surface
geometry to approximate a single reflection point in the earth. Data from several shots and
receivers are combined into a single gather. The traces are sorted by offset in order to perform
velocity analysis for data processing and hyperbolic moveout correction. Only shot–receiver
geometry is required to construct this type of gather.

Common offset gather - Used for basic quality control, because it approximates a structural
section. Since all the traces are at the same offset, it is also sometimes used in AVO analysis;
one can quickly inspect the approximate spatial extent of a candidate AVO anomaly. If the near
offset trace is used for each shot, this is called a brute stack.

Common shot or receiver gather- Basic quality assessment tools in field acquisition. When the
traces of the gather come from a single shot and many receivers, it is called a common shot
gather. A single receiver with many shots is called a common receiver gather. It is very easy to
inspect traces in these displays for bad receivers or bad shots.

Convolution- A fixed array is set up from the reflectivity sequence. The source wavelet is
reversed (folded) and moved (lagged) one sample at a time. At each lag, the elements that
align are multiplied and the resulting products are summed.The convolution is cumulative: it
does not matter which array is fixed and which is move, the output is the same. Convolution in
the time domain is equivalent to multiplication in the frequency domain. Similarly, convolution
in the frequency domain is equivalent to multiplication in the time domain.

Correlation- Seismic data processing often requires measurement of the similarity or time
alignment of two traces. Both convolution and correlation produce an output with a spectral
bandwidth that is common to both of the input series. The immediate example is band-pass
filtering process.

Correlation: Autocorrelation- It’s a crosscorrelation of a time series with itself.

Correlation: Crosscorrelation- Is another time-domain operation that is used to make such

measurements. Performs the operation as convolution but without reversing the wavelet.
Crosscorrelation is not commutative, the output depends on which array is fixed and which is
moved.

Damping (Amortecimento)- is an influence within or upon an oscillatory system that has the
effect of reducing, restricting or preventing its oscillations. In physical systems, damping is
produced by processes that dissipate the energy stored in the oscillation

Deconvolution- is perfomerd along the time axis to increase temporal resolution by

compressing the basic seismic wavelet to aproximately a spike and supressing reverbating
wavetrains.

Direct Wave- A seismic wave which travels through the ground directly from the source to the
detectors without being reflected off or refracted by a subsurface layer.

Fourier Transform (2-D)- A way to decompose a seismic wavefield, such as a common-shot

gather, into its plane-wave components, each with a certain frequency propagation at a
certain angle from the vertical. Therefore, the 2-D Fourier transform can describe processes
like migration and frequency-wavenumber (FK-filter) filtering. The 2-D transform is a basis for
both analysis and implementation of multichannel processes.

Frequency- Number of cycles within 1 second. 1 Cycle per second (cps)= 1 Hz

Frequency-domain filtering- Involves multiplying the amplitude spectrum of the input seismic
trace by that of the filter operator. On the other hand, the filtering process in the time domain
involves convolving the filter operator with the input time series. Frequency filtering can be in
the form of band-pass, band-reject, high-pass (low-cut) or low-pass(high-cut) filters. All of
these filters are based on the same principle- construction of a zero-phase wavelet with an
amplitude spectrum that meets one of the four specifications. Note: Just having low or high
frequencies does not improve temporal resolution. Both low and high frequencies are needed
to increase temporal resolution.

Gain- is a time-variant scaling in which the scaling function is based on a desired criterion. For
instance, geometric spreading correction is applied to compensate for wavefront divergence
early in processing, before deconvolution. Also, before deconvolution, an exponential gain may
be applied to compensate for attenuation losses. Often gain is applied to seismic data for
display.

LTI System- Linear time-invariant (LTI) systems. The input/output (I/O) relationship of LTI
systems is given by the discrete-time convolution of the system’s impulse response with the
input signal. LTI systems can be classified into finite impulse response (FIR) or infinite impulse
response (IIR) types depending on whether their impulse response has finite or infinite
duration. Linear time-invariant systems are characterized uniquely by their impulse response
sequence h(n), which is defined as the response of the system to a unit impulse δ(n). The unit
impulse is the discrete-time analog of the Dirac delta function δ(t).

Migration- Commonly performed on the stacked section (which is assumed to be equivalent to

a zero-offset section) to increase lateral resolution by collapsing diffractions and moving
dipping events to their supposedly true subsurface positions.

Nyquist frequency (fN)- Given the sampling interval, this frequency is the highest frequency
that can be restored accurately, i.e, once a continuous signal is digitalized is digitalized, the
highest frequency that can be restored accurately is the Nyquist frequency. Note: Interpolation
does not recover the frequencies lost by sampling, it only generates extra samples.

Period- Time interval between two consecutive peaks

Resolution- Resolution is the ability to distinguish between objects, that is, to see a second
object in the presence of another. Concerning seismic data, vertical resolution relates to how
far apart two interfaces must be to distinguish separate reflections from them or how thick a
bed must be to allow distinguishable reflections from the bed's top and bottom. The length (in
time) of seismic wavelets produces confusion because successive reflections overlap, so it is
desirable that the source wavelet (Figure 1) be short. The wavelet should have a distinctive,
sharp peak to be timed. Side lobes are undesirable because they can be mistaken for true
reflections. They add to confusion because of interference. As side lobes begin to interfere,
amplitude begins to change and minor timing errors result. As the wedge thickness approaches
one fourth of a wavelength, constructive interference produces an amplitude buildup known
as the tuning effect. The tuning thickness is usually taken as the limit of resolution or limit of
separability. The waves giving rise to a reflection event are reflected from a fairly large,
roughly circular area of the reflecting interface known as the first Fresnel zone. Reflections
from this zone arrive at a geophone so as to constructively interfere. The radius of this zone is
often taken as the horizontal resolution for unmigrated seismic data.

Resonance frequency - Resonance is a phenomenon that occurs when a vibrating system or

external force drives another system to oscillate with greater amplitude at a specific
preferential frequency. Frequencies at which the response amplitude is a relative maximum
are known as the system's resonant frequencies, or resonance frequencies. At resonant
frequencies, small periodic driving forces have the ability to produce large amplitude
oscillations. This is because the system stores vibrational energy.

Stacking- Main process to increase Signal-to-Noise Ratio. Compresses the offset dimension,
thus reducing seismic data volume to the plane of the zero-offset seismic section and
increasing the SN ratio.

Two-way travel time (TWT)- The time it takes for a reflection from a particular boundary to
arrive at the geophone. If the seismic wave velocity in the rock is known, then the travel time
may be used to estimate the depth to the reflector. For a simple vertically traveling wave, the
travel time t from the surface to the reflector and back is called the Two-Way Time.

Wavefront- is defined as the line of constant phase, while the direction of propagation is
perpendicular to the wavefront. Since a seismic wavefield is a superposition of many dips and
frequencies, it is equivalent to the synthesis of many plane-wave components.~

Wavelet- Usually is considered a transient signal, that is, a signal with a finite duration. It has a
start time and an end time, and its energy is confined between these two positions. The
wavelet that was constructed symmetrically around t=0 and has a positive peak amplitude at
t=0 is called a zero-phase.

Wavenumber- is the spatial frequency of a wave, either in cycles per unit distance or radians
per unit distance. It can be envisaged as the number of waves that exist over a specified
distance (analogous to frequency being the number of cycles or radians per unit time).