Patent ID: 9261616
Filing Date: 2016-02-16
CPC Classification: G01V,G06F

Claim Text:
1. A computer-implemented method for processing seismic data from a subsurface region to obtain indication of hydrocarbon potential of the subsurface region, comprising: estimating velocity dispersion of seismic surface waves in the subsurface region by a method comprising transforming the seismic data to frequency-slowness domain resulting in a beam-formed field, and then modeling the beam-formed field with an analytic dispersion beam and fitting the beam-formed field with the analytic dispersion beam by performing nonlinear constrained optimization; using the estimated seismic velocity dispersion in processing the seismic data or in determining local earth properties in the subsurface region; and using the processed seismic data or the local earth properties for determining presence, quality or other characteristic of hydrocarbon reservoirs; wherein at least the nonlinear constrained optimization is performed using a computer, and wherein the estimated seismic velocity dispersion is determined at locations throughout the subsurface region and is compiled, by a computer, into a 3-D dispersion volume, which is used for further processing of the seismic data to remove unwanted surface-wave noise or to characterize near-earth-surface properties.