Seismic Acquisition Field Visit Report

Acknowledgement
First of all, we are thankful to Almighty Allah who gave us the strength for this field visit. Also we are truly grateful to Ms. Raheela for arranging this visit for us, to Mr. Saqib for accompanying us on this visit and very special thanks to Mr. Jaswal for making this trip possible.

Contents
Introduction ........................................................................................................................... 1 General Information about Seismic Acquisition .................................................................... 1 Surveying ................................................................................................................................ 3 Vibroseis Truck ....................................................................................................................... 4 Recording System................................................................................................................... 4 Conclusion .............................................................................................................................. 5 Reference ............................................................................................................................... 5

Introduction
On 2nd November, 2010, we got the chance to visit the base camp of OGDC. At 1100 hrs, we reached the locality and we were greeted by Mr. Bilal and Mr. Shakeel at the location of Gali Jehangir, Fateh Jang. Here the OGDC-SP-5 partys base camp was located and just got completed the 2D survey of the area. In that area, vibroseis were used as source because of the security clearance which is not given by Atomic Energy Commission for using dynamites. Vibroseis is known as controlled energy source. We were given the demonstration of the vibroseis in the base camp and given the chance to see different acquisition equipment such as GPS system, LAUS unit, FDU unit, inside of vibroseis and recording truck. After the initial briefing and tea break, we were divided into group of 7 students each. The general flow of 2D seismic acquisition is:
The target area was given along with layout nto the survey team by interpretation team Test profile were tested to set acquisition parameters Reference points were estbalished over the area The surveying team visit the area and check/ammend the feasibility of the shot/reciever point locations Geophones and vibroseis were placed according to layout The seismic data got recorded on the magnetic tapes. (parameters like sweep interval were given by QC section) The quality of the newly snaped seismic section was determined and decision about rejecting it and taking snap again by changing parameters is taken here Parameters were set/ammend according to locality

Objective

Surveying

Recording

Quality Control

General Information about Seismic Acquisition

Our group first visited the QC room where we were given briefing over general 2D and 3D seismic acquisition, layouts and templates. The summary of the briefing is as follows: 2D seismic acquisition project starts when the interpretation team gives the seismic lines layout to the acquisition team. The plan is based on the previous geological studies and all previous survey done on the targeted area. In case of Pakistan, all the area had generally been surveyed and the data is available in the DGPC archive. Then the lines were drawn on the map and the area is allocated and after completing all the paper work such as security clearance and other things, base camp is established on the field. Some seismic parameters were set according to the situation like the vibroseis should be used as there were security concerns with the dynamite etc. Page | 1

The difference between the 2D seismic survey and 3D seismic survey in term of acquisition was that in 2D seismic, source and receiver points are on the same line where as in 3D seismic survey, sources were shot in a line that is perpendicular to the receiver lines. Another difference was that in 2D seismic survey only one line was active for recording at any time whereas in 3D several receiver lines were active for recording at any time To define a receiver point, 6, 8 or 12 geophones were attached to make a string and 2 or 3 strings attached together to make to make a receiver channel. Important source parameters used in 2D seismic survey are: o Line Parameters Number and orientation of lines Line spacing Line lengths o Source Parameters Number and layout per source position Number of units Sweep type Sweep length Initial and final frequencies o Receiver Parameters Spread type Off-end spread (source pulling or pushing) Split spread (gap and symmetric or asymmetric) Number of groups Group interval Minimum and Maximum offset In 3D seismic acquisition, beside some above parameters, important parameters are: o Swat distance between source lines in between receivers lines o Salvo number of source points between two receiver lines Source template is the specific term that is used to define receiver lines active for any specific vibroseis point. In the area we visited, parameter used for survey were o Geophone per group : 12 o Groups per Channel : 3 o Channel Interval : 48.5 m o Receiver Interval : 25 m o Sweep Length : 12 sec o Sweep Frequencies : 15 70 Hz

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2D seismic layout vs 3D seismic layout:

At the end of the day, the data was sent to the Quality Control section where it got checked on the daily basis All the geometrical problems were resolved in the QC section, the surveying data and the recorded data was put into computer and thoroughly checked on computers

Surveying
In order to completely georeferring(exact latitude, longitude and height) an area, 3 static reference points were established over the area through the use of highly accurate tripod mounted GPS system

All the other points were marked through the use of mobile GPS system by referring to the already established reference points The design was saved in the memory chip and the surveyor visit those points to verify them, and if needed amend them. The amended location got saved in the memory which is later reviewed by other teams Page | 3

Vibroseis Truck

The vibroseis drive compartment contain two main units i.e. SCU(screen control unit) and DSG (digital sarvo drive) SCU mainly give information about the vibroseis vehicle statistics where as DSG controls the vibroseis functions Vibroseis truck can be set on drive (green) mode and pressure build-up (red) mode Vibroseis pad is controlled either remotely from the recording truck or by DSG It become operational only in red mode and can only shake the Earth when the engine power reaches 2100 RPM. It would take about 1 minutes to 2 minutes to reach from 900 RPM (green) to 2100 RPM (red). Current RPM is displayed on SCU

Recording System
12 geophones were connected together to form a string Each string gives only one output which was the collective output of all the geophones. Then different strings were connected together to FDU The typical distance between two FDU unit was 330 meters FDU were connected with orange cable to LAUX line acquisition unit which is connected to the recording truck through yellow cable. Analog to digital conversion happens through LAUX unit and only digital data was sent to the recording truck The vibrator on vibroseis truck was controlled by recording truck All the teams were connected on the field through RF wireless unit The polarity of the geophone were checked and matched before bringing them to field

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Recording truck basically contains multiple workstations which review the recorded data. It also transfer the data to magnetic tapes The recording truck contains the Sussal 480 workstation The general recording procedure is when the all positions of source and receivers are placed and set; they give OK signal to recording truck through radio wireless. Then the recording truck sent signal to vibroseis truck with sweep parameter. Vibroseis vibrates and the data is recorded and then sent to QC section

Conclusion
Seismic acquisition is the initial and most important step in the seismic surveying. In fact its the most crucial as all the parameters were established during acquisition and its a one shot as its very expensive and required much more efforts. So to make it a success, latest technology is poured into it along with expertise of the professionals. For us, this visit proved to be the most useful one as it give us chance to see practically what we had learned through studies.

Reference
Besides the briefing got during base camp visit, no external source is used in this report.

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