6 Resolution

75
Chapter 6
Resolution
By denition, resolution is the ability to separate two features that are
close together (Sheriff, 2002). Resolution applies to seismic data and to
products derived from interpreting seismic data (e.g., maps) in the temporal
and spatial domains. We often speak about the resolving power of seismic
data and what can be done to increase it because, in doing so, well be able
to interpret ner details of subsurface geology. The concept of resolving
power of seismic data follows from the sampling theorem, also known as
the Nyquist theorem, which formally states that band-limited functions can
be reconstructed from equispaced data if there are two or more samples per
cycle for the highest frequency present (Sheriff, 2002). On the basis of this
theorem, you can describe commonly used measures of temporal and spatial
resolving power of seismic data.
The sampling of seismic data is specied by a sample rate, such as 2
or 4 ms, and sampling frequency is dened as the inverse of the sample
rate, which is 500 Hz for a sample rate of 2 ms and 250 Hz for a sample
rate of 4 ms. The Nyquist frequency is dened as half the sampling fre-
quency: For a sample rate of 2 ms, the Nyquist frequency is 250 Hz; and
for a sample rate of 4 ms, the Nyquist frequency is 125 Hz. According to
the sampling theorem, when there are fewer than two samples per cycle of
a given signal, a signal at one frequency yields the same values as those for
another frequency, and the one signal can be mistaken for the other. This
frequency ambiguity, or aliasing, is illustrated in Figure 1, in which a 200-
Hz sine wave is aliased, or misread, as a 50-Hz sine wave when sampled at
4 ms. When acquiring seismic data, you can prevent frequency aliasing by
using an antialias lter during recording to attenuate frequencies above the
Nyquist frequency.
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76 First Steps in Seismic Interpretation
The temporal resolving power of seismic data is usually described by
the tuning thickness of the data, which is based on the fundamental equation
that relates velocity V, dominant frequency f, and wavelength :
V = f .
The dominant frequency in this equation can be estimated easily from the
time separation between adjacent peak and trough reections on a seismic
section (see Figure 5 in Chapter 3); in general, the dominant frequency
changes vertically and laterally on a seismic section.
Given estimates of the dominant frequency of the data and the vertical
propagation velocity in the vicinity of the features to be resolved, you can
calculate the wavelength of the seismic signal from the preceding equa-
tion, from which the Rayleigh limit of vertical resolution is derived as /4.
Because propagation velocity and the dominant frequency of the seismic
signal change vertically and laterally throughout the subsurface, it follows
that temporal resolving power will vary across a given area of investigation.
Tuning thickness usually is visualized with the aid of a diagram known
as a wedge or tuning model (Figure 2). The purpose of such a model is to
illustrate the seismic response to the wedge and determine the thickness
Figure 1. A 200-Hz sine wave that aliases as a 50-Hz sine wave when sampled at 4 ms.
The Nyquist frequency in this case is 125 Hz, so a 125-Hz antialias lter used during
recording would attenuate the 200-Hz signal.
50 Hz
200 Hz
4 ms
Nyquist f
N
= 1 / 2 t = 1 / 2 (4 ms) = 125 Hz Sample rate = t
Chapter 6: Resolution 77
for which the amplitude response is maximum, that is, for which construc-
tive interference of the individual responses from the top and base of the
wedge is maximum. The point at which this composite amplitude response
is maximum is the tuning thickness for the model, with given input wavelet,
wedge geometry, and layer impedances. Notice that above the tuning thick-
ness, the seismic responses from the top and base of the wedge are separate
and distinct (the bed thickness is resolved by the time separation between
these individual responses). Below the tuning thickness, the waveform of
the composite response does not change, but its amplitude decreases as the
bed thickness decreases. These observations suggest that with good data
quality (based on seismic processing from which wavelet phase and true rel-
ative amplitudes can be reliably determined), careful horizon interpretation,
and available well data for calibration, you can use seismic data to estimate
layer thicknesses, a study commonly referred to as tuning or time-amplitude
(time-amp) analysis (see Chapter 3).
Figure 2. Wedge model using a 30-Hz Ricker wavelet and P-wave velocities V
P

of 6000 and 7000 ft/s (1800 and 2100 m/s) for the wedge (in blue) and encasing
medium, respectively. Using the formula V = f, the tuning thickness for this
model is calculated to be 50 ft (15 m), which corresponds to the point on the
model (red line) at which the trough-peak amplitude response is greatest.
Distance (ft)
D
e
p
t
h

(
f
t
)

T
W
T

(
m
s
)

No density contrast
V
P
= 6000 ft/s
V
P
= 7000 ft/s
30-Hz Ricker wavelet
Tuning thickness = 50 ft
V = f
The spatial resolving power of seismic data is usually described in terms
of the Fresnel zone, dened as the portion of a reector from which reected
energy can reach a detector within one-half wavelength of the rst reected
energy (Sheriff, 2002). Figure 3 shows the geometry of the rst Fresnel
zone, which is the smallest and innermost of a succession of higher-order
annular Fresnel zones. The equation
F
V
f
r
=

2
1
2
TWT
denes the radius of the rst Fresnel zone F
r
in terms of the two-way travel-
time (TWT) to a reector, the average propagation velocity V to that reec-
tor, and the dominant frequency f of the seismic signal impinging on the
reector. This formula implies that the size of the rst Fresnel zone almost
always increases with depth (corresponding to increasing propagation veloc-
ity and two-way time) and decreasing dominant frequency of signal (owing
to attenuation). Fresnel zones are measured with respect to unmigrated seis-
mic data. Seismic migration collapses these zones; however, 2D migration
collapses the zones only in the direction of shooting of the 2D line. For 3D
data, a full 3D migration collapses the rst Fresnel zone to a circle with a
diameter of /2 (radius = /4), where is the dominant wavelength of the
seismic signal.
Spatial sampling is an important consideration when designing 3D seis-
mic surveys. The size of the unit of area into which a 3D survey is subdi-
vided, called a 3D bin, ideally should be sufcient in terms of the Nyquist
theorem, to properly sample the dip of the steepest reector and/or the area of
the smallest feature of interest within the survey. Figure 4, which represents
a 2.5D model of the subsurface (the third dimension in the strike direction
Figure 3. Schematic of the geometry of the rst Fresnel zone.
Z
Z + /4
Reflector
First Fresnel zone
Z = depth
is perpendicular to the plane of the page), illustrates how the required bin
size is related to the average velocity V
avg
to the target reectors, the maxi-
mum dip of those reectors, and the dominant frequency f of the seismic
signal. Notice that the Rayleigh resolution limit (the tuning thickness) also
appears in this relationship. It is important to realize that 3D survey design,
in addition to addressing technical requirements such as maximum dip and
minimum area to be imaged, must also take into account economic consid-
erations that can balance or even outweigh technical factors.
Seismic trace displays can exhibit aliasing related to spatial sampling,
as shown in Figures 5 and 6. Figure 5 shows four arrays, each consisting of
four identical variable-area wiggle traces. Traces in Figure 5a are aligned
such that the zero crossing marked in red (the red horizon) is correlated
horizontally from trace to trace. On the succeeding arrays (Figure 5b 5d),
each trace within the array is shifted downward by a constant amount from
the trace on its left, with the amount of shift increasing from array to array.
The dip of the red horizon increases in direct proportion to the amount of
trace-to-trace shift in each array and in the direction of the shift (from left to
right). In Figure 5c and 5d, the dashed blue horizon that dips from right to
Figure 4. Schematic of the maximum 3D bin spacing required to image the
maximum dip of target reectors in terms of average velocity V
avg
to the targets,
maximum dip of the targets, and dominant or peak frequency f of the seismic
signal.
Maximum bin spacing = V
avg
/(4f sinq)
q = True dip
4
Bin at surface
q
left is marked as a possible correlation of the same zero crossing; note that
as the dip of the red horizon increases, the dip of the dashed blue horizon
decreases, and vice versa. This correlation ambiguity is a manifestation of
aliasing, which in this example is related to the trace spacing and the mag-
nitude of the dip (the trace-to-trace shift) of the red horizon.
Figure 6 illustrates aliasing behavior by changing the interval between
traces (effectively, the trace-to-trace sample rate) rather than by trace-to-
trace vertical shift, as done in Figure 5. The array of traces in Figure 6a is
identical to Figure 5b. In Figure 6b, every other trace has been dropped,
effectively doubling the trace interval and halving the trace sample rate (the
Figure 5. Aliasing in an array of four identical traces. The red horizon is the
correct trace-to-trace correlation; with increasing vertical shift of adjacent traces,
another possible correlation, marked by the dashed blue horizon, appears.
a) b) c) d)
Figure 6. Aliasing caused by deleting every other trace from the original four-trace
array in Figure 5. The red horizon is the correct trace-to-trace correlation; the
dashed blue horizon is an aliased correlation.
a) b)
left-to-right-dipping red horizon is in the same position on both arrays). In
Figure 6b, the under sampled array, the dashed blue horizon dipping from
right to left, is shown as a possible correlation of the zero crossing from
trace to trace; this aliasing is related to the change in spatial sampling rate.
As stated, the Nyquist theorem applies to reconstruction of band-limited
functions from equispaced data, and these can be functions of time or dis-
tance. Referring to band-limited functions of distance, the wavenumber k of
a waveform is dened as the number of wave cycles per unit distance, which
is the inverse of wavelength . These parameters are the spatial equivalents
of the frequency f and period T of a time-domain waveform (as shown in
Figure 2 of Chapter 2). The spatial sample rate x for a 2D seismic line is
the common-depth-point (CDP) interval, and for a 3D survey this rate is the
bin size. For a given x, the sampling wavenumber is 1/(x) and the cor-
responding Nyquist wavelength and Nyquist wavenumber are 2x and 1/
(2x), respectively.
When working with a grid of 2D data, you need to think about the size
of a feature that can be resolved in terms of the line spacing of your grid. To
illustrate this concern, consider a simple 2D anticline that is X units wide
and thus has a wavenumber of 1/X. Again for simplicity, assume that you
are working with a grid of 2D lines that is Y units by Y units square, and that
the axis of the anticline is parallel to one of the directions of the lines in the
grid. The Nyquist wavenumber for this grid of lines is 1/(2Y). The Nyquist
theorem states that a feature with a wavenumber larger than the Nyquist
wavenumber will be aliased, that is, the anticline will be aliased if 1/X > 1/
(2Y). Using a numerical example, if the anticline is 2 km wide, it will be
aliased by a grid with a line spacing greater than 1 km; said another way,
you need a grid spacing of 1 1 km or less to map this anticline accurately.
Geologic features come in all shapes and sizes, and you need to under-
stand resolution as one of the fundamental elements of seismic data quality
to represent geology properly in an integrated interpretation. Each seismic
data set has a characteristic resolving power. Good practice dictates that
you should investigate each of your data sets carefully to be fully aware of
temporal and spatial limits of resolution, especially in the context of your
interpretation objectives.

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