3D OBC seismic survey parameters optimization offshore Abu Dhabi

Abstract

The flexibility of 3D ocean bottom cable (OBC) seismic survey design allows a variety of survey parameters and geometries to be chosen. From the infinite number of possible variations, we seek to optimize the trade-off between higher data quality and lower survey effort. To understand the relationship between data quality and survey effort, we acquired a pilot 3D OBC seismic survey with very high specifications, simulated several datasets by decimating the full data or reducing the survey effort, and then evaluated the quality of each dataset against the survey effort. We show that: (a) data quality is related to trace and offset vector tile (OVT) densities; (b) data quality is an asymptotic function of survey effort in general, eventually reaching a plateau with increasing survey effort; (c) a gradient of the fit curve at a certain survey effort can represent the quality efficiency, dQ/dE, where Q is data quality, and E is survey effort; and (d) the quality curve for a survey can be estimated using existing datasets in a field with the proposed equation for Q and dQ/dE.