ISSN:
1420-9136
Keywords:
Acoustic activity
;
microseismicity
;
wave polarization
;
microearthquake location
Source:
Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
Topics:
Geosciences
,
Physics
Notes:
Abstract Interpretation ofP/S-wave successions is used in induced or passive microseismicity. It makes the location of microseismic events possible when the triangulation technique cannot be used. To improve the reliability of the method, we propose a technique that identifies theP/S-wave successions among recorded wave successions. A polarization software is used to verify the orthogonality between theP andS polarization axes. The polarization parameters are computed all along the 3-component acoustic signal. Then the algorithm detects time windows within which the signal polarization axis is perpendicular to the polarization axis of the wave in the reference time window (representative of theP wave). The technique is demonstrated for a synthetic event, and three application cases are presented. The first one corresponds to a calibration shot within which the arrivals of perpendicularly polarized waves are correctly detected in spite of their moderate amplitude. The second example presents a microseismic event recorded during gas withdrawal from an underground gas storage reservoir. The last example is chosen as a counter-example, concerning a microseismic event recorded during a hydraulic fracturing job. The detection algorithm reveals that, in this case, the wave succession does not correspond to aP/S one. This implies that such an event must not be located by the method based on the interpretation of aP/S-wave succession as no such a succession is confirmed.
Type of Medium:
Electronic Resource
URL:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/BF00879944
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