Seismic Attributes

By Haseeb Ahmed
M.Phil Applied Geology
University of the Punjab
 Seismic Attributes?
• Seismic attributes are the components of the
seismic data which are obtained by
measurement, computation, and other
methods from the seismic data. Seismic
Attributes were introduced as a part of the
seismic interpretation in early 1970’s
• Any information of interest that can be
derived from seismic is ‘Seismic Attributes’
 Classification of Seismic Attributes

• The Seismic Attributes are classified basically

into 2 categories.

• Physical Attributes
• Geometric attributes
 Physical Attributes
• Physical attributes are defined as those
attributes which are directly related to the
wave propagation, lithology and other
parameters.
• These physical attributes can be further
classified as pre-stack and post-stack
attributes.
• Each of these has sub-classes as instantaneous
and wavelet attributes
Instantaneous and Wavelet Attributes

• Instantaneous attributes are computed

sample by sample and indicate continuous
change of attributes along the time and space
axis.
• The Wavelet attributes, on the other hand
represent characteristics of wavelet and their
amplitude spectrum.
 Post-Stack Attributes

• Post stack attributes are derived from the

stacked data. The Attribute is a result of the
properties derived from the complex seismic
signal.
• The concept of complex traces was first
described by Tanner, 1979. The complex trace
is defined as:
 Cont…
CT(t)=T(t)+iH(t)

• CT(t) = complex trace

• T(t) = seismic trace
• H(t) = Hilbert’s transform of T(t) H(t) is a 900
phase shift of T(t)
 Complex Trace Attributes

• The seismic data is treated as an analytic trace, which contains both

real and imaginary parts. Various amplitude, phase, and frequency

attributes can be calculated. Includes:

Instantaneous Attributes--associated with a point in time

Wavelet/Response Attributes--related to a lobe of the energy envelope

A(t); corresponds to an event, rather than a single time sample

Complex Trace Attributes
 Trace Envelope (E)
• The Envelope (E) is calculated from the
complex trace by the formula:
E(t)=SQRT{T2(t)+H2(t)}

The envelope is the envelope of the seismic

signal. It has a low frequency appearance and
only positive amplitudes.
 Envelope (E)

• The envelope is useful in highlighting

discontinuities, changes in lithology, faults,
changes in deposition, tuning effect, and
sequence boundaries.
• This attribute is good for looking at packages
of amplitudes.
• This attribute represent mainly the acoustic
impedance contrast, hence reflectivity.
Envelope (E)
 Mainly useful in identifying
• Bright spots
• Gas accumulation
• Sequence boundaries, major changes or depositional
environments
• Thin-bed tuning effects
• Unconformities
• Major changes of lithology
• Local changes indicating faulting
• Spatial correlation to porosity and other lithologic
variations
• Indicates the group, rather than phase component of
seismic wave propagation.
Showing the amplitude attribute of the same section. Notice the
High amplitude anomaly is highlighted more clearly in amplitude
envelope
 Instantaneous Phase
• Instantaneous phase is measured in degrees (-
p, p). It is independent of amplitude and
shows continuity and discontinuity of events.
It shows bedding very well.
• Phase along horizon should not change in
principle, changes can arise if there is a
picking problem, or if the layer changes
laterally due to “sink-holes” or other
phenomena.
 This attribute is useful as
• Best indicator of lateral continuity,
• Relates to the phase component of the wave-
propagation.
• Can be used to compute the phase velocity,
• Has no amplitude information, hence all events are
represented,
• Shows discontinuities, but may not be the best. It is
better to show continuities Sequence boundaries,
• Detailed visualization of bedding configurations,
• Used in computation of instantaneous frequency and
acceleration
Phase section. Observe the continuity
of the reflection events
 Instantaneous Frequency
• Instantaneous frequency is the time derivative of
the phase, i.e., the rate of change of the phase:
F(t)=d(f(t))/dt
• Instantaneous frequency represents the mean
amplitude of the wavelet.
– Instantaneous frequency can indicate bed thickness
and also lithology parameters.
– Corresponds to the average frequency (centroid) of
the amplitude spectrum of the seismic wavelet.
– Seismic character correlator,
 Continue
– Indicates the edges of low impedance thin beds,
– Hydrocarbon indicator by low frequency anomaly. This
effect is some times accentuated by the
– Unconsolidated sands due to the oil content of the
pores.
– Fracture zone indicator, appear as lower frequency
zones
– Chaotic reflection zone indicator,
– Bed thickness indicator. Higher frequencies indicate
sharp interfaces or thin shale bedding, lower
frequencies indicate sand rich bedding.
– Sand/Shale ratio indicator
The frequency section shows a low frequency anomaly
at shallow depths indicating the presence of shallow
gas vs Normal
 Relative Acoustic Impedance
• It is an indicator of impedance changes, in a
relative sense.
• The calculated trace is the result of simple
integration of the complex trace. It represents
the approximation of the high frequency
component of the relative acoustic impedance
Relative acoustic impedance
section vs Normal
 Pre-Stack Attributes
RMS velocities of reflectors
This may be Time Migration velocity analysis,
independent of major influence of dips. This is
used for sand/shale ratios estimation, high
pressure shale zone detection, major lithologic
change detection, and etc.
• Group velocity, phase velocity decomposition,
• Trace envelope amplitude variation with respect
to offset,,
• Instantaneous frequency variation with respect to
offset
 Geometrical Attributes

• The Geometrical attributes are dip, azimuth

and discontinuity. The Dip attribute or
amplitude of the data corresponds to the dip
of the seismic events.
• Dip is useful in that it makes faults more
visible. The amplitude of the data on the
Azimuth attribute corresponds to the azimuth
of the maximum dip direction of the seismic
feature.
 Discontinuity/ Coherence
• A geometrical attribute, and measures the lateral
relations in the data.
• It is designed to emphasize the discontinuous
events such as faults.
• High amplitude values on this attribute
corresponds to discontinuities in the data, while
low amplitude values correspond to continuous
features.
• Discontinuity varies between zero and one ,
where zero is continuous and one is
discontinuous
 This attribute can be used in
understanding
– Coherency at maximum coherency direction
– Minimum coherency direction
– Event terminations
– Picked horizons
– Fault detection
– Zones of parallel bedding
– Zones of chaotic bedding
– Non-reflecting zones
– Converging and diverging bedding patterns
– Unconformities
Its corresponding discontinuity time
slice vs Normal Section
 Spectral Decomposition
• Creating spectral decomposition attributes
enables you to illuminate the structures with
different frequency bands to see if any of
them gives you better resolution.
• At a specific frequency band certain size
structures are more visible due to tuning
effects, etc.
 CONTINUES
• Spectral decomposition is a powerful technique which
aides in the imaging and mapping of bed thickness and
geologic discontinuities.
• By transforming the seismic data into the frequency
domain with the discrete Fourier transform, short-
window amplitude and phase spectra localize thin bed
reflections and define bed thickness variability within
complex rock strata.
• This technology allows the interpreter to quickly and
effectively quantify thin bed interference and detect
subtle discontinuities within large 3D surveys.
 Conclusion
Envelope: Presence of gas (bright spots), thin-bed tuning effects,

lithology changes

Phase: lateral continuity of reflectors, bedding configurations

Frequency: Presence of hydrocarbons, fracture zones

Spectral Decomposition: Bed thickness

Coherence: Faults, fractures, lateral stratigraphic discontinuities

for trace offset & max similarity)