STRATA:

Seismic Inversion Workshop

STRATA Course Outline

Overview of Post-stack Inversion
Exercise 1 - Erskine 3D Initializing
Model Building 1: Log Correlation
Exercise 2 - Erskine 3D - Log Correlation and inversion
Model Building 2: Log Interpolation
Wavelet Extraction
Exercise 3 - Blackfoot - Starting the Project
Model-based Inversion Parameters
Exercise 4 - Blackfoot Model-based Inversion
Other Inversion Parameters
Exercise 5 - Blackfoot Other Inversion Methods
Appendix: Overview of Pre-stack Inversion
Exercise 6 Simultaneous inversion of pre-stack data
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General Inversion Comments

Inversion is the process of extracting, from seismic data, the

underlying geology which gave rise to that seismic.
Traditionally, inversion has been applied to post-stack seismic data,
with the aim of extracting acoustic impedance volumes (Strata).
Recently, inversion has been extended to pre-stack seismic data, with
the aim of extracting both acoustic and shear impedance volumes.
This allows the calculation of pore fluids (Strata + AVO).
Another recent development is to use inversion results to directly
predict lithologic parameters such as porosity and water saturation
(Emerge).

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General Inversion Comments

Input Seismic
Post-stack seismic
inversion
transforms an input
seismic volume into
a volume of
acoustic impedance.

Acoustic Impedance
This output display shows
3 components:
(1)
(2)
(3)

Derived AI (colour)
Derived AI (wiggle)
Real AI logs

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Types of Inversion
These inversion methods are available in STRATA:
Post-stack:
Recursive:
Model Based:
Sparse Spike:
Colored:

Traditional bandlimited inversion

Iteratively updates a layered initial model
Constrained to produce few events
Modern derivative of Recursive Inversion

Pre-stack:

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Elastic Impedance:

Enhancement for pre-stack data

Independent Inversion:
Lambda-mu-rho (LMR):

Enhancement for pre-stack data

Enhancement for pre-stack data

Simultaneous Inversion:

Enhancement for pre-stack data

5

General Forward Model for Inversion

The common forward model for all inversions:

Wavelet

Impedance

Reflectivity

Seismic

Acoustic
Shear Elastic
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Inverse Model
Inversion tries to reverse the forward model:

Inverse
Wavelet

Seismic

Reflectivity

Impedance
Acoustic
Shear Elastic

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General Forward Model for Inversion

Impedance

Reflectivity

Z i 1 Z i
Ri
Z i 1 Z i

Z=

Acoustic Impedance =

Acoustic Impedance
or
Shear Impedance
or
Elastic Impedance

Ri

Zi+1

VP
VS

Shear Impedance

Elastic Impedance

= Complicated formula (later)

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Zi

General Forward Model for Inversion

Reflectivity

Seismic

S W * R Noise

Seismic = Wavelet convolved

with Reflectivity plus noise.

Notes
(1)
(2)
(3)
(4)

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There are no multiples modeled.

Transmission loss and geometric spreading are ignored.
Frequency-dependent absorption is ignored.
The wavelet may be time varying.

General Forward Model for Inversion

The effect of convolving

the wavelet with the
reflectivity is to remove
much of the highfrequency detail:

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General Forward Model for Inversion

Convolution in the time domain is

multiplication in the frequency
domain.
As we can see from these plots, the
effect of the wavelet is to remove
both high and low frequencies from
the trace spectrum.
Theoretically, inversion attempts to
recover these lost regions.

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Non-Uniqueness in Inversion
All inversion algorithms suffer from
non-uniqueness.
There is more than one possible
geological model consistent with the
seismic data. The only way to decide
between the possibilities is to use other
information, not present in the seismic
data.
This other information is usually
provided in two ways:
the initial guess model
constraints on how far the final
result may deviate from the initial
guess
The final result always depends on the other
information as well as the seismic data.
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Non-Uniqueness in Inversion
Initial Model

Seismic

Inversion

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13

Bandlimited (Recursive) Inversion

Recursive Inversion, also called Bandlimited Inversion, is the simplest and
earliest form of inversion.
Starting from the
definition of reflection
coefficient:

The impedance of the ith

+ 1 layer can be
determined from the ith
layer:
Starting at the first layer,
the impedance of each
successive layer is
determined by recursively
applying this formula:
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Z i 1 Z i
Ri
Z i 1 Z i
1 Ri
Z i 1 Z i
1 Ri
n 1

Z n Z1

i 1

Zi
Ri
Zi+1

1 Ri
1 Ri
14

Bandlimited Inversion
Z (m/s*g/cc)

In this simple example:

(a) shows that we can recover
the true value of impedance if
we have a single spike, but
(b) shows that if we convolve
the spike with a wavelet we
cannot recover the correct value
of impedance.

Z1 = 1000

Z2 = 1500

Z1 = 1000
Z2 = 818
Z3 = 1227
Z4 = 1004

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Bandlimited Inversion
Step 1:
The initial background model for Recursive Inversion is formed by
filtering an impedance log from a well:

10-Hz
High Cut

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Bandlimited Inversion
Step 2:
The recursive equation is applied to the seismic trace. (Note: this is
almost identical to a -90 degree phase rotation):

1 ri
Zi 1 Zi *
1- ri

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Bandlimited Inversion
Step 3:
Add the scaled inversion trace to the filtered model to get the final result:

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Bandlimited Inversion
Input Seismic
Recursive Inversion
produces a result
which is bandlimited
to the same
frequency range as
the input seismic
data.
Note the loss of high
frequency detail, as
compared with the
well logs.

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Recursive Inversion

19

Bandlimited (Recursive) Inversion

Issues in Recursive Inversion:

(1) The wavelet is ignored. This means that the input seismic data
must be zero phase. STRATA automatically dephases the data
if an extracted wavelet is available.

(2) Even if the seismic is zero-phase, side-lobes from the actual

wavelet will be interpreted by the algorithm as lithologic
variations.
(3) The inversion result is bandlimited to the frequency range of the
seismic data.
(4) The scaling of the seismic trace to reflectivity is critical to get the
proper range of impedance changes.

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Model Based Inversion

Model Based Inversion starts with the equation for the convolutional
model:

S W * R Noise
Assume that the seismic trace, S, and the wavelet, W, are known.
Assume that the Noise is random and uncorrelated with the signal.
Solve for the reflectivity, R, which satisfies this equation. This is
actually a non-linear problem, so the solution is done iteratively.

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Model Based Inversion

Step 1:
The initial background model for Model Based Inversion is formed by
blocking an impedance log from a well:

The user specifies the layer size

in milliseconds.
All the layers are originally set
to the same size (in time).

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Model Based Inversion

Step 2:
Using the blocked model, and the known wavelet, a synthetic trace is
calculated.
Synthetic

Seismic

This is compared with the

actual seismic trace.
By analyzing the errors or
misfit between synthetic
and real trace, each of the
layers is modified in
thickness and amplitude to
reduce the error.
This is repeated through a
series of iterations.

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Model Based Inversion

Input Seismic
Model Based
Inversion produces
a broad-band, high
frequency result.
A potential problem
is that the high
frequency detail
may be coming from
the initial guess
model, and not from
the seismic data.

Model Based Inversion

This problem is
minimized by using
a smooth initial
model.
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Model Based Inversion

Recursive Inversion
This is a
comparison
between Recursive
and Model Based
Inversion.

Generally, the
Model Based gives
more detail, but
the results are
actually quite
similar.

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Model Based Inversion

25

Model Based Inversion

Issues in Model Based Inversion:
(1) Because the wavelet is known, its effects are removed from the
seismic during the calculation. For example, the seismic does not
have to be zero-phase, as long as the wavelet has the same phase
as the seismic.
(2) Errors in the estimated wavelet will cause errors in the inversion
result.
(3) The effective resolution of the seismic is enhanced.

(4) The result can be dependent on the initial guess model. This can be
alleviated by filtering the model.
(5) There is a non-uniqueness problem, as with all inversion.

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Sparse Spike Inversion

Sparse Spike Inversion
assumes that the actual
reflectivity can be
thought of as a series of
large spikes embedded
in a background of
small spikes.

Sparse Spike Inversion

assumes that only the
large spikes are
meaningful. It finds the
location of these large
spikes by examining the
seismic trace.
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Sparse Spike Inversion

Sparse Spike Inversion
builds up the
reflectivity sequence
one spike at a time.
Spikes are added until
the trace is modeled
accurately enough.
The amplitudes of the
impedance blocks are
determined using the
Model Based Inversion
algorithm.

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Sparse Spike Inversion

Input Seismic
Sparse Spike
Inversion
produces a
broad-band, high
frequency result.

Sparse Spike Inversion

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Sparse Spike Inversion

Model Based Inversion
Sparse Spike
Inversion
produces a result
which is similar to
Model Based
Inversion.
The main
difference is that
the very thin layers
are missing.

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Sparse Spike Inversion

30

Sparse Spike Inversion (LPSS)

Linear Programming Sparse Spike Inversion seeks the simplest possible
reflectivity model that, when convolved with the wavelet, produces a
synthetic that matches the input seismic.
The simplest model is defined as a model with minimum L1 norm subject
to the constraint that its synthetic matches with the input seismic.

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Sparse Spike Inversion

Issues in Sparse Spike Inversion:
(1) Sparse Spike Inversion puts events only where the seismic
demands.

(2) It attempts to produce the simplest possible model consistent

with the seismic data.
(3) It often produces fewer events than are known to be geologically
true.
(4) It may be less dependent on the initial guess model than Model
Based Inversion.

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Colored Inversion
Colored Inversion is a modification of Recursive Inversion, which
was originally described by Lancaster and Whitcombe of BP at the
2000 SEG Convention.
In this process, there is a single operator, O, which is applied to the
seismic trace S to transform it directly into the inversion result Z:

Z O* S
The authors defined the operator, O, in the frequency domain.
By examining transforms between seismic data and actual inversion
results, they concluded that the operator phase is -90 degrees.

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Colored Inversion
The amplitude spectrum of the operator is derived this way:

As predicted by theory, we
can fit a straight line which
represents the desired
output impedance
spectrum.

Amplitude Spectrum of Acoustic Impedance

Log(Impedance)

Using a set of wells from

the area, the amplitude
spectra of the acoustic
impedance for all the wells
are plotted on a log-log
scale.

Log(Frequency)

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Colored Inversion
Then, using a set of seismic traces
from around the wells, the average
seismic spectrum is calculated.

From the two preceding spectra, the

operator spectrum is calculated. This
has the effect of shaping the seismic
spectrum to the impedance spectrum
within the seismic band.

Spectrum of Seismic Data

Operator Spectrum

Frequency (Hz)
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Colored Inversion
Colored Inversion Operator

Putting together the derived

amplitude spectrum with the -90
degree phase shift produces
the Colored Inversion Operator.

This is applied to all the seismic

traces by convolution.

Time (ms)

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Colored Inversion
Input seismic

Colored Inversion

Colored Inversion
produces a result very
similar to Recursive
Inversion.
One difference is that, in
the original
implementation, the
scale is relative Acoustic
Impedance, with positive
and negative values.

+3000
0

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-3000

37

The comparison below is the proverbial apples and

oranges, since we are comparing absolute to relative AI.
Recursive Inversion

12000

Absolute AI
8300

4600
+3000
Relative Colored Inversion
Relative AI
0

-3000
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However, we have an option in STRATA to add back

the low frequencies to produce absolute AI, as shown below.

Recursive Inversion

12000

Absolute AI
8300

4600
12000
Absolute Colored Inversion
Absolute AI
8300

4600
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Colored Inversion
Issues in Colored Inversion:
(1) Very little dependence on the initial model, except to determine the
general impedance trend.
(2) Very fast to apply.
(3) Very simple with few user parameters.
(4) Assumes the data is zero-phase.
(5) Produces a result similar to Recursive Inversion, but with higher
frequency content and better scaling.
(6) In the initial implementation, the method produced a relative
impedance result, although we now have an option to add back the
low frequency trend.

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AVO Inversion
The basic convolutional model assumes zero-offset data.
Conventional inversion should not be applied to data with AVO
effects, since changes in VP/VS are not explicitly accounted for.
To extend inversion to handle AVO data, these algorithms are
currently used:
(1)
(2)
(3)
(4)

Elastic Impedance
Independent Zp and Zs inversion
Simultaneous Inversion for Zp, Zs, and density
Lambda-Mu-Rho (LMR)

These techniques will be discussed later in the course.

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Stochastic Inversion
Stochastic Inversion
This is a form of geostatistical inversion which explicitly addresses the
non-uniqueness problem by producing a large range of inversion
results for a given input seismic volume.
Each of the results is consistent with the seismic data, and honors the
expected continuity conditions, as contained in the variograms.
These results are analyzed to give an estimate of the uncertainty in the
result, along with the most probable result.
STRATA does not contain a stochastic inversion option.

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General Inversion Flow

(1) Create Model:

Select wells
Correlate each well
Extract wavelet
Import / Pick seismic horizons

(2) Perform Inversion:

Select Inversion Type and Parameters

QC Inversion Result

(3) Interpret Result:

Create data slices

Create cross plots
Input to EMERGE project

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QCing the Inversion

How do we know the
inversion worked?

Input seismic

Two ways:
(1) Error plot
(2) Cross validation
Inversion result

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QCing the Inversion

Input seismic
From the derived
impedance traces, we
can calculate a
synthetic using the
known wavelet.

Ideally, this should

look very much like
the input seismic.
Inversion synthetic

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QCing the Inversion

Input seismic
By subtracting the
Inversion Synthetic from
the Input seismic, we get
the Inversion Error.
If the inversion has
worked well, this should
show very little amplitude
with no localized events.
Because of nonuniqueness, a small error
does not guarantee the
right answer.

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Inversion Error

46

QCing the Inversion

The second type of inversion QC is cross-validation. In this process, we
drop a well completely from the initial model, perform the inversion at
that location, and compare the result with the hidden well.

Hidden Well
Inversion Error

Inversion Result

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QCing the Inversion

By analyzing the errors at each well location, we can identify problem
wells.

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Inversion as an Attribute for EMERGE

A recent use of Inversion is input to
EMERGE, which directly predicts
porosity and other lithologic volumes.

Inversion

EMERGE

Porosity volume

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Exercise 1: Erskine 3D, Initializing

The first exercise will apply inversion to a carbonate reef dataset from
central Alberta.
Start the GEOVIEW program by selecting Geoview from Start / Programs /
HRS applications (Windows).
GEOVIEW consists of 2
windows. The first is the
program manager.
The second is the Well
Explorer.

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We will create a new GEOVIEW database for this project.

When you start the

GEOVIEW program, this
menu appears, allowing
you to open a previously
created database. In this
case, select New and click
on Ok.

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Name the new database

erskine_database as shown
here, and click on Ok:

Now, the Well

Explorer appears
with no wells
entered yet:

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On the GEOVIEW Well

Explorer window, click on
Import Data / Logs, Check
Shots, Tops, Deviated
Geometry from Files:

On the File Import

page, select the file
erskine_log.las and
click on Next >>.

Change the Destination Well

Name field to erskine_well and
click on Next >> on this page:
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Click on Next >> to use the default location information:

This page now appears, showing that there is a single sonic log contained in
the LAS file. Click on Ok to read in this log.

Accept the default display units.

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After the log is read into GEOVIEW, click on the name of the erskine_well and
then click on Display Well:

The erskine sonic log is displayed.

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Now we will start a new project in STRATA to perform inversion on the

erskine data set.

Start the STRATA program by clicking on the STRATA

button on the GEOVIEW main window.
Select the option to Start New Project:

Name the new project

erskine_project

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The first step is to read the 3D seismic volume into STRATA. Click on Data
Manager / Import Data / Open Seismic / From SEG-Y File:

Select the file ersk3d.sgy and click on Next >>:

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Once again, we will load the seismic data as a 3D volume.

This file also does not have Inline & Xline numbers or X & Y coordinates in
the trace headers. Change the menu as shown below:

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Click Next >> twice to accept the defaults until you reach the final page.
The program initially assumes that there is just a single inline.

We will correct the geometry by typing

in 155 as shown. Note that the
number of Inlines will be calculated.
Click on Ok to load the seismic
volume.
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On the Well To Seismic Map menu, insert the location of the erskine_well
as shown below. Click Ok on this menu.

On the seismic display,

enter 24 (Enter) as the
desired Inline to plot
and the resulting
display will look like
this:

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To build the initial guess model for this data set, we

need a set of horizons. First, we will pick a single
horizon, and then we will import a set of previously
picked horizons.
Click on Horizon / Pick Horizons:

Accept the default name

Horizon 1. Click on Ok. Click
Yes on the dialog that asks if
you would like to display a Map
View.

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As shown below, change the Mode to Left & Right Repeat. Then, pick the
single horizon shown below by clicking the mouse near it:

The map window shows the pick times

for this single inline.

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Now we will ask the program to pick the entire 3D volume automatically,
using the single picked inline as a guide. Click on Options / Automatic
Picking:

Click on Ok on the Automatic Picking

menu, and the volume will be picked.
We can see from the pick map that there
is a potential problem on the first couple
of inlines.
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Display inline 2 by typing that number at the top of the STRATA window
and clicking Enter.

We can see a zone where

the automatic picking has
jumped a leg.

Fix this error manually by clicking near the event:

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Now do the automatic picking again.

When the automatic picking menu appears, you
can see that the default option is to clear all the
previous automatic picks, and only keep the
manual picks as the new guide:

Click on Ok to get the new result. Note

that picking the second inline manually
improved the model to guide the
automatic picking:
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Next, we will import the picks. First, delete

the horizon we have just picked:
Then click on Ok on the bottom of the
STRATA window to remove the picking
options.
Click on Horizon /
Import Horizons /
From File:

On the file selection menu,

select the 5 files called
erskine1.pik to erskine5.pik.
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In this case, the File Type is

Default Geoquest:
Click on Next >> to get the
next page.

We will accept the defaults

on the next page, including
the suggested names and
colors for the horizons.
Click on OK on this menu
to read in the picks.

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When the picks have been loaded, display inline 24 again, and STRATA
should look like this:

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Now we will build the initial model for inversion.

Click on Model / Build/Rebuild a Model:
On the model building menus, we will accept all
the defaults. Click Next>> and Ok to create the
model.

(End of Exercise 1)

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The Initial Guess Model

The initial guess model
for each trace consists
of an impedance log,
usually derived by
multiplying a real sonic
log by a real density log.
The impedance log
model must be
measured in 2-way travel
time. The original logs
are measured in depth.
A critical step is depthto-time conversion:

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The depth-to-time
conversion is made
using a depth-time table
which maps each depth
to the two-way travel
time from the datum
(surface) to that depth
and back:

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The depth-time table is usually calculated from the sonic log velocities
using this equation:
i

dj
ti 2*
j 1 Vj

where:

ti = time down to layer i

dj = thickness of layer j
Vj = velocity of layer j

The time to an event depends

on all the velocities above that
layer, including the first
velocity to the surface, V1.
That velocity is unknown and
is usually approximated by
extrapolating the first
measured velocity back to the
surface:

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If the well is deviated, it must be corrected to vertical and the correction

made from KB to datum:

DM
DV
DS
T

=
=
=
=

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Measured depth from KB

Vertical depth from KB
Vertical depth from datum
Two-way time from datum

73

The depth-time table calculated from the sonic log is rarely sufficient to
produce a model impedance which ties the seismic data properly because:
The seismic datum and log datum may be different.
The average first layer velocity is not known.
Errors in the sonic log velocities produce cumulative errors in the
calculated travel-times.

The events on the seismic data may be mispositioned due to

migration errors.
The seismic data may be subject to time stretch caused by
frequency-dependent absorption and short-period multiples.

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To improve the depth-time table two procedures are used:

Apply check shot corrections.

Apply manual log correlation to the seismic data.

Check Shot Corrections

A check shot table is a series of
measurements of actual 2-way
time for a set of depths:

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The depth-time
table calculated
from the sonic log
must be modified
to reflect the
desired check shot
times:

Original
Depth/Time
Curve

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Desired
Depth/Time
Curve

76

The
interpolation of
points on the
drift curve uses
one of three
options:

Linear: Honors the points exactly with straight line segments between
Spline: Honors the points exactly with smooth curves between

Polynomial: Fits a smooth curve using least-squares optimization

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Depending on the
interpolation option
used, the sonic log
changes may be
drastic:

Note: The time

stretches in this
example are
unrealistically
large.

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Changing the depth-time table

Changing the depth-time table implies a
possible change in the original sonic log
velocities. There are three options in STRATA:
(1) Change all the velocities in the log in such
a way that the new log will integrate to exactly
the desired times.
Note: This involves a ramped velocity above
the first measured depth to handle the bulk
time shift and to minimize the effect of
spurious reflections on the synthetic.
This is called Apply All Changes in STRATA.

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(2) Change the velocities for layers between

the first and last check shot depth only.
This means that no ramp is added above the
first measured depth.
The resulting log will integrate to the desired
times except for a bulk time shift.
This is called Apply Relative Changes in
STRATA.

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(3) Do not change the velocities in the sonic

log.
The resulting log will not integrate to the
desired times, but GEOVIEW and STRATA
will use the new depth-time table.
This option has the effect of maintaining the
original reflection coefficients for synthetic
calculations.
This is called Change Depth-Time Table
Only in STRATA.

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Log Correlation
Log correlation is the process of applying a manual correction to the depthtime curve to optimize the correlation between initial model and seismic
data.
Log correlation should be applied after the check shot correction, and is
ideally a small change.
Log correlation changes the depth-time curve in exactly the same way as a
check shot correction.
Log correlation consists of selecting events on the synthetic trace and the
corresponding events on the real trace.
Since the synthetic is used, the choice of wavelet may be crucial.

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Exercise 2: Erskine 3D Log

Correlation and Inversion
Now we are
ready to do log
correlation on
the erskine well.
Click on Well /
Edit/Correlate
Well:

On the selection menu, select

erskine_well to correlate:
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On the eLog window, click on Correlate:

On the Extract Composite Trace menu, accept the default, which is to

extract the composite trace from the ersk3d volume using +/- 1 inline and
cross line:

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The log correlation window

looks like this:

First, extract a new wavelet. Since

the log has not yet been correlated,
use the Statistical wavelet extraction
to extract a zero-phase wavelet with
the same amplitude spectrum as the
seismic.

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We will set the analysis

window to use a smaller
Time window and select
traces from a small range of
Inlines and Xlines around
the well:

Use the default values on

the third page of the
Statistical Wavelet
Extraction menu:

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The extracted wavelet will look like this:

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Now the Log Correlation window looks like this:

We can see that

there is a mis-tie
between the events
on the synthetic
traces and the
corresponding
events on the real
traces.
We can also see
that the program is
suggesting we
apply a time shift of
14 ms.
To see that better
click on the
Parameters button.

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The Cross Correlation window

shows the correlation between
the synthetic traces and the
real composite trace.
Note that the maximum
correlation occurs if the
synthetic traces are shifted by
14 ms.
Note, also, that this calculation
can sometimes be improved by
optimizing the Traces
Calculation Window.
For this case, we will leave that
alone.
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Now go to the Log Correlation window and apply the suggested shift by
clicking on Apply Shift:

Two things happen first, the logs are shifted; second, the correlation plot is
updated:

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The shift we have just done is

the best we could do with a
single bulk shift.
To further improve the
correlation, we need to manually
apply time-variant shifts.
To do that, select the series of
points shown on the right by
alternately clicking on the event
on the synthetic (blue) trace and
the corresponding event on the
real (red) trace.

When you have selected the

events as shown, click on the
Stretch button.
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The default parameters use

Spline interpolation between
points on the drift curve.

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92

Change the Type of Interpolation to Linear and click on Apply. Note the
change in the shape of the drift curve.

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Change the menu as shown below and click on Apply. Note that the option to
Apply all changes adds a ramp to the top of the sonic log, and changes the
sonic log values.

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Finally, change the menu as

shown below and click on
Apply. Then click on Ok on
the Check Shot window to
accept these parameters.

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The log correlation window

now looks like this. Note
that we have achieved an
86% correlation..

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The Cross Correlation window now

shows a strong peak close to time
zero.
Actually, it suggests a further -1ms
time shift. To apply that shift, click
the Apply Shift button once more.
We can also conclude from the
very symmetric correlation shape
that no further phase adjustment is
required.

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Now that the correlation is done, click on Ok

at the bottom of the eLog window.

The next menu allows you to name the

sonic log that will be created. Click Ok
on this menu to accept the default
name (P-wave_corr).

Finally, click on File / Exit Window on the eLog

window.

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Running the inversion

Now run the model based inversion using this initial model. We will use the
default parameters and discuss these parameters later.
We will do this in two stages. First
we apply inversion at the well
location to confirm the inversion
parameters and allow the program
to determine the optimum scaling.
Click on Analysis / Post-stack
Analysis / Model Based:

On the first menu page, select ersk3d as the inversion input. Then click on
Next>>

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On the second page, we confirm that the right wavelet is being used.
Click on Set Current Wavelet to see it.

The display shows our

previously extracted wavelet,
which is right. Click on Cancel
to remove this window.
Then click on Next>> and Ok to
accept all the defaults and
produce the Inversion Analysis
window.

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The Inversion Analysis

window shows a
number of useful curves
which help confirm that
the inversion has
worked properly.

Real Log

Initial
Model

Inversion
Trace

Synthetic

Error
Real
Data

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Many of the display parameters can be

customized by clicking on the eyeball
icon.

Select the Curves tab.

And choose the

option to apply a filter
to the real logs.
Then, click on Ok:

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From this display, we can apply the 2

QC criteria for a good inversion. The
inverted trace (red) corresponds very
closely to the real (filtered) log (blue).
Also, the error or difference between
synthetic (red) traces and real (black)
traces is practically zero.
If we liked, we could
modify any inversion
parameters on the
other menu, and click
Apply to see the new
result. However, this
inversion is definitely
good enough to
proceed.
Click on File / Exit on
the analysis window.
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Now, we apply inversion to the entire

volume. To do that, click on Inversion
/ Post-stack Inversion / Model Based
Inversion:
On the resulting menu, all the
default parameters are correct,
since we have confirmed them
during the analysis. Also,
clicking Next>> until reaching
the Scaler Option page, we see
that the scalers calculated at
the well location will be used
for the entire volume. Click on
Ok to invert the entire volume.

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When the inversion of the entire volume has completed, the result will look
like this:

Note that you can move through the volume by clicking the arrow keys as
shown above.
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One way to evaluate the quality of the inversion result is to create the Error
Plot. This is the difference between the synthetic calculated using the
inversion result and the original data. To see this plot, click on the
eyeball icon on the inversion result window.

When the menu appears, set the Trace Data Volume to be the inverted
derived Synthetic Error.

Then click on Apply at the bottom of the menu to see the resulting error plot.
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The Error Plot is scaled at exactly the same scale as the input data. The
fact that there is very little coherent error indicates that the derived model is
a very faithful representation of the seismic data.

Click on File / Exit

Project on any
window to close the
Strata program.

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A warning message will appear,

asking if you want to save the
project. Click on Yes.
Now a new message will appear,
asking if you want to see a list of
logs which have been modified.
Click on Yes to see that list.

Finally, click on Ok to save the

modified P-wave log back to the
Geoview database, and save the
Strata project as well.
(End of Exercise 2)

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The Initial Guess Model

Interpolating the Log:
Adding a single log to the model creates a uniform horizontal model:

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Picking a single event guides the interpolation of the log:

Note: A single picked event simply produces a bulk time shift on the log for
each trace. This is equivalent to applying a check shot correction with a
single point.
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110

Picking two or more events is equivalent to applying a variable check-shot

at each trace. The impedances between the two picked events are
stretched / squeezed.

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The type of interpolation between

horizons is controlled in STRATA by
the Model Option menu:

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112

There are 3 options for interpolation as

shown on the right.
By default, all horizons are treated as
Conformable, except the first and the last.

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A pinch-out is handled by forcing the two picked events to converge:

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114

If horizons cross, the handling depends on the

Priority Value assigned to each horizon.
In this case, H1 has a higher priority, so H2 is
truncated.
This is the opposite case.

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STRATA currently does not handle faults in model building. However, the
effect may be simulated by picking the same event on both sides of the
fault, and picking the fault plane as well:

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When more than one well is entered into the model, the results are
interpolated using inverse-distance weighting:

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117

Assume that there are two input logs, L1 and L2. We wish to calculate the
output log, Lout.
This will be a linear combination of the two input logs:
Lout = w1*L1 + w2*L2
The weights vary inversely as the
distance from the target point to each of
the input logs:

In general:

Lout wi * Li
i

-2

where:

1 d 12
w1
1 d 12 1 d 2 2

wi

d
d
i

-2
j

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The options for inter-well interpolation are shown here:

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119

Less frequently used options are

Triangulation, which fits a series of
plane segments between adjacent
wells

and Kriging, which

requires a variogram to be
input:

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Using picked events with multiple logs forces the inverse distance
interpolation to be guided by the picked events:

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Note the difference between interpolation with and without picked events:

General rules for adding picked events:

(1) Picked events must be present across the entire survey. Missing
picks will be interpolated by the program.
(2) Only pick events which you are sure of.
(3) Pick the large scale structure, not the fine details.
(4) Usually, the events picked during conventional interpretation are
precisely what STRATA needs.
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By default, STRATA produces a smoothed model by applying a high-cut

frequency filter to the traces after interpolation, maintaining only the lowfrequency trend. This prevents high-frequency details in the model from
influencing the final inversion result.

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123

It is also possible
to use the highfrequency model
that results from
simply interpolating
the model traces,
without any
smoothing.

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This is a comparison of inversion results from the High Frequency and Smooth
initial models.
High Frequency Model

Inversion Result

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Smooth Model

Inversion Result

125

The results are

surprisingly similar, but
the second is probably
more reliable.
Result from High
Frequency Model

Result from
Smooth Model

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126

Wavelet Extraction
The Convolutional Model is used as
the basis for all inversion:
trace = wavelet * reflectivity + noise
In the frequency domain, convolution
becomes multiplication:

Inversion can be thought of as division by the wavelet:

Reflectivity = Trace / Wavelet
The narrow band wavelet restricts the available range of information
in the frequency domain.
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The wavelet is defined completely by its amplitude spectrum and its phase
spectrum:
Over a limited
frequency range, the
phase spectrum may
often be approximated
by a straight line.

The intercept of the

line is the constant
phase rotation which
best characterizes this
wavelet.
The slope of the line
measures the timeshift of the wavelet.
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128

These wavelets all have the same amplitude

spectrum, but different (constant) phase
spectra:

0o
45o
90o

180o
-90o
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A special wavelet phase issue is the Polarity Convention.

The default convention is that an increase in acoustic impedance is

represented as a peak on zero-phase seismic data:

The alternate convention is that an increase in acoustic impedance is

represented as a trough on zero-phase seismic data:

The polarity convention is set using the

Synthetic Polarity Convention menu:
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Wavelets in the earth vary both laterally (spatially) and temporally for a
variety of reasons:
Near surface effects (space variant)
Frequency-dependent absorption (space and time variant)
Inter-bed multiples (space and time variant)
NMO stretch
Processing artifacts
STRATA assumes that the wavelet is constant with time and space:
Time invariant: This means that the inversion is optimized for a
limited time window.

Space invariant: This assumes that the data has been processed
optimally to remove spatial variations in the wavelet.
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There are two basic procedures for wavelet extraction in STRATA:

(1) Use the well(s) and

seismic to extract both
the amplitude and phase
spectra of the wavelet.

(2) Use the seismic alone to

extract the amplitude
spectrum of the wavelet.
Assume the wavelet is
zero phase.

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Why not always use

the wells?

Extract

Log correlation
errors (stretches)
can cause very big
phase problems.
Solution: do log
correlation before
wavelet extraction
using wells.
Extract

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Statistical Wavelet
Extraction (dont use
wells):

This procedure uses only the autocorrelation from the seismic data. The
phase is assumed known.
Main parameters:
Trace range (usually set this large to increase statistics)
Time window (should be at least twice the wavelet length)
Wavelet length
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134

Example of Statistical Wavelet extraction: Note that the wavelet is zerophase because the user has set that as a parameter.

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135

Wavelet extraction using well logs:

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136

Wavelet extraction using well logs:

This procedure uses the well logs to
estimate both the amplitude spectrum
and the phase spectrum of the
wavelet. It depends critically on the
quality of the tie between logs and
seismic.
Main parameters:
Select wells to use (use only logs
which tie well)
Time window
Wavelet length
Extraction Type

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Full Wavelet Option:

This extracts both the amplitude and phase spectrum exactly by solving for
the time-domain operator which shapes the well log reflectivity to the
seismic composite trace. This will only work if the tie is extremely good.

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138

Constant Phase Option:

This option calculates the amplitude spectrum of the wavelet using the
autocorrelation of the seismic traces, exactly as in the statistical procedure.
The phase spectrum is approximated as a single constant value, using the
well logs. This procedure is more robust than the Full Wavelet calculation,
especially when the tie between logs and seismic is poor. This is the default
choice.

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Steps for calculating the phase:

(1) Calculate the wavelet using the statistical wavelet extraction
procedure (dont use the wells).
(2) Apply a series of constant phase rotations to the extracted
wavelet.
(3) For each phase rotation, calculate the synthetic trace and
correlate it with the seismic trace.
(4) Select the phase rotation which produces the maximum
correlation.

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If the well tie is good, the methods

produce similar results:

Constant Phase

February, 2011

Full Wavelet

141

A General Problem with wavelet extraction:

To extract a wavelet using logs, an optimum correlation must be
done first.
To perform correlation properly, the wavelet must already be
known.
Practical wavelet extraction procedure:
(1) Use statistical wavelet extraction to determine a preliminary
wavelet. This assumes that the approximate phase of the
wavelet is known.
(2) Stretch/squeeze the logs to tie the seismic data.
(3) Extract a new wavelet using the well logs.
(4) Possibly repeat steps (2) and (3).

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A very useful wavelet diagnostic is the Cross Correlation window.

Maximum correlation after the
current well is shifted.

Suggested shift of the well.

This is only (exactly) correct if
no stretching is required.

The symmetry of these side

lobes shows that there is no
residual phase error.

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If there is more than one well, a very good diagnostic

is Multi-well Analysis:

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144

The Correlation Plot shows a graph of correlation

for each well. This can be used to flag bad wells,
which can be removed from a later wavelet
extraction.

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Exercise 3: Blackfoot Starting the Project

In this exercise, we will begin inverting a new data set. We will use the new
HRS9 version of the Hampson-Russell software suite in this exercise.
This data set is from the Blackfoot area of Western Canada, and consists of
13 wells which tie a 3D volume. These wells have already been loaded into a
GEOVIEW database. The first step is to start the HRS9 Geoview program.

Start the HRS9 Geoview program by

clicking HRS9 Geoview icon on your
desktop:

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When the Geoview

program appears, it shows
the Start Page, which
contains a list of
previously opened
projects. Your list may be
empty.
Click on Create New
Project:

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147

Type in the project name blackfoot and

click Ok:

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By default, Geoview
expects to use a well log
database with the same
name as the project,
located in the same
directory. If that is not the
case, you can Specify the
database.
In this case, we have
created the database
previously, with the 13
wells already loaded. So,
click Specify database and
Open.

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On the File Selection

dialog, select the file
blackfoot.wdb and click
Ok:

Finally, click Ok on the

Specify Database menu to
create the new project:

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The Geoview Start Window now looks like this:

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151

Displaying the wells

One part of the Geoview window (called
the Project Manager) shows all the
project data so far.
The tabs along the left side select the
type of project data. Right now, the
Well tab is selected and we can see the
13 wells from the external data base.
Click the + sign near one of the wells
(01-17 is shown as an example), to see a
list of curves in that well:

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To see more details about the wells,

click the Data Explorer tab to the right:

The Geoview
window now
changes as
shown:

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153

Click the arrow next to any of

the wells (for example, well 0117) to get more information
about the curves in that well:

Click this to return to the

previous table:

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154

To the right of the workspace, we can

see a base map, showing the location
of the wells:

Below the base map are a series of

tabs:
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155

Click the Single Well Display tab:

This shows the curves for the

selected well:

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156

Finally, to see the most complete view

of the log curves within a well, go to the
icon for that well within the Project Data
window and double-click. In this case,
we will choose well 01-08:

This creates a new tab within

the main Geoview window,
called the Wells tab, which
displays the selected well
curves:

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Loading the Seismic Data

We have now loaded the wells which will be
used in the post stack inversion process. The
next step is to load the seismic volume.
On the far left side of the Geoview window
and click the Seismic tab:

The window to the right of this tab

shows all seismic data loaded so far.
This is empty. Go to the bottom of the
window and click the Import Seismic
button:
On the pull-down menu, select From
SEG-Y File:
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158

On the dialog that appears,

select the file
blackfoot_seismic.sgy and
click Next:

Set the Geometry Type to

3D and click Next:

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159

On the third page, we are telling the

program what information it can use
from the trace headers. In fact, in
this data set, there are Inline and
Xline numbers, but not X and Y
coordinates. That is why we answer
No to the question Do you have X &
Y coordinates in the trace
headers?:

After modifying that item, as

shown, click Next to see
the SEG-Y Format page:

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By default, this page assumes that the seismic data is a SEG-Y file with all
header values filled in as per the standard SEG-Y convention. For example,
it expects to find the Inline and Xline numbers at the byte locations shown
above. If you are not sure that is true, click Header Editor to see what is in
the trace headers.
In our case, we believe the format information is
correct, so click Next to move to the next page.
Now the following warning message appears
because the program is about to scan the entire
SEG-Y file.
Click Yes to begin the scanning process.

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When the scanning has finished, the

Geometry Grid page appears:

Because we have read the Inline and

Xline numbers from the SEG-Y headers,
the geometry is correct. Click OK. After
building the geometry files, a new
window appears, showing how each of
the wells is mapped into this seismic
volume:
Click OK to accept the locations shown
on this window.

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162

Now the seismic data appears within the Geoview window:

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163

Modifying the Seismic Display

The Geoview window currently shows Inline 1.
We will now look at other parts of the data.
The first thing to see is the Base Map. To do
that, select View>Base Map:

The base map appears, showing that

the seismic volume is a rectangular grid
with 119 inlines and 81 cross lines. You
can also see the 13 wells located within
the volume:
After looking at the base map, close
that window by clicking on the x
on the upper right corner of the
map.
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164

Now lets look at a different inline. Type the

number 27 as shown, and press the Enter key:

Inline 27 now appears. At

the same time, we can see
one of the sonic logs.
Scroll down to see this
view:

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165

To see one of the cross lines, click the field

which currently says Inline. Select the Xline
option.

Cross line 1 now appears. To see the

display positioned at one of the well
locations, go to the Well icon and click
the down arrow as shown:
The drop-down menu shows a list of
wells in the project. Select one say,
08-08, as shown and the Geoview
window shows the crossline which
intersects that well location.

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166

We can also modify other plotting

parameters by using the Seismic View
Parameters window. To bring up that
window, click the eyeball icon as shown:

The Seismic View Parameters window

contains a series of pages which
control various aspects of the plotting.
To see the parameters for a specific
item, select that item from the list at the
left side. For example, here we have
selected the Inserted Wells item:

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Let us (temporarily) insert the

density log by selecting that item
as shown:

Now click Apply on the Seismic

View Parameters window. The
display is modified accordingly:

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168

We will continue the

exercise with the sonic logs
reinserted. To do this, click
Reset Page and OK on the
View Parameters window.
This redraws the Geoview
window as before.

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169

Importing Horizons
The last data component required for building the initial inversion model
is a set of horizon picks. You can use Geoview to pick the data directly.
Alternatively, you can import horizons which have been previously
picked in other software.

To start that process, select Horizon >

Import Horizons > From File:

From the File Selection

Window, highlight the file
called
blackfoot_horizons.txt
and click Select.
Note that, at the lower
left corner of the dialog,
we are specifying this to
be a Free Format file.
Click Next:
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170

The next page of the dialog allows you

to specify how the file is organized:

Click the View Files button to see the

ASCII file:
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171

The file display shows that there are 2

horizons in the file, and that we need to
skip the first 4 information lines.

Fill in the format dialog

as shown, including the
new Horizon Names:

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172

When you have

modified the
dialog, click OK
and the imported
horizons will be
displayed on the
seismic window:

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173

Using the Post Stack Inversion Workflow

Now that we have read in all the data necessary for the inversion, we are
ready to start the process.
First, look at the horizontal tabs to the
left of the seismic window. You will see
that one of those tabs is called
Processes. Click that tab to see a list of
all the operations which are available in
Geoview. Each of the processes can be
expanded. For example, if you click on
both the Seismic Processing and
Inversion options, the following
expanded list is seen.
One way to do the inversion would be to
apply each of the desired options in
turn.
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We will use an alternate procedure in this

tutorial. We will use the pre-defined
Workflows. Click the Workflows tab. The
window changes like this:
Each of the items on this window contains
a complete workflow for the specified
process. Click the item called Post Stack
Inversion. The window changes like this:
We now see the suggested series of steps
to be followed for Post Stack Inversion. The
steps are colored red to indicate that the
parameters have not yet been supplied.
These are the default steps, but the list
can be edited and customized, as we will
see later.
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Double-click the first item Select Poststack Seismic. An arrow will appear in
front of the item, as shown here:

Now a dialog appears on the right

with a list of all seismic volumes in
the project:
Since we have only loaded one seismic
volume, that volume is selected. Note
that at the lower right corner of the
dialog, there is a button for importing
more seismic volumes:

In fact, we want to use the selected seismic volume,

which is highlighted, so click Select on this dialog.
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Now double-click the second item of the

workflow, Select Horizons:

The dialog on the right shows the two

horizons we have just loaded:

It also contains buttons for picking or

importing new horizons:

Click Select to accept the two horizons.

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The next step is to apply the process

Extract Statistical Wavelet, by doubleclicking that option.

There are two basic methods for extracting the wavelet. One method uses
the wells, and can give a good estimate of both amplitude and phase spectra
of the wavelet.
The second method called statistical uses the seismic data alone to
extract the wavelet. This method will estimate the amplitude spectrum from
the seismic data, but we must make an assumption about the phase
typically we assume the data are zero phase.
In this step, we are extracting a statistical wavelet. We will refine the wavelet
extraction using the wells at a later stage.
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The dialog on the right sets the

range of data to analyze:

By default, the program will

examine the entire data volume,
but this is rarely appropriate. In
particular, we want to set a time
window around the zone of
interest. Change the dialog to
extract using the limited time
window shown on the single
cross line now displayed on the
screen:
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When you have changed the dialog as

shown above, click Run to extract the
wavelet. The extracted wavelet appears
in its own pop-up window:

Note that the time domain response is

in the upper window, while the
amplitude and phase spectra are in the
lower.

Note also this small button at the lower

right of the wavelet window:

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If you click that button,

the wavelet window will
be docked within its
own Wavelets tab:

This is a handy way to keep track of any window created within

our software. To release the wavelet window from its tab, click
on the airplane at the lower right of the wavelet window:

All the windows created within our software can be docked or

floating in this way. Finally, send the wavelet window back to
the wavelets tab by clicking the Wavelets button once again:
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181

The next step is to select the wells which

will be used in the model building:

Once again, we see a list of the wells

which have already been loaded into the
project:
Click Select to complete this step.

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182

The Wells tab appears,

showing one of the wells in
the project:

You can apply various log processing

options, like Log Editing, by going back
to the Processes list:
For this exercise, we will assume that
the logs have been properly edited.
Return to the Post Stack Inversion
Workflow.
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Correlating the Wells

The next step in the workflow is to
Correlate the Wells, so double-click that
item:

In practice, each of the wells used to build

the inversion model needs to be
correlated. For this tutorial, we will
correlate just one of the available wells,
and assume that all the others have been
correlated previously. On the Well
Selection Dialog, select the well 08-08 and
click OK at the bottom of the dialog:
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184

Now a dialog appears to specify

which seismic volume will be
used for the correlation process,
and how the composite trace will
be extracted from that volume:

Click OK on this dialog.

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185

The Log Correlation

Window now appears:

The blue traces on this

display are synthetic
traces calculated from the
sonic and density logs in
this well, using the depthtime curve currently
stored in the database
and the wavelet we have
previously extracted:

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186

The plot at the upper right shows the cross

correlation between the synthetic trace and
the composite trace:

That correlation result depends on the analysis

window, which can be improved. The cross
correlation window defaults to be the largest
possible window containing both the synthetic
and real trace. This can usually be improved
by narrowing the analysis to the region when
the log tie is best:
Set the start time to 800, as shown above
and click on Apply.
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The correlation plot now shows a maximum

correlation of 71%.

It also suggests that the synthetic

should be shifted down by 6 ms.
That information is also displayed on
the menu bar at the base of the window:
Click the Apply Shift button to apply the
suggested 6 ms shift.

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The asymmetric shape of the Cross

Correlation plot suggests that there is a
residual phase error in the synthetic,
which could be improved by extracting a
new wavelet now using the wells. To do
this, click the Wavelet button and choose
the option Extract Wavelet Using Wells:

On the dialog, change the parameters

as shown, and click Run:

February, 2011

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The extracted wavelet

shows an average phase of
-53 degrees:

Click the Wavelets button

to move this new plot to
the Wavelets tab.

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190

The Correlation Plot now shows a maximum

correlation of 74%, with a more symmetrical
shape. From this we can conclude that we have
a good estimate of the wavelet phase.

The plot also suggests a further shift of

-2ms. Click Apply Shift.

Click OK to accept this correlation.

A dialog appears suggesting a name for

the new sonic log we have created by
the log correlation process. Click OK to
accept that new name:
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191

We have now completed the log correlation step for one of the 13
wells, and extracted a single wavelet, for all the wells.
In a real project, we would have to do this correlation step for the
remaining 12 wells. To save time, we have done this correlation for
you, so we will assume the other wells are correlated.
The complete flow for a general multi-well project is:

(1) Extract a single Statistical Wavelet.

(2) Go through each of the wells, doing the correlation.
(3) Extract a single wavelet using all the wells.
(4) Go through each of the wells again, fine tuning the correlation.
Usually this step means simply apply a bulk shift.

(End of Exercise 3)
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Model Based Inversion Parameters

The parameters for model based inversion:
The most significant
parameters are:
Number of Iterations
Average Block Size
Type of scaling
Less important parameters
are:
Inversion Option
Maximum Impedance
Change

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193

Number of Iterations

Since STRATA converges through a series of iterations, this parameter

determines the degree of convergence. In practice most of the work has
been done after about 3 iterations.

There is never any harm in having more iterations - it only affects the runtime.
The number of iterations required for convergence may depend on the
block size used in the inversion. A finer block size may require more
iterations.
The way to confirm whether enough iterations have been done is to
examine the error plot.
Recommendation : Use 10 or more iterations.
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194

Average Block Size

This parameter controls the resolution of the final result. The initial guess
model is blocked to a series of uniform blocks with this size:

The final inversion result may change the size of the blocks, but the number
of blocks is still the same. This means that some blocks get bigger and
some get smaller, while the average is kept constant.
Using a small block size (2 ms) will increase the resolution, but the increased
detail may be coming from the initial guess. This may be alleviated by using
a smooth initial model. Using a small block size will always improve the fit
between the input trace and the final synthetic trace.
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195

Average Block Size

Inversion using 6
ms block size:

Inversion using 2
ms block size:

Recommendation: Set block size equal to sample rate, but use smooth initial
model.
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196

Scaling Parameters
In addition to the main Post-stack inversion Parameters, the following
page controls the scaling of the data:

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197

Why is Scaling an Issue?

The Convolutional Model is used as the basis for all inversion:
Trace = Wavelet * Reflectivity + Noise
In the frequency domain, this can be approximated by:
Reflectivity = Trace / Wavelet
To solve for the reflectivity, the wavelet must be known.
This means that the relative amplitudes of the reflection coefficients depends
on the absolute scaling of both the Trace and Wavelet.
From the equation above, if the wavelet is multiplied by 2, the resulting
reflectivity will be divided by 2.
STRATA determines the scaling of the trace automatically by forcing the rootmean-square amplitude of the initial guess synthetic to be equal to the rootmean-square amplitude of the real trace.
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198

Scaling Options

The second option, single global scaler, is theoretically more desirable. This
is because it assumes that there is a single wavelet scaling which is suitable
for all traces of the data set. This will preserve amplitude variations from trace
to trace.
The first option, separate scalers, is can be more robust for noisy data. It
effectively assumes that traces may need to be rescaled to remove trace-totrace variation which is not based on lithology.
For some data sets, especially sparse models, the automatic scaling may not
be ideal. In that case, you may override with a manual adjustment, which
multiplies the automatic scaling result:

The only way to determine this factor is by visually inspecting how well
the inversion traces match the initial guess logs.
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Scaling Comparison

Scaling
too low

Scaling
too high

Scaling
just right

Blue = original
impedance log
Red = inversion
impedance
result
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200

Scaling Options

Recommendation: Use inversion analysis to calculate a

single global scaler at the well locations.

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201

Inversion Option

This parameter controls the how the constraints will be used.

Model Based inversion minimizes an objective function of this form:
J = weight1 x (T - W*r) + weight2 x (M - H*r)
where:
T
W
r
M
H

the seismic trace

the wavelet
the final reflectivity
the initial guess model impedance
the integration operator which convolves with the final
reflectivity to produce the final impedance
* = convolution
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=
=
=
=
=

202

The objective function has two parts.

Minimizing the first part, (T - W*r), forces a solution which models the
seismic trace. Minimizing the second part, (M - H*r), forces a solution which
models the initial guess impedance using the specified block size.
These two conditions are (usually) incompatible. The weights, weight1 and
weight2, determine how the two parts are balanced. In Soft Constraint
inversion, the objective function is exactly as shown above. The weights are
determined by this parameter:

The Model Constraint is the value of weight2 in the objective function. Setting
this value to 0 causes the seismic trace to dominate. Setting this value to 1
causes the initial guess model to dominate. This is called a soft constraint
because the final model may deviate any distance from the initial guess, but it
pays an increasingly large penalty for doing so.
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203

In Hard Constraint inversion, the second term is missing entirely from the
objective function. However, the algorithm is constrained to keep the final
impedance values constrained within the limits specified by:
This is called a hard constraint,
because values are not allowed to
change beyond a fixed boundary.

The Maximum Impedance Change is a percentage of the average

impedance for the log. Note the effective range for this model:

Recommendation: Use Hard Constraint with default parameters.

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204

Error Plot
The Error Plot shows the difference between the actual traces and the
synthetic traces calculated using the inversion impedance result:

Ideally, the
Error Plot
should
show no
coherent
energy, and
should
have a low
over-all
amplitude.
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205

Low frequency component in the error probably caused by using the

wrong wavelet:

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206

Error localized to one side of line probably caused by not picking enough
events:

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207

Coherent error throughout data set probably caused by:

too large block size
not enough iterations
constraint too tight

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208

Exercise 4: Blackfoot Model-Based Inversion

We are now ready to perform the next step on
the workflow, which is Build Initial Model.

Double-click that item on the workflow list:

The dialog which appears

contains the default parameters
for building the standard poststack inversion model. By
default, all the wells are selected:

We will use both horizons in the

project:

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209

After interpolating the well log curves, a low-pass frequency filter

will be applied, which, by default, passes all frequencies up to 10
Hz, filters all frequencies above 15 Hz, and interpolates the filter
between those limits.
There are many
additional Advanced
parameters, which you
can examine by clicking
the Show Advanced
Options button:

For this tutorial, click Run to accept the

defaults.

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210

The Geoview window

now shows the
calculated initial
model within the
Models tab:

The wiggle traces on

this display are the
original seismic data,
while the color
displays the filtered
acoustic impedance.
You can display any
location on the model
volume by using the
selection tools on the
menu bar:
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211

Performing Inversion Analysis

The next step is to perform Inversion
Analysis. This is the process of running
inversion at the well locations to QC and
optimize the inversion parameters. At the
same time, scalars are automatically
determined which scale the input seismic
data to the amplitude range of the
synthetic seismic data. On the workflow,
double-click Inversion Analysis:
The dialog which appears contains default
selections of the main parameters. These are
usually appropriate.
In this case, we are using the seismic data
called blackfoot_seismic and we are inverting
the entire time window:

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212

We are using all the wells in the

inversion analysis. Note that you
can use different wells than the
wells used to build the initial model:

We are using the initial model

previously generated:
We are using the wavelet previously
extracted:

To verify that is the right wavelet, click

Change Wavelets > Wavelet Data
Explorer, as shown.
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213

A dialog appears, showing

you the details of the
wavelet:

Click the x on the upper

right corner to dismiss
this dialog.

Now click OK on the Inversion Analysis

dialog to start the process:

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214

The Inversion Analysis window now

appears, showing the inversion result at
the first well location:
From left to right, the display shows
the inversion result (in red) overlaying
the original impedance log from the
well. To the right of that, we see the
synthetic traces calculated from this
inversion result (in red) followed by the
original seismic composite trace (in
black). Finally, we see the error trace,
which is the difference between the two
previous results.
We are seeing the result at the first well
location (01-08), but the controls on the
upper menu bar allow us to see any
other well:
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215

To the upper right of the display are a

series of buttons, which allow us to finetune the inversion. For example, the
Wavelet button allows you to manipulate
the inversion wavelet.

A second button allows us to view and

change the initial model parameters:

A third button brings up a dialog

allowing us to change the inversion
parameters. Click this button as shown.

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216

For example, change the Inversion Method

to Linear Programming Sparse Spike and
click Apply at the bottom of the dialog.

The inverted traces now show a

blockier appearance:

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217

Set the Inversion Method back to Model

Based and click Apply to restore the
default settings:

Then close the Inversion Parameters

dialog by clicking the Close button:

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218

Applying the Inversion

Now that we have optimized the
parameters at the well locations, the
last step is to apply the inversion to the
entire 3-D volume. Double-click the last
item on the workflow:
The dialog which appears shows all the
inversion parameters, but we do not have
to change any, because we have already
optimized them at the well locations.
The only significant parameters involve
the data range and time range of the input
volume to be inverted:
In this case, we will invert the entire
volume, so click Run at the base of the
dialog to start that process.
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219

When the inversion process is done, the result is displayed

in a split-screen along with the initial model:

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220

Displaying the Inversion

The default split-screen display is very useful for looking at the results, but
there are many improvements possible.
For example, you can increase the
available plot space by clicking on
the x on the Project Manager
window, as shown, to temporarily
hide that window:

To restore the Project

Manager window, click its
name to the left:

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221

You can also temporarily hide one of

the views. For example, click on the
first icon shown below to temporarily
hide View 1, which shows the model:

To restore View 1, click it again:

There are actually 3 views

available. Click on the third icon
to display View 3:

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222

The third view is currently blank:

To load some data into View

3, first go to the Project Data
window on the left and find
the input seismic data:
Then, holding the left mouse
button down, drag-and-drop
the volume blackfoot_seismic
into the blank View 3:
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223

The window now looks like this:

The fourth button sets the

orientation horizontally:

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224

Now turn off Views 1 and 3 by clicking

the first and third buttons:

Now, right-click within the inversion

window. A series of display options
appear for this window. For example,
we can easily modify the Color Scheme.

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225

The Color Scale numerical range can be

changed graphically by selecting Color
Key > Color Key and Histogram:

Click Cancel to remove this

display:

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226

Set the range manually by selecting

Color Key > Modify Range:

On the dialog which appears, set

the desired range from 8000 to
12000 and click OK:

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227

Another useful display is a data slice

through the inversion volume. To
produce that, go to the tab called
Processes. From the list select doubleclick Create data slice:

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228

Fill in the menu as shown, and click Ok to

produce the slice:

(End of Exercise 4)
February, 2011

229

Maximum-Likelihood Sparse Spike

Inversion Parameters
The menu for sparse spike inversion:

Sparse Spike Inversion uses the same parameters as constrained model

based inversion.
These additional parameters determine how many spikes will be detected
on each trace:
Maximum Number of Spikes
Spike Detection Threshold
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230

Maximum Number of Spikes

This parameter sets the maximum number of allowable spikes per trace.
This is defaulted to be the same as the total number of samples in the
window. Effectively this means that this parameter does not operate under
normal conditions.
Spike Detection Threshold
As each spike is added, its amplitude is compared with the average
amplitude of all spikes detected so far. When the new amplitude is less
than a specified fraction of the average, the algorithm stops adding spikes.

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231

Linear-Programming Sparse Spike Inversion

Parameters

LP sparse spike inversion minimizes an objective function of this form.

J weight1 * T W * r weight 2 * ri
The first term tries to produce an impedance result whose synthetic matches
the input seismic trace. The second term is a constraint which favors
solutions with sparse reflectivity or blocky impedances.

The LP Inversion
parameters are
shown here:

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232

Sparseness
The most important parameter is the Sparseness, which controls the
relative weighting of the two terms:

1%

February, 2011

50%

100%

233

Window length
The LP Inversion algorithm is very time consuming. To decrease run-time,
the inversion is run over a series of small overlapping windows.
Theoretically, a larger window is always preferable, at the cost of
increased run-time:

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234

Output Impedance Type:

This parameter outputs either the abolute impedance using the lowfrequency model (Full Spectrum) or the relative impedance without the
low-frequency model (High Frequency Residual)

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235

Bandlimited Inversion Parameters

The menu for bandlimited inversion:

The only parameter for Bandlimited Inversion is:

Constraint High-Cut Frequency: This parameter controls the filter which is
applied to the initial guess model to provide the low-frequency component
to the result. All frequencies above this value are removed from the initial
guess. All frequencies below this value are removed from the recursively
inverted trace. The two are then added together.

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236

Colored Inversion Parameter Menu

First, you must run
spectral analysis and
create an operator. The
result is shown on the
next slide.
One key parameter for
Colored Inversion is the
Impedance Output
Option, where High
Frequency Residual, or
Relative impedance is
the default.
The other option is to
create a Full Spectrum
by the adding the
specified frequency
February,
range2011
from the model.

237

Colored Inversion Operator

Calculation

The spectral analysis and operator creation result has two parts. The top
part of the display shows the analysis and operator results.
February, 2011

238

The operator is created automatically using a least-squares fit. The bottom

part of the display allows you to change the automatic parameters if you
wish, and is shown above.
The next set of slides describes the parameters on this menu.

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239

The first panel shows a plot of

the amplitude spectrum of
Impedance from a series of wells
vs Frequency. This is shown on
a log/log scale.
The red line is a regression
curve, which represents the
desired output of the Colored
Inversion.
These parameters allow you to
over-ride the automatic calculation
of the regression line:

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240

The second panel shows two

curves. One is the amplitude
spectrum of the input seismic
data. The second is the desired
output from the previous panel.
Note that this is now curved,
because we are showing a linear
scale in Frequency.

Desired Spectrum

Seismic Spectrum

This parameter allows you to apply

smoothing to the Seismic
Spectrum:

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241

The horizontal red line is the

Spectrum Threshold. This sets a
frequency range over which the
inversion operator will be
calculated. Only those frequencies
for which the seismic spectrum
(blue) is above the threshold will be
used in the calculation. The
threshold prevents division by zero
or small noise values.

Spectrum Threshold

This parameter allows you to

change the threshold value:
Alternatively, these parameters (if set
to non-zero values) allow you to set
the frequency range manually:
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242

Finally, these panels show the time and frequency domain operator which
has been calculated.

These operator displays will be updated automatically to reflect changes to

all the other parameters on the menu.
These parameters directly affect the
operator itself:
February, 2011

243

Exercise 5: Blackfoot Other

Inversion Methods
Since we have built the initial model for the Blackfoot data set, we can
easily apply other inversion methods to the data and compare the results
with model-based inversion.
We will start with Bandlimited inversion.

Go to the Process tab and double-click on

Inversion / Process / Post-stack Inversion

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244

Fill in the menu as shown. Note that we

choosing to apply the Inversion Method
Bandlimited to a single cross line (42).
When you have filled in the menu, click Ok
to run the process.

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245

When the process has finished, it looks like this:

Notice that the

bandlimited
inversion runs
much faster than
model-based
inversion.
However, there is
less detail in the
result.

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246

Next we will run sparse spike inversion.

Go to the Process tab again and doubleclick on Inversion / Process / Post-stack
Inversion

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247

Fill in the menu as shown. Note that we

choosing to apply the Inversion Method
Linear Programming Sparse Spike to a
single cross line (42). When you have filled
in the menu, click Ok to run the process.

February, 2011

248

When the process has finished, it looks like this:

Note that the

detail is
comparable to
model-based
inversion, but
it is not as
continuous
laterally.

February, 2011

249

Finally we will run sparse colored

inversion.
Go to the Process tab again and doubleclick on Inversion / Process / Post-stack
Inversion

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250

Change the menu as shown.

Before running the process, we have
to create the Colored Inversion
operator. To do that, click the button
Run spectral analysis and create
inversion operator:

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251

Click Ok on the two menus which

follow:

February, 2011

252

Finally click Ok on the main inversion

menu:

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253

When the process has finished, it looks like this:

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254

We have now produced a series of

inversion volumes. To see a list of
the volumes, click on the Project tab
and expand the entries by clicking
the + signs as shown:
We can see four inversions. Each
inversion contains the inversion
result (with the suffix _Zp) along
with accompanying synthetic and
error volumes.

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255

We will arrange several of these results in a single window for comparison.

First the model-based inversion. Double click on inverted_Zp as shown:

This causes
the modelbased
inversion to
appear.

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256

Now create two

empty windows
by clicking the
2 and 3
icons on the
lower right:

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257

Select the second volume lp_inversion_Zp and drag it to the empty View 2:

Similarly, drag the third volume colored_inversion_Zp to the empty View 3:

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258

Finally, click the fourth button on the lower right to switch between vertical
and horizontal views:

February, 2011

(End of Exercise 5)

259

Summary
Inversion is the process of extracting, from the seismic data, the
underlying geology which gave rise to that seismic.
Inversion can be a very non-unique process. The low-frequency model
is particularly important.
Successful inversions depend on careful correlation of each of the wells
and careful wavelet extraction.
In this course we have studied the following types of inversion:

Model-based inversion
Bandlimited inversion
Colored inversion
Sparse-spike inversion

Model-based inversion is the recommended choice for most inversion projects.

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260

Appendix: Pre-stack, or AVO, Inversion

The basic convolutional model assumes zero-offset data.

Conventional inversion should not be applied to data with AVO
effects, since changes in VP/VS are not explicitly accounted for.
To extend inversion to handle AVO data, these algorithms are
currently used:
(1)
(2)
(3)
(4)

Elastic Impedance
Independent Zp and Zs inversion
Simultaneous Inversion for Zp, Zs, and density
Lambda-Mu-Rho (LMR)

These techniques will now be discussed, followed by an exercise on

simultaneous inversion and LMR.

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261

Elastic Impedance
The Elastic Impedance concept was originally developed by Connolly
(The Leading Edge, 18, no. 4, 438-452 (1999)).
He started with the Aki-Richards equation which relates reflection
amplitude to incidence angle:

VS
VP

RP (q ) a
b
c
, where :
2VP
2VS
2
2

VS
VS
2

a 1 tan q , b 8 sin q , and c 1 4 sin 2 q .

VP
VP
2

Note that post-stack inversion theory

assumes that q = 0, which gives us:

1 VP

RP (0 )

2 VP

o

Thus, changes in VP/VS are ignored.

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262

Elastic Impedance
Notice that, for the zero-offset case:

1 VP 1 AI 1

RP (0 )

ln ( AI )
2 VP
2 AI 2
where AI Acoustic Impedance
o

By analogy, Connolly defined a new type of impedance such that:

RP (q )

1 EI 1
ln ( EI ) , where EI Elastic Impedance.
2 EI
2

By mathematical manipulation, he showed that:

(1 tan 2 q ) ( 8 K sin2 q )
P
S

EI (q ) V

(1 4 K sin2 q )

V V ,
a b
P S

V
where K S .
VP
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263

Elastic Impedance
This figure, from Connollys paper shows an overlay of Elastic Impedance
over Acoustic Impedance from a well. The Elastic Impedance shows
anomalously low values at hydro-carbon areas.

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264

Colony sand case study

In the following set of slides, we will consider a

case study from the Colony sand in Alberta.
This is a 2D example which lends itself well to AVO
analysis.
The analysis was done using the Hampson-Russell
AVO program.
Note the dramatic change in the elastic impedance
response when we invert for Elastic Impedance at
two different angles.

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265

Gas sand case study

The figure above shows the logs after fluid substitution in the gas zone. The EI_Near
log on in blue was created at 7.5o and the EI_Far log in red was created at 22.5o. Note
that the Near < Far outside the gas sand but Far > Near inside the sand.
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266

Gas sand case study

EI_Near

EI_Far

(a)
(b)
The figure above shows (a) the interpreted crossplot between the near and
far EI logs, and (b) the zones marked on the logs themselves. Notice the
February, 2011
clear indication of the gas sand zone.

267

Elastic Impedance
The work flow for this type of inversion starts from the pre-stack data,
creates two angle stacks, and inverts each separately.

Gathers
AVO Analysis
AVO
Program

STRATA
Program
February, 2011

Near angle
stack at q1

Invert to EI(q1)

Far angle
stack at q2

Invert to EI(q2)
268

Elastic Impedance
Far Angle Inversion (22.5o)

This produces 2
inversion results.
Note the improved
definition of the
gas sand on the
far angle
inversion

February, 2011

Near Angle Inversion (7.5o)

269

Gas sand case study

The figure on the left shows a crossplot
between the EI at 7.5o, on the horizontal axis,
and the EI at 22.5o, on the vertical axis. The
background trend is the grey ellipse, and the
anomaly is the yellow ellipse. As shown
below, the yellow zone corresponds to the
known gas sand.

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270

Independent inversion for P and

S-Impedance

We now turn from elastic impedance inversion to independent P and Simpedance inversion. Later, we will discuss simultaneous inversion
and how it differs from independent inversion.

Both independent and simultaneous inversion for P and S-impedance

will lead us to the lambda-mu-rho (LMR) approach, but we will talk
about LMR before introducing the simultaneous approach.

We call this method independent inversion, because the first step is

to extract independent estimates of the zero-offset P and S
reflectivities, RP0 and RS0 from the seismic gathers. This is done using
the Fatti equation:

RPP (q ) c1RP 0 c2 RS 0 c3RD

2

V
V
1
where c1 1 tan q , c2 8 S sin 2 q , c3 tan 2 q 2 S sin 2 q ,
2
VP
VP
2

RP 0
February, 2011

1 VP
1 VS

,
R

,
and
R

.
S0
D

2 VP

2 VS

271

RP and RS Inversion Flow

Gathers
AVO
Program

AVO Analysis
RP Estimate RS Estimate

STRATA
Program

Invert to ZP

Invert to ZS

A flow chart for the independent inversion procedure. Note that

both the AVO and STRATA programs are required.
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272

RP and RS Sections
Here are the RP
and RS sections,
extracted using the
AVO program, with
the correlated Pwave sonic
inserted at the
proper location,
and three picked
horizons. Horizon
2 is picked on the
gas sand trough.
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273

P-wave and S-wave Models

Here are the initial
models for inversion.
Note that these
models were created
under the Model/
Build/Rebuild a Model
option using:

P-impedance Model

S-impedance Model

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274

P-wave and S-wave Inversions

Here is the final P-wave

and S-wave inversion
results. The low P-wave
impedance just below
Horizon 2 represents the
gas sand.

Note that this

corresponds to an
increase in S-wave
impedance.

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275

Lambda-Mu-Rho (LMR)
The Lambda-Mu-Rho or LMR method was originally proposed by
Goodway et al (SEG Expanded Abstracts, 1997). Like the Elastic
Impedance method, this procedure extends conventional inversion to
handle data with AVO effects.
LMR uses the following relationships between VP, VS, and the Lam
parameters, l and m:

l 2m
m
VP
and VS

therefore : m Z
and :
February, 2011

2
S

l Z 2 Z
2
P

2
S

Note that the final result

is to express the
quantities l and m in
terms of the acoustic
impedance ZP and
shear impedance ZS.

276

LMR Flowchart
The work flow for LMR involves
calculating RP and RS seismic
volumes from pre-stack data.
Two inversions are performed
to create ZP and ZS volumes.
These volumes are transformed
and cross-plotted using the
equations from Goodway et al.

Gathers
AVO Analysis

RP Estimate RS Estimate
Invert to ZP

Invert to ZS

Transform to l and m
Cross-plot
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277

LMR Example
This example shows the
result of applying the
LMR approach to a gas
sand example from
Alberta, where the gas
sand is indicated by the
ellipse.

The top section shows

the lambda-rho result,
and the bottom section
shows the mu-rho
result.

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LMR Example
This mu-rho vs lambda-rho crossplot is
shown on the left, where the red zone
indicates gas (low lambda-rho) and the
blue zone indicates the shales and wet
sandstones.

These zones are displayed on the section

below and indicate the gas sand zone.

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Simultaneous Inversion
Simultaneous Inversion inverts for ZP , ZS , and possibly Density using prestack angle gathers as input. The benefit of this procedure is that it allows
constraints to be imposed between these variables. This can stabilize the
results and reduce the non-uniqueness problem.
We again start with Fattis version of the Aki-Richards equation. This
models reflection amplitude as a function of incident angle:

RPP (q ) c1RP c2 RS c3RD

where:

c1 1 tan 2 q ,

RP

VS
c2 8 sin 2 q ,
VP

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1 VS

2 VS

RD
.
RS

c3

1 VP

2 VP

V
1
tan 2 q 2 S sin 2 q ,
2
VP

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Simultaneous Inversion
A linear relationship is assumed for the background wet lithologies.
Simultaneous Inversion solves for deviations from this background:

ln( Z S ) k ln( Z P ) kc LS
ln( ) m ln( Z P ) mc LD

Ln()

Ln(Zs)
LD

LS

Ln(Zp)
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Ln(Zp)

281

Simultaneous Inversion
Simultaneous
Inversion
produces
volumes of Zp, Zs,
Density, and
derived
combinations:

ZP

Zs

VP/VS

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Simultaneous Inversion
The interpretation of Simultaneous Inversion volumes is similar to other
AVO Inversion results:

Let us now finish the course with an exercise on Simultaneous Inversion

using a shallow gas sand example from Alberta.
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Exercise 6: Simultaneous inversion

In this exercise, we will apply pre-stack simultaneous inversion to a single 2D line,
containing a series of angle gathers.
If the STRATA program is still running, close it down by clicking on File / Exit Project
on any of the STRATA windows.
The well for this data set has already
been loaded into a GEOVIEW database.
To access that, click on Database / Open
on the GEOVIEW window:

Select the database

angle_gather_database and click Ok:

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The database contains a

single well, AVO_WELL.
Highlight that line and click
on Display Well.

The well contains a sonic,

density, and shear wave
log.

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Now click on the STRATA button to start that

program.

Choose the option to Start a New Project, and

click Ok:

Name the project angle_gather_project and click

Ok:

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The STRATA window now appears,

initially blank.
The first step is to read in the
angle_gathers, which have already been
created. Click on Data Manager / Import
Data / Open Seismic / From SEGY File:

From the list, select angle_gather.sgy

and click on Next:

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Select the option to handle this as a

2D Line and click Next>>.

On the next page, specify that this file does NOT

have XY coordinates in the trace headers.

Click Next and Ok until the Well

to Seismic Map Menu appears.
Specify that the well is located
at CDP 330, as shown. Finally,
click Ok on this menu.
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The angle gather now appears, with the single well inserted.

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Now, we will import horizons for

model building. Click on
Horizon / Import Horizons / From
File.

Select the file

angle_gather_horizons.txt
and click on Ok.

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This file has multiple horizons, so click

that option and then click Next>>.

There are 3 horizons, so fill in that

number, and click Next>>

Finally, fill in the format page as

shown to the right. You may want
to Display selected file to verify
these choices. When you have
completed the menu, click on Ok to
load the horizons.

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Now, we build the initial model for the

inversion. Click on Model / Build /
Rebuild a Model:

On the first page choose the option

Typical setup for Pre-stack Inversion
and click Next>>:

On the next page, we confirm the

wells used in the model. Click on
Next>>.

On the next page, we confirm

which logs curves are used.
Click on Next>>.
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On the next page, we confirm which

horizons are used in the model
building. Click on Next>>:

Finally, we confirm that the

model will be filtered to retain
only the low frequency
components. Click on Ok.

When the model has been

built, it will look like this:

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Because this is pre-stack seismic data, the default

display does not show the model in a continuous
form. To verify the model, click on the eyeball icon:

On the View Parameters menu, turn off the

trace plotting (temporarily) by changing the
Trace Data Volume to None and clicking Apply:

The STRATA window now shows

the low frequency impedance
model which will be used for the
inversion.
Click on Cancel on the View
Parameters menu to restore the
original STRATA window.
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294

For pre-stack inversion, it is usually helpful to

have a wavelet which varies with angle. So far,
in previous projects, we have only extracted a
single wavelet. Now, we will extract two
wavelets, one for the near traces and one for the
far traces.
Click on Wavelet / Extract Wavelet / Statistical:

On the first menu page, set the Offset

range from 0 to 15. For angle gathers, this
is actually the angle in degrees.

On the last menu page, set the Wavelet

Name as wave_near.
Click on Ok to get the near angle wavelet.
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Now, repeat the entire process to get the far

angle wavelet.
Click on Wavelet / Extract Wavelet / Statistical:

On the first menu page, set the Offset

range from 15 to 30.

On the last menu page, set the Wavelet

Name as wave_far.
Click on Ok to get the far angle wavelet.
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Near Wavelet

Far Wavelet

By examining the two

wavelets, we can see
a slight loss of high
frequencies for the far
wavelet, as expected:

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We are now ready to do the simultaneous inversion. This is

actually done in two stages. First we apply inversion at the
well location(s) to confirm the inversion parameters and
allow the program to determine the proper scaling. Then, we
apply inversion to the entire volume. To do the first step,
click on Analysis / Pre-stack Analysis:

On the first menu page, select

angle_gather as the input and click
Next>>:

On the second menu page, we confirm

the angle range for this data set. Click
Next>>:

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On the next page, we confirm a

number of parameters. The most
important parameter on this page
is the wavelet. By default, STRATA
will use the last extracted wavelet.
To display that wavelet, click on
Set Current Wavelet:

When the wavelet menu appears,

it displays last wavelet we
extracted, wave_far. To use both
the near and far angle wavelets,
click on the option to Set Angle
Dependent Wavelets.

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Now the menu shows a table,

allowing you to type in the angles
for each of the desired wavelets.

Change the menu to look like this.

Note that we have specified an angle
of 22.5 degrees for the far wavelet.
This is because it was extracted over
a range of 15-30 degrees. Similarly,
the near wavelet is specified as 7.5
degrees, which is the mid-point of the
extraction range 0-15 degrees.
Finally, click on Set Current Wavelet on the bottom left of this menu. The
Analysis Setup Menu now shows that 2 wavelets are being used:

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Click on Next and Ok on this menu.

300

Now, a new menu appears, allowing you to set the background relationship
between ln(ZP), ln(ZS), and ln(Density):
These cross plots have
been calculated using
the full range of the logs
from the AVO well. An
improved estimate could
be made by limiting the
depth range of the data
being used.

For now, we will simply

manually improve the
regression fit through
the clusters.

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Using the mouse,

modify the
regression lines
from this:

To this:
And click Ok and
Save regression
coefficients:

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The Pre-stack Inversion

Menu now looks like this
(note that the coefficients
may not be exactly the
same):
All the parameters on this
menu can be defaulted.

Click on Apply to see the

inversion result at the well:
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The display shows a number of useful curves:

Real Log

Initial
Model

Inversion
Trace
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Synthetic
Error
Real
Data

304

To customize the display, click on the eyeball icon:

On the Layout page, remove

the plot of Density and add
the plot of Vp/Vs:

Then, click on the Curves page:

And select the option to

Apply a filter to the
original logs for display.
Finally, click on Ok.
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The new display shows a very good fit between the inversion traces and the original
logs, especially near the target zone:

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Now we will apply the inversion to the entire data set.

Click on Inversion / Pre-stack Inversion:

The menu that follows confirms all

the parameters we have already
seen. So we can default every
page, except the last one, which
determines which volumes will be
created. Since we have chosen
NOT to update Density, we remove
it from the list and add Zs instead
Now, click Ok to create the
inversion volumes:

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A series of windows now appears.

One window is the synthetic data
corresponding to the inversion
output.
We can also see the error, which
is the difference between the real
data and synthetic data.
Click on the eyeball and set the
Trace Data Volume as shown below:

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The other volumes

are Zp, Zs, and
Vp/Vs. These
volumes are now
available for
visualization, cross
plotting or Emerge
analysis.
We have completed
the pre-stack
inversion project.
Close down the
STRATA program by
clicking on File / Exit
Project on any of the
STRATA windows.

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