Flaring methodologies for marine seismic data acquisition

Abstract

A method of determining an optimal flare spacing for streamers towed behind a seismic vessel comprising the steps of: using a computer specially adapted with a seismic data analysis package to analyze prior seismic data for a survey area; analyzing migration broadcast patterns to estimate a maximum sampling distance; calculating a wavelet expansion as a function of flare spacing; creating synthetic gaps in the prior seismic data coverage by dropping traces at different flare spacing; testing capability of different interpolation algorithms in the seismic data analysis package to close the synthetic gaps; and determining an optimal flare spacing based upon the capability of the different interpolation algorithms to close the synthetic gaps.

1 . A method of determining an optimal flare spacing for streamers towed behind a seismic vessel comprising the steps of:
 a. using a computer specially adapted with a seismic data analysis package to analyze prior seismic data for a survey area;   b. analyzing geophysical migration broadcast patterns to estimate a maximum sampling distance;   c. calculating a wavelet expansion as a function of flare spacing;   d. creating synthetic gaps in the prior seismic data coverage by dropping a trace at different flare spacing;   e. testing capability of different interpolation algorithms to close the synthetic gaps created by the trace; and   f. determining an optimal flare spacing based upon the capability of the different interpolation algorithms to close the synthetic gaps.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising the step of selecting an actual flare spacing between about eighty percent and about one hundred percent of the maximum flare spacing for marine seismic data acquisition. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising the step of selecting an actual flare spacing between about ninety percent and about one hundred percent of the maximum flare spacing for marine seismic data acquisition. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the prior seismic data is 2D data. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the prior seismic data is 3D data. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the flare spacing in step (d) are less than or equal to the maximum sampling distance. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the optimal flare spacing of step (f) is at least within about 12% of nominal. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the optimal flare spacing of step (f) is less at least within about 20% of nominal. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the optimal flare spacing in step (f) is within about 10 to 25% of nominal. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the optimal flare spacing in step (f) is within about 10 to 30% of nominal.