The boundary identification and quantitative thickness prediction of channel sand bodies are always difficult in seismic exploration.We present a new method for boundary identification and quantitative thickness prediction of channel sand bodies based on seismic peak attributes in the frequency domain.Using seismic forward modeling of a typical thin channel sand body,a new seismic attribute-the ratio of peak frequency to amplitude was constructed.Theoretical study demonstrated that seismic peak frequency is sensitive to the thickness of the channel sand bodies,while the amplitude attribute is sensitive to the strata lithology.The ratio of the two attributes can highlight the boundaries of the channel sand body.Moreover,the thickness of the thin channel sand bodies can be determined using the relationship between seismic peak frequency and thin layer thickness.Practical applications have demonstrated that the seismic peak frequency attribute can depict the horizontal distribution characteristics of channels very well.The ratio of peak frequency to amplitude attribute can improve the identification ability of channel sand body boundaries.Quantitative prediction and boundary identification of channel sand bodies with seismic peak attributes in the frequency domain are feasible.
Seismic coherence is used to detect discontinuities in underground media. However, strata with steeply dipping structures often produce false low coherence estimates and thus incorrect discontinuity characterization results. It is important to eliminate or reduce the effect of dipping on coherence estimates. To solve this problem, time-domain dip scanning is typically used to improve estimation of coherence in areas with steeply dipping structures. However, the accuracy of the time-domain estimation of dip is limited by the sampling interval. In contrast, the spectrum amplitude is not affected by the time delays in adjacent seismic traces caused by dipping structures. We propose a coherency algorithm that uses the spectral amplitudes of seismic traces within a predefined analysis window to construct the covariance matrix. The coherency estimates with the proposed algorithm is defined as the ratio between the dominant the constructed covariance matrix. Thus, we eigenvalue and the sum of all eigenvalues of eliminate the effect of dipping structures on coherency estimates. In addition, because different frequency bands of spectral amplitudes are used to estimate coherency, the proposed algorithm has multiscale features. Low frequencies are effective for characterizing large-scale faults, whereas high frequencies are better in characterizing small-scale faults. Application to synthetic and real seismic data show that the proposed algorithm can eliminate the effect of dip and produce better coherence estimates than conventional coherency algorithms in areas with steeply dipping structures.
