Quantum computer-assisted global optimization in geophysics illustrated with stack-power maximization for refraction residual statics estimation

Much of recent progress in geophysics can be attributed to the adaptation of heterogeneous high-performance computing architectures. It is projected that the next major leap in many areas of science, and hence hopefully in geophysics too, will be due to the emergence of quantum computers. Finding a right combination of hardware, algorithms, and...

Origin of shallow gas in the Dutch North Sea - Seismic versus geochemical evidence

In the Dutch offshore, we have observed numerous acoustic anomalies, usually bright spots, in seismic data of Cenozoic deltaic deposits. When associated with shallow gas, these bright spots are good indicators of re source potential, drilling hazard, or seabed methane emissions. We apply a combined seismic and petrophysical assessment to qualify...

Mitigating induced seismicity around depleted gas fields based on geomechanical modeling

Mitigation of induced seismicity associated with large-scale energy production from subsurface resources requires models beyond the current state of the art. In countries with long histories of conventional gas production, such as the Netherlands, issues are mainly associated with depletion-induced seismicity caused by fault reactivation due to...

Studying CO2 storage with ambient-noise seismic interferometry: A combined numerical feasibility study and field-data example for Ketzin, Germany

Seismic interferometry applied to ambient-noise measurements allows the retrieval of the seismic response between pairs of receivers. We studied ambient-noise seismic interferometry (ANSI) to retrieve time-lapse reflection responses from a reservoir during CO<inf>2</inf> geologic sequestration, using the case of the experimental site of Ketzin,...

Determining changes in CO2 saturation from time-lapse measurements using ghost reflections retrieved by seismic interferometry

One of the targets of time-lapse seismic monitoring of CO2 sequestration is to determine the parts of the reservoir reached by the injected CO2 and to estimate their saturation. Such information could be extracted from the time-lapse measurement using AVO or impedance information. But non-repeatability of the source positions and time-lapse...

Subsalt illumination study using physically modeled data

Despite the widespread use of numerical modeling, there is still room for physical modeling today for many reasons. E.g., physical modeling is based on real wave propagation whereas numerical modeling is based on algorithms which are by necessity simplified and discretized versions of the 'real world'. Furthermore, a numerically modeled, full...

Volume visualization and automatic tracking in CFP-related processing

The Common Focal Point (CFP) technology involves the estimation of one-way travel time operators, describing the propagation effects from a selection of gridpoints at reflecting interfaces towards the surface locations. These operators can be obtained from the data without using any velocity depth model. These operators can be used in several...