Combine SEGY Files

Version 1.1 Geological Survey of Canada Natural Resources Canada December, 2011

Table of Contents
able of Contents.............................................................................................................1 Ne! "eatures...................................................................................................................2 #ntroduction......................................................................................................................$ #ntellectual and %ro&erty Rig'ts.......................................................................................( #nstalling t'e %rogram......................................................................................................( )aunc'ing t'e %rogram....................................................................................................( *ain +indo! , )oading files..........................................................................................%rocessing +indo! , Setu& Demulti&le. %arameters..................................................../ *ain +indo! , *etadata 0ntry....................................................................................11 *ain +indo! , 1&erational 1&tions.............................................................................12 *ain +indo! , %rocessing ...........................................................................................1$ 2&&endi. 2....................................................................................................................13 Retrieving 2GCD#G Data from / mm 0.abyte a&e...................................................13

New Features
0.tract 4nudsen 5ulian Day from file name and insert S0G6 trace 'eader day field !it' t'is value. Scan t'e traces for abnormal trace delay values and remove abnormal delays from out&ut com&osite file. 2dd or subtract a time s'ift to t'e trace time in out&ut files to allo! for correction of time errors in in&ut files.

Introduction
'is a&&lication 'as been designed to load, demulti&le. and combine digital S0G6 files t'at are collected during marine 'ig' resolution seismic field o&erations. 'e data colelcted on t'ese o&ertations are c'aracteri7ed by 'ig' sam&ling fre8uencies and 'ig' s'o! rates resulting in large file si7es. During t'ese e.&editions, digiti7ers are often set u& to record in one9'our c'un:s or t'ey are set u& to record files of a &redetermined file si7e, often around 100 *;. Conse8uently, eac' field day !ill generate over 20 files &er seismic recorder, and ty&ically 1 to 2 G; of data. 'is &rogram !ill combine t'e multi&le files from one day <or days= into one large S0G6 file !it' a self9describing name.

*ost marine geologists &refer to use an electrostatic 'ardco&y of t'e seismic data and find it 8uite convenient to roll out a single record t'at ty&ically contains data from multi&le field days. 'ey find it a c'allenge to &rocess and dis&lay digital seismic data, as often t'e number of files and t'e si7e of files &resent o&erational difficulties. Conse8uently, most of t'e digital seismic data collected over t'e last decade by t'e GSC 'ave not been inter&reted or even verified from digital ta&e.

Current seismic recorders <e.g. GSCD#G= used in GSC field o&erations generally record a single seismic c'annel in a data file and multi&le data files are recorded simultaneously &er instrument. #n &revious seismic recorders <e.g., 2GCD#G multi&le c'annels !ere encoded in a single S0G6 file including a N*02 navigation datastream=. 1t'er systems create non9S0G6 digital data streams. 'e 4nudsen C'ir& recorder, for e.am&le, generates files in a &ro&rietary 40; format !'ic' can be converted into S0G6 format using a &rogram t'at can be obtained from t'e manufacturer. 1ur digital 4lein sidescan record in a 4lein SD" format > at t'e moment, !e 'ave develo&ed a converter to transform t'ese files to S0G6. Combine Segy im&lements t'e ?'arvest@ stage of a &rocessing frame!or: im&lemented at t'e GSC for storage and dissemination of sonar data.

#n subse8uent &rograms, t'ese large combined S0G6 files !ill be converted into a 5%0G 2000 files, !'ic' !ill offer substantial com&ression Amore t'an B0CD and t'e means of easily vie!ing and inter&reting t'ese data !it' bot' off9t'e9s'elf and custom image vie!ing soft!are. 'is &rogram !ill reduce t'e number of seismic data files by &roducing very large, combined segy files and subse8uent ste&s !ill ma:e t'e 'andling of t'ese very large data files not only &ossible but very easy.

Intellectual and Property Rights

'is &rogram is t'e &ro&erty of t'e Government of Canada. 2ll rig'ts to modify t'is soft!are are retained t'e Government of Canada. Contact t'e aut'or, ;ob Courtney, Natural Resources Canada, 1 C'allenger Drive , Dartmout' Nova Scotia ;26 322 , tel, B02932-9(0-2 to obtain a co&y . 'e soft!are may be freely redistributed !it'out restriction.

Installing the Program

'e Combine S0G6 a&&lication 'as been tested on a $2 bit +indo!s E% &latform and &robably !ill !or: on Vista and +indo!s F as !ell. 'e only &rere8uisite for running t'is a&&lication is t'e &resence of .N0 "rame!or: 2.0, !'ic' can be do!nloaded from *icrosoft if it is not already reinstalled on your mac'ine 'e Combine S0G6 a&&lication is installed using standard *icrosoft installation &rocedures, and can be do!nloaded from ft&,GGft&.nrcan.gc.caGgscGcourtneyGCombineHSegy. 2 co&y of t'e installation soft!are may also be obtained from t'e aut'or via e9mail contact to ;ob Courtney. Note, #f you are installing a ne! version of t'is &rogram, it is necessary to first delete t'e &revious version using t'e Control %anelG2dd and Remove &rograms utility. 'e &rogram is installed under t'e name CombineSegy.

Launching the Program

'e &rogram can be launc'ed by clic:ing on t'e CombineHSegy icon located under t'e NRCan folder found in t'e &rograms menu from t'e start button Asee figure 1D.

"igure 1 I *ain a&&lication form.

Main Window : Loading files

'ree buttons control t'e loading and deletion of files selected for &rocessing Asee figure 2D.

"igure 2 I "ile loading and management buttons. 'e )oad Segy "iles button !ill bring u& a file selection bo. and multi&le files may be c'osen using standard +indo!s s'ift clic: synta.. ;y default, only files !it' a ?.sgy@ e.tension !ill be dis&layed in t'e file bo., but all files can be dis&layed by using t'e JK.KJ o&tion in t'e ty&e of files selector bo.. +'en loading files into t'e bo., it is normally not necessary to c'oose only S0G6 files as eac' file is tested to see if it is in S0G6 format. 'ere may be e.ce&tions, of course, !'ere t'e odd file may &ass t'is test, so it is !ort'!'ile to ins&ect t'e files t'at are &laced in t'e list bo.. 'e c'oice of files is not restricted to one directory and multi&le files from different directories can be selected. 'e order of t'e files does not matter, but c'oose only files of t'e same recording ty&e.

"or subse8uent o&erations, it is im&ortant not 'ave t'e same file selected more t'an once. #f a file is listed more t'an once, or if non9segy file &asses t'e segy test, it can be deleted by clic:ing on t'e item in t'e list bo., and &ressing t'e clear selected button. *ulti&le selections can be made !it' t'e +indo!s standard s'ift9clic: or control9clic: synta.. 'e entire list can be deleted by clic:ing t'e clear t'e entire list button.

Processing Window : Setup Demultiple Parameters

"or many of our ne!er data sets, eac' in&ut file only contains one c'annel of seismic data and t'e files do not need to be demulti&le.ed. Lo!ever, in older GSC datafiles and in industry multic'annel data sets, it is necessary to designate and demulti&le. t'e desired c'annels. o initiate t'is &rocess, clic: t'e button on t'e main form labeled ?Setu& Demulti&le. %arameters@ !'ic' !ill e.&ose t'e follo!ing form <see figure $=,

"igure $ I Demulti&le. "orm. Clic: t'e ?scan selected file@ button and t'e &rogram !ill scan t'e first 'undred traces in t'e file 'ig'lig'ted in t'e main form list bo. and dis&lay t'e data corres&onding to t'e columns labeled in t'e demulti&le. form. ;y toggling bac: and fort' bet!een t'e demulti&le. form and t'e main !indo! form, one can scan t'e contents of any of t'e files &resent in t'e main form list bo.. y&ically, industry9standard segy multic'annel data !ill &lace t'e c'annel code information in t'e trace #D &osition in t'e trace 'eader AC1) 2D , !'ereas a nonstandard

&osition !as used to encode t'e c'annel #D in t'e 2GCD#G < a GSC digiti7er= format Acol $D. 'ere is a user9defined field o&tion to c'oose a variable &osition in t'e 230 byte S0G6 trace 'eader if c'annel information is located else!'ere in t'e 'eader. #n t'is case, one !ould s&ecify t'e start &osition of t'e data in t'e trace 'eader, counting from 7ero from t'e start of t'e 230 byte trace 'eader. 1ne also needs to s&ecify t'e lengt' of t'e !ord in bytes, t'is &rogram assumes t'at t'e data is in unsigned integer format. Note t'at t'is o&tion 'as not been !ell tested, and if a user 'as &roblems using t'is o&tion, &lease contact t'e aut'or so it can be fi.ed. o e.tract a single c'annel from t'e file, clic: on t'e ?demulti&le. 1 c'annel@ c'ec: bo.. Set t'e c'annel field to t'e column in t'e scanned file listing !'ere t'e c'annel information is contained. "or e.am&le, one !ould in&ut column 2 for most industry9 standard segy data. 1ne !ould c'oose column $ for 2GCD#G data. 'en c'oose t'e a&&ro&riate c'annel number in t'e c'annel number scroll bo.. Sometimes !e !ant to e.tract t!o c'annels and out&ut a com&osite file containing data from t!o combined traces. o c'oose t'is o&tion, clic: on t'e ?demulti&le. sidescan@ c'ec: bo.. C'oose as before t'e field to designate t'e column in !'ic' c'annel information is stored. C'oose t'e a&&ro&riate codes for t'e &ort Au&&erD and t'e starboard Alo!erD c'annels. 0.am&les of t'is !ould include sidescan data !'ere &ort and starboard data are saved as se&arate c'annels, or 'ig'9resolution Luntec data !'erein internal and e.ternal data are recorded. #n t'e case of sidescan data, t'e &ort c'annel s'ould be fli&&ed as is usual in t'e dis&lay of t'is :ind of information. #n t'e case of Luntec data, t'e internal and e.ternal c'annels can be stac:ed on to& of eac' ot'er in a com&osite section. #n t'e com&osite section, t'e trace !ill be double t'e trace lengt' of t'e individual c'annels. 'e com&osite trace !ill 'ave t'e &ort data first, follo!ed by t'e starboard data. 'e trace 'eader !ill be an e.act re&lica of t'e &ort c'annel trace 'eader e.ce&t t'at t'e number of sam&les !ill be doubled. 'us, t'e delay stored in t'e com&osite trace 'eader !ill be t'at of t'e &ort data c'annel. #t is assumed t'at t'e &ort and starboard c'annels 'ave t'e same trace lengt' and t'e same sam&ling rate.

"igure 3 I Sam&le demulti&le. &arameters for 2GCD#G sidescan data. +'en all demulti&le. information 'as been entered into t'e form, clic: t'e ?'ide !indo!@ button so t'at form contents cannot be mista:enly c'anged. 'e !indo! can be vie!ed again by clic:ing t'e ?setu& multi&le.ing &arameters@ button on t'e main form. 'e settings in t'e demulti&le. form will 'ave been retained.

Main Window : Metadata !ntry

"igure ( 0.&edition s&ecific metadata. 'e Combine Segy "iles &rogram !ill generate com&osite segy files and e.&edition s&ecific metadata !ill be used to give self9describing names to t'ese com&osite files. 2lt'oug' t'ese fields are only used in t'e nomenclature of files, in subse8uent &rocessing t'ese ne! file names !ill remain largely untouc'ed. 0ac' com&osite file !ill 'ave t'e follo!ing nomenclature, expedition ID_datatype_instrument type_transducer type_start time_end time.sgy. "or e.am&le,
2000ANNE_S_PIERCE_SIDESCAN_SIMRAD_ 20!"#_ 2_ $2%_to_ 2_ %&%.sgy

'ad been generated from sidescan data collected on t'e e.&edition, 20002NN0HSH%#0RC0, !it' a S#*R2D instrument !it' t'e 120 :L7 transducer ty&e o&tion bet!een 5ulian day. 112 time 1-2B and 5ulian day 112 time 1B(B. 'is filename standard !ill &rove very convenient for organi7ing and sorting t'ese files in a directory system. Since t'e most of entry fields in figure ( corres&ond directly to enumerated <fi.ed form strings from a limited list= data contained in GSCMs arc'ive databases A0D and %2DD , it is 'ig'ly desirable to c'oose t'ese variables based on t'e names t'at actually e.ist in our databases. 'en t'ese files may be directly related to ancillary data found in t'ese databases by &arsing t'eir file names. 'e only field t'at is not in our databases, and t'erefore 'as a more free format, is t'e transducer ty&e field, !'ic' # consider some!'at of an oversig't in t'e design of our databases. # !ould as: t'e user to, at least, be consistent !it' t'e information ty&ed into t'e transducer ty&e field.

0ac' entry name can be manually entered into t'e corres&onding combo bo., but t'e list of acce&table values for t'ese fields can be accessed by clic:ing on t'e do!n arro! in eac' bo.. Some of t'e lists are long so one can 8uic:ly access a desired name by ty&ing t'e first fe! c'aracters of t'e desired field into t'e te.t &art of t'e combo bo.. 2t t'is time, t'e list bo. s'ould scroll s'o!ing entries t'at matc' t'e c'aracters ty&ed into t'e te.t bo.. 'e entries in t'e &ull9do!n list !ere e.tracted from our databases in 200F so ne!er e.&edition #Ds, for e.am&le, !ill not be found. #t is &ossible to directly derive t'e contents of t'ese &ulldo!n lists from our online databases as t'e &rogram is launc'ed, but t'at !ould re8uire t'e installation of 1racle drivers on eac' of t'e target %Cs and, more im&ortantly, t'e use of t'e &rogram at sea !ould be 'indered.

Main Window : "perational "ptions

"igure - 9 1&erational o&tions #n t'eory, t'e ma.imum si7e of t'e files generated t'roug' t'is &rocess s'ould 'ave no real &ractical si7e limit. Lo!ever, t'ese routines 'ave not been tested !it' data files greater t'an 3 G; in si7e, and ty&ically, !e generally collect about 2 G; &er c'annel &er 239'our &eriod. 'e data entered in t'e o&erational o&tions section controls t'e ma.imum si7e and duration of t'e com&osite files, and in addition, t'ey control !'et'er or not, t'e file contains !'ites&ace !'en t'ere e.ists time ga&s bet!een successive in&ut files. # !ould recommend setting t'e ma.imum combined file si7e variable to 2000 A2 G;D and t'e ma.imum combined time duration to 23 'ours. ;y default, null traces are generated !'en small ga&s e.ist bet!een successive files, but if t'e time ga& e.ceeds 10 minutes t'e com&osite file !ill be closed and a ne! one started. 'e o&erator can c'oose t'e ma.imum time ga& t'roug' t'e scroll bo..

'e Demulti&le. c'ec:bo. instructs t'e &rogram to demulti&le. t'e data only, and not attem&t to combine successive files. 'is o&tion must 'e used i( t"e time (ie)ds in t"e segy "eader are empty as t'ere is no !ay of se8uencing t'e files Aat least by time.D. 2n e.am&le !ould be industry multic'annel data !'ere only t'e s'ot number or trace number 'as been recorded, and one !is'es to &ull a signal from a selected c'annel or &air of c'annels. #n t'is case, t'e metadata tags in figure ( are ignored and t'e out&ut file 'as t'e same name as t'e in&ut file, but t'e ending of t'e file is augmented by t'e c'osen c'annel number. #f t'e seismic digiti7er recorded an incorrect time, t'en a &ositive or negative time correction may be added to t'e times recorded in t'e trace 'eader. 0nter t'e desired time correction in !'ole seconds. #n some S0G6 data, notably in data from auto9!indo!ing 'ig' resolution sounders !'ic' at times loose bottom trac:ing, aberrant time delays are &resent in t'e data resulting in abnormally large t!o9!ay time bounds for t'e data set. #f t'e JScan for 2bnormal Delay C'angesJ c'ec:bo. is set, t'en t'e out&ut file !ill be scanned for infre8uent delays at t'e very9most to& and bottom of t'e recording !indo!. 'ese aberrant traces !ill be removed from t'e out&ut. #n some 4nudsen S0G6 data, t'e day given in t'e S0G6 trace 'eader !as day of t'e mont' rat'er t'at day of t'e year < 5ulian day= as s&ecified in t'e S0G6 standard. #f t'e J"i. N& 5ulian Day..J c'ec: bo. is enabled, t'en t'e &rogram !ill e.tract t'e 5ulian day from t'e in&ut file name and insert t'is into t'e &ro&er field in t'e S0G6 'eader.

Main Window : Processing

"igure F 9 *ain !indo! configured and ready to &rocess. 2t t'is &oint, you are ready to &rocess t'e files. Clic: on t'e &rocess files button, and bro!se t'e directory system for a &lace to &ut your com&osite files. 'e &rogram !ill first scan t'roug' all t'e in&ut list bo., and reorder t'e list based on increasing time. During t'e construction of t'e com&osite files, a tem&orary file called Segy1ut.sgy !ill be &resent but it !ill be renamed !it' t'e a&&ro&riate nomenclature as discussed in t'e metadata section. 6ouMre done.

#ppendi # Retrie$ing #%&DI% Data from ' mm ! a(yte )ape

"rom about 1BB2 on!ards to t'e late B0s, marine geo&'ysical seismic data !ere digiti7ed by soft!are develo&ed by t'e Geological Survey of Canada 2tlantic called 2GCD#G. 'is digiti7er could record u& four simultaneous c'annels !it' t'e same delay trigger. Data !as recorded in a modified S0G6 format on /mm 0.abyte ta&e drives by in bot' /200 and /(00 formats. 'e data !ere multi&le.ed in an interleaved fas'ion on ta&e and t'e c'annel #D !as also stored in a nonstandard &osition in t'e trace 'eader. #n t'e latter versions of 2GCD#G, an

additional c'annel !as recorded t'at encoded a serial N*02 stream from t'e G%S serial feed. 'is additional c'annel usually 'ad a trace lengt' of 1023, !'ic' often differed from t'e trace lengt' recorded for eac' of t'e ot'er c'annels. Conse8uently, any &rogram t'at decodes or demulti&le.es t'ese segy files cannot assume constant trace lengt' nor assume standard locations for variables in t'e trace 'eader. C language 'eaders describing t'e modified segy format for t'ese ta&es are available from t'e aut'or. 'e data !as recorded on 0.abyte ta&e at a small bloc: si7e less t'an $24. t'ese files can be easily dum&ed from ta&e onto 'ard drive on a )inu. system using t'e follo!ing &rocedure, A1D #nsert t'e ta&e into t'e target 0.abyte drive. a&es may be read in 0.abyte /(00 t'roug' /B00 A*ammot'D ta&e drives. #f using a *ammot' drive, t'e drive must be cleaned before 'ig' density *ammot' ta&es can be read. Set t'e ta&e drive to use a variable bloc: lengt', mt It GdevGnst0 setbl: 0 A2D %retension t'e ta&e by issuing t'e follo!ing commands <'ere !e assume t'at t'e ta&e device name in a no re!ind mode is GdevGnst0 = , mt It GdevGnst0 eod mt It GdevGnst0 re!ind A$D S:i& for!ard to t'e desired file. 1ften t'e first file is em&ty so t'e first significant data is found after t'e second file mar:, mt It GdevGnsto fsf 1 A3D use t'e )inu. command, dd, to dum& t'e file onto t'e current !or:ing directory, dd ifOGdevGnst0 ofONe!"ileName ibsO$2: 'e above &rocedure can be incor&orated into a linu. based c9s'ell scri&t to recursively dum& files from t'e ta&e onto a directory, PQGbinGcs' mt 9t GdevGnst0 re!ind mt 9t GdevGnst0 setbl: 0 mt 9t GdevGnst0 fsf 1 setenv count 0 !'ile < Rcount S 100= setenv count Te.&r Rcount U 1T setenv f fileRVcountW

ec'o Rf dd ifOGdevGnst0 ibsO$2: ofORf end 'e above &rocedure !ill generate 100 files Amodify t'e &rogram if t'ere more t'an 100 files on t'e ta&eD, many of t'em !ill be em&ty of course. ;ut donXt !orry, t'e Combine Segy &rogram !ill ignore any files t'at are em&ty or not in a segy format. 0nsure t'at data from successive ta&es are stored in se&arate directories.