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Seismic Data Acquisition and Processing

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Encyclopedia of Solid Earth Geophysics

Part of the book series: Encyclopedia of Earth Sciences Series ((EESS))

Definition

Seismic data acquisition

Generation of (artificial) seismic signals on land (on surface, or, buried) or in water, reception of the signals after they travel through the interior of the earth, and their (digital) recording for later analysis.

Seismic data processing

Analysis of recorded seismic signals to filter (reduce/eliminate) unwanted components (noise) and create an image of the subsurface to enable geological interpretation, and eventually to obtain an estimate of the distribution of material properties in the subsurface (inversion).

Introduction

Reflection seismics is akin to the “echo-in-the-well” experiment, it involves calculating the depth of the geological boundary from the two-way travel-time (TWT) of the seismic signal and its speed.

Seismic data acquisition and processing aims mainly to obtain an image of the sedimentary basins in interior of the earth, using waves generated by “artificial” earthquakes. These images can then be used to identify locations...

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Earth Sciences, Utrecht University, Budapestlaan 4, 3584 CD, Utrecht, The Netherlands

    Kabir Roy Chowdhury

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  1. Kabir Roy Chowdhury
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Correspondence to Kabir Roy Chowdhury .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. National Geophysical Research Institute, Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, Hyderabad, India

    Harsh K. Gupta

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Roy Chowdhury, K. (2011). Seismic Data Acquisition and Processing. In: Gupta, H.K. (eds) Encyclopedia of Solid Earth Geophysics. Encyclopedia of Earth Sciences Series. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-8702-7_52

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