Patent Document ID: 20120300585
Application ID: 13482888
Patent Status: 0

Claim One:
1. A process for selecting source and receiver locations in a seismic survey to provide information about a prospect that exists within or near structures that obscure or complicate seismic imaging, where the process comprises: a) constructing a first geologic model including information about the size, shape and depth of the obscuring or complicating structure along with a prospect location for further understanding; b) identifying the potential seismic acquisition geometry, source and receiver locations, to be evaluated with the geologic model; c) selecting a target on a geologic body for evaluation wherein the target may comprise a portion or an entirety of the prospect location; d) selecting parameters appropriate for a two-way wave equation propagation of energy; e) computing two-way wave equation modeling for the wave propagation from the target point sources to the acquisition source and receiver locations; f) from e) computing, using reciprocity, the energy arriving at the target from a selected acquisition source location and the associated attributes of the arriving energy at the target; g) from e) computing, using reciprocity, the wavefield from the target to the receivers associated with the selected acquisition source by a specific acquisition geometry; h) from g) computing the energy and the associated attributes received by the receivers associated with the selected source by a specific receiver geometry; i) repeat steps f) through h) for other sources in a specific acquisition geometry; j) from the energy and attributes recorded in step f) create attribute displays that provide visual perspective of one or more attributes of the energy propagated to the target from one or more acquisition sources; k) from the energy and attributes computed in step h) create attribute displays that provide visual perspective of one or more attributes of the energy associated with one or more acquisition sources propagated from the target to the receivers; l) analyze the attribute displays in step j) and step k) to determine the acquisition source-receiver pair information that will provide better imaging of the target; and m) acquiring seismic data with sources and receivers located using the acquisition source/receiver pair data identified in step 1 ).