Application of Interactive Terminal to Seismic Interpretation

ABSTRACT In the past few years hardware and software developments have allowed the concept of interactive interpretation to become viable. This paper deals with the experience of a consulting firm that acquired an interactive state-of-the-art system in mid 1983. Experience has shown that an interactive terminal impacts the interpretation sequence in many ways. Probably the most significant impact is the capturing and posting of horizon time values and faults to maps plus the literal contour map. Velocity and depthing can also be handled. These uses demonstrate the benefit of interactive interpretation as a productivity enhancer and a technology application tool. The future looks very bright and promising for this concept. INTRODUCTION Two articles appeared in 1982 and 1983 issues of THE LEADING EDGE - one by Dr. William Schnieder and the second by Mr. Paul Tucker. Both challenged the industry to bring interpretation up to the level in the digital revolution that data acquisition and data processing have undergone in the past two decades. One of the methods suggested was to give the interpreter the capability to communicate with a computer resident data base of information and intervene with that data base via an interactive terminal. The industry has responded to this challenge as evidenced by the exhibits of interactive workstations at various conventions and by the papers presented here and at recent technical meetings. As necessity is the mother of invention, the most significant impetus to spur the development of interpretive interactive terminals was the proliferation of 3D surveys which produce massive amounts of data for interpretation. Interpretive aids of some sort are mandatory to analyze all the data in a reasonable amount of time. As a result, the 3D problem was attacked first. In general, the design specs for a 3D system are simpler than the 2D case due to the orderliness of a 3D survey. Currently, the seismic industry is in a state of rapid growth and proliferation of interactive terminal systems, both for 3D and the more general 2D application, however, the 2D case has yet to achieve the Sophistication and versatility that the 3D systems have. Now, a warning that this author is very biased in favor of this trend; however, this enthusiasm for interpretive interactive terminals is qualified by stating that this paper does not advocate complete automatic interpretation. Interpretation is a combination of experience, science, served with a heavy dose of art and common sense. These must always remain with the interpreter. What is advocated is allowing the interpreter to utilize this expertise to the fullest by intervention with a combination of geologic and geophysical data at a terminal. The purpose of this paper is to present and share with you our thoughts, opinions, philosophy and experience as a user of an interactive workstation.