Seismic inversion
Sonja Maultzsch
Seismic inversion course, UPPA, 2008
Course Outline
General aspects of seismic inversion
Concept and purpose
Petrophysical basis
Data requirements
Overview of methods and basic inversion process
Poststack inversion – practical workflow
Data QC
Wavelet extraction
A priori model building
Inversion parameterization and QC of results
Prestack inversion – practical workflow
Data QC
Wavelet extraction
A priori model building
Inversion parameterization and QC of results
Advanced inversion techniques
Geostatistical inversion
Joint PP/PS inversion
4D inversion
2 - Seismic inversion course, UPPA, 2008
General aspects of seismic inversion
Concept and purpose
Petrophysical basis
Data requirements
Overview of methods and basic
inversion process
3 - Seismic inversion course, UPPA, 2008
Scope of seismic inversion
SEISMIC ACQUISITION
SEISMIC ACQUISITION and
and PROCESSING
PROCESSING
Hypothesis:
Earth
Earth ** Wavelet
Wavelet = = Seismic
Seismic After processing, the seismic trace is the
BANG
result of a convolution between a wavelet
BANG
and reflectivities at interfaces that result
from contrasts in impedance.
SEISMIC INVERSION Objective:
Seismic / Wavelet = Impedance Compute an impedance model of the
subsurface from seismic amplitudes
Via
An inverse process using a wavelet
estimated from the seismic data and
calibrated at wells.
RESERVOIR CHARACTERIZATION
Benefits:
Impedance Earth Model The impedances are a natural link between
petrophysical characteristics of the
subsurface and the seismic data.
4 - Seismic inversion course, UPPA, 2008
Inversion hypothesis: convolutional model
Seismic Modelling
Acoustic Impedance Zero offset
impedance Log Reflectivity Seismic trace
« derivation »
Ri=(Ei+1-Ei)/(Ei+1+Ei)
convolution
* + =
wavelet noise
« integration »
Ei+1 = Ei(1+Ri)/(1+Ri)
Seismic Inversion
5 - Seismic inversion course, UPPA, 2008
Reflectivity versus Impedance
From an interface to a layer property
Seismic 'sees' subsurface in terms of interfaces between geological strata
Impedance "sees" the subsurface in terms of layers
Impedances: properties of the rock relation to other petrophysical parameters of interest,
such as porosity or fluid saturation
Increase in resolution by inversion for impedances
6 - Seismic inversion course, UPPA, 2008
From impedances to reservoir characteristics:
Lithology and fluid discrimination
35
30
25
Porosity %
20
15
10
0
6000 7000 8000 9000 10000 11000 12000 13000 14000 15000 16000
Acoustic Impedance
Empirical relationships between
impedances and petrophysical
parameters established from well data
(cross-plotting)
Relationships must be valid when
upscaled into the seismic bandwidth
7 - Seismic inversion course, UPPA, 2008
Definition of Poisson’s ratio
2
1 ⎛ Vp ⎞ Important parameter that contains P-wave
⎜ ⎟ −1 and shear-wave information
2 ⎝ Vs ⎠
ν= 2 Sensitive to fluid saturation and lithology
⎛ ⎞
Vp
⎜ ⎟ −1
⎝ Vs ⎠
ε xx
ν =−
ε zz
Ratio of lateral to axial strain z
in a uniaxial stress state
8 - Seismic inversion course, UPPA, 2008
Petrophysics in shallow siliciclastics
Discrimination between the
various lithologies/fluid
content requires two
petroelastic parameters:
P impedance and Poisson’s
ratio
Water
2
1 ⎛ Vp ⎞
⎜ ⎟ −1
2 ⎝ Vs ⎠
Shales ν =
Sands
2
⎛ Vp ⎞
⎟ −1
Poisson’s ratio
⎜
⎝ Vs ⎠
Brine
HC
Poisson’s ratio or S
Sandstones
impedance can be obtained
Class III II I by inverting pre-stack data
P-wave Impedance at several angles of
Sa ist
incidence (sub-stacks):
nd og
h
/ s ram
Pre-stack inversion
ha s
le
9 - Seismic inversion course, UPPA, 2008
Reflectivity as a function of Incidence Angle
(made simple / moderate angle situation ~40 deg.)
Acoustic “Elastic”
cos²(θ) x + sin²(θ) x
contrast contrast
Reflectivity
¾At Near offset / angle, the reflectivity is dominated
Near Mid Far UFar by the “acoustic” contrast
Angle of Incidence: θ
( a function of offset) ¾At any other offset / angle, the reflectivity is the
result of an “acoustic” and an “elastic” contrast,
whose net effect depends on angle and the relative
strengths and polarities
Class I
Reflectivity
¾The “elastic” component can only be recovered by
combining reflectivities at different angles
Class II
¾This is possible only if angles / offsets are large
Class III enough and when seismic data quality is sufficient
10 - Seismic inversion course, UPPA, 2008
Petroelastic study
Reflectivity modelling for different fluids
PR vs. IP Crossplot
Well: ACA-001 ACA-002 ACA-002_G1
Initial situation 0
15469
0
15469
10.0
11.0
0
5.0
6.0
7.0
8.0
9.0
0.500 0.500
0.450 0.450
0.400 0.400
0.350 0.350
PR initial situation
0.300 0.300
0.250 0.250
0.200 0.200
0.150 0.150
0.100 0.100
0.050 0.050
0.000 0.000
10.0
11.0
5.0
6.0
7.0
8.0
9.0
IP initial situation
Well Legend:
ACA-001 ACA-002 ACA-002_G1
In situ Gas Oil Water
Petro-elastic study on actual logs AVO modelling from in-situ & fluid replaced logs
⇒ Is it worth carrying-out an inversion on a specific area?
⇒ What type of inversion should be performed?
11 - Seismic inversion course, UPPA, 2008
Fluid substitution: Gassmann equations
K sat K dry K fl
= + μ sat = μ dry
K 0 − K sat K 0 − K dry φ (K 0 − K fl )
K sat = Saturated Rock bulk modulus
K 0 = Mineral bulk modulus
μ dry = Dry Rock shear modulus
K fl = Fluid bulk modulus
K dry = Dry Rock bulk modulus
Φ = Porosity
Assumptions:
Pore space completely connected, statistically isotropic
Frequency is sufficiently low that wave-induced pressure gradients can equilibrate
12 - Seismic inversion course, UPPA, 2008
Benefits of seismic inversion
Layer property (geology-petrophysics)
Related more easily to geology / petrophysical properties
Mapping of reservoir / flow units
Integration of various data sources to increase resolution
Seismic data, log data and a-priori geological knowledge are put together to obtain a
broad bandwidth impedance result
Reservoir characterisation
Lithology indicator
Porosity indicator
Fluid indicator
13 - Seismic inversion course, UPPA, 2008
When is an inversion useful?
Exploration stage: to help the interpretation, the understanding of
depositional systems or to do some quick reserve estimates
There are several « quick and dirty » inversion techniques available which
can provide 80% type of answer
Reservoir characterisation: mapping of rock properties, lithologies,
fluid saturations
Requires feasibility study
Understand, which parameters the impedances are sensitive to
Data QC
Determine, which type of inversion is required
14 - Seismic inversion course, UPPA, 2008
Feasibility study
15 - Seismic inversion course, UPPA, 2008
Well data QC and Cross-plotting
Seismic scale
Inverted Is
8
7
6
L ING 5
A 4
SC
UP filtered log scale 3
2
1
EI filtered
log scale Inverted Ip Facies
group
EI
AI filtered
AI
16 - Seismic inversion course, UPPA, 2008
Basic inversion process
Inverse problem
Optimal impedance model (m)
Seismic data (dobs) Forward problem:
g
Approximation using a
Inverse problem:
1D convolutional model
There is no simple inverse function g-1 dsynth= g(m)
that allows to go from dobs to the optimal
model m
Ædobs are insufficient (limited bandwidth)
and not exact (noise…)
ÆThe model m and the forward function
g are too simplistic
Synthetic data (dsynth)
ÆThe inverse problem has to be solved
iteratively and it has no unique solution
Iterative search of the optimal impedance model
Convergence towards the optimal model is driven by a cost (objective) function
The space of possible models can be reduced by constraining the inversion
17 - Seismic inversion course, UPPA, 2008
Various inversion methods
Recursive: integration of seismic trace => pseudo-impedance
Coloured Inversion: convolution by operator from well to broaden spectrum =>
pseudo-impedance (BP)
These two are only for qualitative interpretation purposes: no low frequency part,
problem with thick layers.
Sparse Spike: algorithm to find an impedance model matching the seismic bandwith,
but with the smallest number of non zero reflectivities (limited number of
homogeneous layers)
Model-based: uses an initial low-frequency impedance model which is perturbed
Layer based: similar to model based, except that the model is layered and inverted
both for thicknesses of layers and impedances
Stochastic: multiple realizations of impedance models that can reproduce the seismic
amplitudes within a given error
The last four can be post-stack (inversion of a full stack) or pre-stack (inversion of
several sub-stacks)
18 - Seismic inversion course, UPPA, 2008
Iterative scheme of model-based inversion
Interpretation
Structural model
Wavelet
Adjust L.F. AI Log
model
Synthetic seismic A priori model
Estimation of
cost function
Seismic Data
no Error
Data
Computation ?
Yes
Results Résiduals
Absolute AI Residuals
19 - Seismic inversion course, UPPA, 2008
Constraining the inversion with a-priori information
ÆBrings additional information which is not present in seismic data (well data, geological knowledge)
ÆConstrains the inversion towards a solution that takes into account the different types of information and the data quality
Information on a-priori model: Information on seismic data:
-distribution of reflectivities (ex: sparse spike inversion) -S/N ratio
-low frequency trend of impedances (well logs) Æstandard deviation of amplitudes
-Standard deviation of impedances from initial model
-Vertical and lateral variability of the impedances
Geological information:
-body geometry
-2D variograms for facies distribution
20 - Seismic inversion course, UPPA, 2008
Required input data for an inversion
Well logs: Vp, Vs, Rhob, Phie, caliper, GR, ….
Check-shots, VSP or T=f (depth)
Seismic data: full stack, angle or offset stacks,
stacking or migration velocities
Smoothed seismic interpretation (horizons, faults),
geological tops
21 - Seismic inversion course, UPPA, 2008
Frequency content of inversion schemes
RTI: DC from baseline
Recursive Trace (RTI)
Amplitude
TRACE BASED
20 40 60 80 Frequency (Hz)
CSSI: Trend model & Constraints Constrained Sparse Spike (CSSI)
(Invertace+)
Amplitude
20 40 60 80 Frequency (Hz)
MODEL BASED
InverMod & StatMod: Model & Constraints
Model based Inversion (Invermod)
Geostatistical Inversion (Statmod)
Amplitude
20 40 60 80 Frequency (Hz)
Courtesy P. Mesdag (Jason)
22 - Seismic inversion course, UPPA, 2008
Summary – Quizz 1
Give 3 good reasons for carrying out an inversion
Improve resolution, get volume attribute, obtain a petrophysical
indicator
What is the use of a feasibility study?
Know if inversion will provide useful attributes for reservoir
characterisation; assess quality of seismic data, well data, and seismic
to well ties; determine most suitable inversion method
Which approximation is the forward function in a seismic inversion
based on?
1D convolutional model
Is the inversion for impedance unique?
No, therefore stochastic methods have been developed
What is the purpose of the a-priori model?
Provide low-frequency part, incorporate geological information
23 - Seismic inversion course, UPPA, 2008
