Patent ID: 8259531

Claim:
A method for calculating time shifts for detecting material changes in petroleum bearing strata during petroleum production activities, the method comprising the steps of: providing a first seismic reflection data set of first reflection traces comprising a first series of reflections acquired at a first time (t 0 ); providing a second seismic reflection data set of second reflection traces comprising a second series of reflections acquired at a first time (t), generally corresponding to said first series of reflections, wherein the first seismic reflections data set and the second seismic reflection data set are from at least one seismic sensor; comparing the first and second traces to determine time shifts between events in the first and second traces; matching a basis function to the time shifts by calculating coefficients of the basis function to obtain a match; and applying the basis function to at least one of the first and second traces to provide time-matched first and second trances, wherein the first reflection traces and second reflection traces are representative of the petroleum bearing strata.