Seismic Soundoff

Tim Johnson discusses his article in August's The Leading Edge about real-time electrical resistivity tomography (ERT).

Time-lapse electrical imaging has been used for diverse scientific and engineering problems to monitor changes in the subsurface associated with fluid injections, fluid flow, solute transport, phase changes, and other physical and chemical processes. The burgeoning applications of time-lapse electrical imaging underscore its potential to provide valuable, qualitative insight to support the development of conceptual models of subsurface frameworks and processes. Tim and his co-authors posit that the next step in the evolution of time-lapse electrical imaging is autonomous, real-time monitoring, which has the potential to support real-time management decisions and feedback control of subsurface systems.

Tim presents a framework for autonomous, real-time electrical imaging. He also shares two case studies of the framework in action and potential areas of development for this work. This forward-looking conversation utilizes machine learning and the latest electrical geophysical instrumentation to highlight what the future can be for hydrogeophysics.

Listen to the full archive at https://seg.org/podcast.

BIOGRAPHY

Dr. Tim C. Johnson is a computational scientist in subsurface geophysical imaging and interpretation related to complex environmental challenges and energy applications.

He is nationally and internationally recognized for his work in electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) as a characterization and monitoring technology. He pioneered the development of E4D-RT, a real-time, four-dimensional subsurface imaging software that allows scientists to “see” subsurface processes and solutions in real-time. Tim and his team received a prestigious R&D 100 Award in 2016 for this tool.

As a senior research scientist, Tim joined the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in 2010. He worked at Idaho National Laboratory from 2007-2010 and, before that, was a staff engineer at American Geotechnics. Tim is focused on joint inversion of multiple geophysical techniques using parallel computing to improve time-lapse imaging.

RELATED LINKS

* Tim Johnson, Chris Strickland, Jon Thomle, Fred Day-Lewis, and Roelof Versteeg, (2022), "Autonomous time-lapse electrical imaging for real-time management of subsurface systems," The Leading Edge 41: 520–528. (https://doi.org/10.1190/tle41080520.1)

* Frederick D. Day-Lewis and Arpita P. Bathija, (2022), "Introduction to this special section: Hydrogeophysics," The Leading Edge 41: 518–518. (https://doi.org/10.1190/tle41080518.1)

* Read the August 2022 special section: Hydrogeophysics (https://library.seg.org/toc/leedff/41/8)

Subscribers can read the full articles at https://library.seg.org/, and abstracts are always free.

CREDITS

SEG produces Seismic Soundoff to benefit its members and the scientific community and to inform the public on the value of geophysics. To show your support for the show, please leave a 5-star rating on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. It takes less than five seconds to leave a 5-star rating and is the number one action you can take to show your appreciation for this free resource. And follow the podcast while you are on the app to be notified when each new episode releases.

Original music created by Zach Bridges. Andrew Geary hosted, edited, and produced this episode for 51 features, LLC. Thank you to the SEG podcast team: Jennifer Cobb, Kathy Gamble, and Ally McGinnis.

Roel Snieder discusses his 2022 SEG-AAPG Distinguished Lecture, "Measuring variations in the seismic velocity as a diagnostic of rock damage and healing."

Interferometric methods in seismology have made it possible to detect time-lapse changes in seismic velocity with an accuracy of about 0.1%. Combined with using noise as a seismic source, it is under the right conditions possible to detect such velocity changes on a near-continuous basis.

In this conversation with host Andrew Geary, Roel shows surprisingly that the seismic velocity is not constant at all. It varies with the seasons, temperature, precipitation, and ground shaking. He also discusses how logarithmic healing in rocks is a widespread behavior that is akin in its generality to the Gutenberg-Richter law. Roel also provides insights into the role of spirituality in science and offers actionable tips on preventing burnout. This is a wide-ranging conversation with surprising insights into rocks, as well as how to live a successful life.

RELATED LINKS

* Register for Roel's course for free (13 September 2022; 8 November 2022) (https://seg.org/Education/Lectures/Distinguished-Lectures/2022-dl-roel-snieder)

* Learn more about Roel's books (https://inside.mines.edu/~rsnieder/Joy_of_Science.html)

* Discover SEG on Demand (https://seg.org/Education/SEG-on-Demand)

BIOGRAPHY

Roel Snieder holds the W.M. Keck Distinguished Chair of Professional Development Education at the Colorado School of Mines. He received in 1984 a Master's degree in Geophysical Fluid Dynamics from Princeton University and in 1987 a Ph.D. in seismology from Utrecht University.

In 1993 he was appointed as professor of seismology at Utrecht University, where from 1997-2000, he served as Dean of the Faculty of Earth Sciences. Roel served on the editorial boards of Geophysical Journal International, Inverse Problems Journal, Reviews of Geophysics, the Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, and the European Journal of Physics. In 2000 he was elected as a Fellow of the American Geophysical Union. He is the author of the textbooks A Guided Tour of Mathematical Methods for the Physical Sciences, The Art of Being a Scientist, and The Joy of Science, published by Cambridge University Press. In 2011 he was elected an Honorary Member of the Society of Exploration Geophysicists, and in 2014 he received a research award from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation. In 2016 Roel received the Beno Gutenberg Medal from the European Geophysical Union and the Outstanding Educator Award from the Society of Exploration Geophysicists. In 2020, he received the Ange Melagro Prize for his outstanding class Science and Spirituality. From 2000-2014 he was a firefighter in Genesee Fire Rescue, where he served for two years as Fire Chief.

CREDITS

SEG produces Seismic Soundoff to benefit its members, the scientific community, and inform the public on the value of geophysics. Please leave a 5-star rating on Apple Podcasts and Spotify to show your support for the show. It takes less than five seconds to leave a 5-star rating and is the number one action you can take to show your appreciation for this free resource. And follow the podcast while you are on the app to be notified when each new episode releases.

Original music created by Zach Bridges. Andrew Geary hosted, edited, and produced this episode for 51 features, LLC. Thank you to the SEG podcast team: Jennifer Cobb, Kathy Gamble, and Ally McGinnis.

Chris Hanton, Director of Digital Transformation Solutions at Ikon Science, discusses the latest insights using machine learning and artificial intelligence.

In this conversation with host Andrew Geary, Chris highlights one frequently overlooked variable that can undermine the best technology. He also shares how technologists can ensure data is trustworthy and valuable, when cutting-edge analytics can produce better than the best geophysical minds, and presents the use case for investing in machine learning and AI outside of increased efficiency. Chris also spotlights machine learning's role in addressing climate change and ends with some new developments that will surprise people.

This is a deep dive into the role of quality data (https://www.oilandgaseng.com/articles/the-common-denominator-that-analytics-hinge-on/) in cutting-edge work and the best ways to harness the benefits of machine learning and artificial intelligence.

BIOGRAPHY

Chris Hanton oversees the scoping, management, and delivery of solutions to improve the accessibility, quality, and availability of subsurface data across our client organizations.

Chris first joined the industry in 2008, first as a mudlogger before moving into a role as a project petrophysicist, with these positions providing valuable insight to both the potential of data and the all-too-common bottlenecks that organizations face when it comes to extracting maximum value form their information stores.

Since joining Ikon in 2018, Chris has worked closely with a range of client organizations varying in size and digital maturity. Chris and his team interact with a variety of stakeholders, covering both end-user and management teams to build pragmatic solutions to data challenges in a timely manner, improving the ability of subsurface teams to action effective decision-making and positively influence the overall business of the client. The delivered solutions look to work efficiently with existing business rules and standards whilst allowing the client to develop new data procedures as necessary. Chris has an MeSci from the University of Liverpool in Geology and an MSci from the University of Aberdeen in Integrated Petroleum Geoscience.

CREDITS

SEG produces Seismic Soundoff to benefit its members, the scientific community, and inform the public on the value of geophysics. Please leave a 5-star rating on Apple Podcasts and Spotify to show your support for the show. It takes less than five seconds to leave a 5-star rating and is the number one action you can take to show your appreciation for this free resource. And follow the podcast while you are on the app to be notified when each new episode releases.

Original music created by Zach Bridges. Andrew Geary hosted, edited, and produced this episode for 51 features, LLC. Thank you to the SEG podcast team: Jennifer Cobb, Kathy Gamble, and Ally McGinnis.

One of SEG's great traditions is the special recognition of individuals and organizations for their contributions to geophysics and the Society. In this special episode, we celebrate Öz Yilmaz and Xianhuai Zhu for their Maurice Ewing Medal and Virgil Kauffman Gold Medal honors, respectively.

Bill Abriel opens the episode highlighting the significance of both the Kauffman Gold Medal and the Maurice Ewing Medal. As SEG's past president and current chair of the Honors and Awards Committee, he also shares what the SEG Honors and Awards mean.

Andrew Geary then speaks with Xianhuai Zhu about how he discovered geophysics and shares four advice items for his colleagues and geoscientists. Öz Yilmaz then joins the show to reflect on his long and significant career, what this honor means, and the principles and perspectives that have helped him continue to be a successful geophysicist.

This is a unique opportunity to hear from the best of the best in geophysics.

Read the full show notes at https://seg.org/podcast/Post/15809.

RELATED LINKS

* August 28, 4:00-6:00 pm - Opening Session, Presidential Addresses, and Awards Ceremony (Öz Yilmaz and Xianhuai Zhu will receive their awards)

* August 30, 6:30-7:30 pm - SEG Honors & Awards Ceremony

* Read the IMAGE Preview in The Leading Edge (https://library.seg.org/doi/10.1190/tle41070446.1)

* Register for IMAGE (https://www.imageevent.org/)

* (2022), "SEG 2022 Honors and Awards Citations," The Leading Edge 41: 558–571. (https://doi.org/10.1190/tle41080558.1)

SPONSOR

Katalyst Data Management sponsors this episode.

Katalyst Data Management® provides the only integrated, end-to-end subsurface data management solution for the oil and gas industry. Over 190 employees operate in North America, Europe, and Asia-Pacific, dedicated to enabling digital transformation and optimizing the value of geotechnical information for exploration, production, and M&A activity.

Visit Katalyst at IMAGE in booth 721! They will be showing presentations and live demos. You can also request more information and demos at https://katalystdm.com.

CREDITS

SEG produces Seismic Soundoff to benefit its members, the scientific community, and inform the public on the value of geophysics. Please leave a 5-star rating on Apple Podcasts and Spotify to show your support for the show. It takes less than five seconds to leave a 5-star rating and is the number one action you can take to show your appreciation for this free resource. And follow the podcast while you are on the app to be notified when each new episode releases.

Original music created by Zach Bridges. Andrew Geary hosted, edited, and produced this episode for 51 features, LLC. Thank you to the SEG podcast team: Jennifer Cobb, Kathy Gamble, and Ally McGinnis.

Souvik Mukherjee discusses his article in July's The Leading Edge about high-resolution imaging of subsurface infrastructure using AI.

The use of drones for geophysical data acquisition and artificial intelligence (AI) for geophysical data processing, imaging, and interpretation are active focus areas in current industry and academic applications. Unlocking their cumulative potential in single-focus applications can have a transformative impact, possibly leading to dramatic cost reductions in key use cases and new application areas for enhanced actionable business intelligence.

In this conversation, Souvik presents field study results from Texas and California that show the potential for imaging pipelines and other subsurface infrastructure using AI-based methods on high-resolution aboveground magnetic data. He also highlights the similarities and differences between conventional least-squares inversion and machine learning-based inversion and how he achieved a 100-fold increase in efficiency. Whether exploring AI, machine learning, algorithms, or the latest geophysical technology, this conversation has something for everyone.

RELATED LINKS

* Souvik Mukherjee, Ronald S. Bell, William N. Barkhouse, Santi Adavani, Peter G. Lelièvre, and Colin G. Farquharson, (2022), "High-resolution imaging of subsurface infrastructure using deep learning artificial intelligence on drone magnetometry," The Leading Edge 41: 462–471. (https://doi.org/10.1190/tle41070462.1)

* Yaoguo Li and Chester J. Weiss, (2022), "Introduction to this special section: Potential fields," The Leading Edge 41: 452–452. (https://doi.org/10.1190/tle41070452.1)

* Read the July 2022 special section: Potential fields (https://library.seg.org/toc/leedff/41/7)

Subscribers can read the full articles at https://library.seg.org/, and abstracts are always free.

CREDITS

SEG produces Seismic Soundoff to benefit its members, the scientific community, and inform the public on the value of geophysics. Please leave a 5-star rating on Apple Podcasts and Spotify to show your support for the show. It takes less than five seconds to leave a 5-star rating and is the number one action you can take to show your appreciation for this free resource. And follow the podcast while you are on the app to be notified when each new episode releases.

Original music created by Zach Bridges. Andrew Geary hosted, edited, and produced this episode for 51 features, LLC. Thank you to the SEG podcast team: Jennifer Cobb, Kathy Gamble, and Ally McGinnis.

Mark Willis discusses his upcoming Distinguished Instructor Short Course, "Distributed acoustic sensing for seismic measurements – what geophysicists and engineers need to know."

Geoscientists and engineers are very comfortable using seismic data sets acquired with geophones, hydrophones, and accelerometers because they have a long, well-defined set of standards for acquiring, processing, and interpreting them. However, distributed acoustic sensing (DAS) seismic measurements are rapidly augmenting and, in some cases replacing the data from these conventional tools.

In this conversation with host Andrew Geary, Mark helps geoscientists and engineers build intuition and understanding of DAS seismic technology's value, limitations, and applications. Mark also discusses the most common objection to DAS, when DAS is better than conventional seismic acquisition, and tips for someone planning their first DAS seismic survey. Mark will be teaching this course for the first time at IMAGE, and this is a great preview of the valuable, insightful, and helpful tools and resources you will gain from this course.

RELATED LINKS

* Register for Mark's course at IMAGE - 26 August (https://seg.org/shop/products/detail/443222174)

* Learn more about Mark's course and see the latest schedule (https://seg.org/Education/Courses/DISC/2022-2023-DISC-Mark-Willis)

* SEAFOM (https://seafom.com/)

* Discover SEG on Demand (https://seg.org/Education/SEG-on-Demand)

* See the entire archive of the SEG podcast (https://seg.org/podcast)

BIOGRAPHY

Mark E. Willis is the Chief Scientific Advisor of Borehole Seismics at Halliburton. He is responsible for mentoring technologists, developing and promoting geophysical innovations, and fostering long-term client relationships. Previous to joining Halliburton in 2011, he worked in various research technology, supervisory, and management positions at Mobil Oil, Cambridge GeoSciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology Earth Resources Laboratory, and ConocoPhillips.

In his career, he has performed research and development in distributed acoustic sensing, VSP technology, deep sonic log imaging, fracture identification using seismic data (time-lapse VSP, microseismics, and surface seismic scattering), interferometric imaging, Kirchhoff and reverse time depth migration, full waveform inversion, machine learning, velocity model building, and sonic waveform processing.

Willis holds a B.S. in Applied Math and Physics from the University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee and a Ph.D. in Geophysics from MIT. He has written over 100 papers, publications, and presentations and holds multiple patents. He is a member of the SEG, EAGE, SSA, SPWLA, and ASA.

CREDITS

SEG produces Seismic Soundoff to benefit its members, the scientific community, and inform the public on the value of geophysics. Please leave a 5-star rating on Apple Podcasts and Spotify to show your support for the show. It takes less than five seconds to leave a 5-star rating and is the number one action you can take to show your appreciation for this free resource. And follow the podcast while you are on the app to be notified when each new episode releases.

Original music created by Zach Bridges. Andrew Geary hosted, edited, and produced this episode for 51 features, LLC. Thank you to the SEG podcast team: Jennifer Cobb, Kathy Gamble, and Ally McGinnis.

Olga Nedorub and Diana Sineva preview IMAGE 2022 and the upcoming panel, "Changing The Dynamics Of Energy Use."

Olga starts with a brief overview of the technical program at IMAGE and how Diana reached out to her to host this panel. Next, Diana explains how energy efficiency is the glue to the current energy transition, the difference between energy conservation and energy efficiency, and why attendees should attend the panel. Diana also highlights why 40% of the current energy is wasted, why this estimate is low, and how to improve this number without sacrificing comfort or the bottom line.

In Q3/Q4 2022, SEG will also host a short course on this topic. Details will be announced soon.

Olga Nedorub is G&G Team Lead - Legacy Assets (Permian, Gulf Coast, Gulf of Mexico) at Apache Corporation and SEG 2020 Technical Program Chair. Diana Sineva is a small business and energy efficiency consultant with over 20 years of experience in the International O&G Exploration industry, focusing on emerging technologies, process optimization, and corporate sustainability.

RELATED LINKS

* Learn more about the panel (https://www.imageevent.org/special-sessions/panel-session/changing-the-dynamics-of-energy-use)

* Read the IMAGE Preview in The Leading Edge (https://library.seg.org/doi/10.1190/tle41070446.1)

* Register for IMAGE (https://www.imageevent.org/)

* Learn about the LeanIn Energy & Sustainability Committee (https://www.linkedin.com/company/lean-in-equity-sustainability/)

SPONSOR

Katalyst Data Management sponsors this episode.

Katalyst Data Management® provides the only integrated, end-to-end subsurface data management solution for the oil and gas industry.

Over 160 employees operate in North America, Europe, and Asia-Pacific, dedicated to enabling digital transformation and optimizing the value of geotechnical information for exploration, production, and M&A activity.

Visit https://www.katalystdm.com/ to learn more and schedule a demo.

CREDITS

SEG produces Seismic Soundoff to benefit its members, the scientific community, and inform the public on the value of geophysics. Please leave a 5-star rating on Apple Podcasts and Spotify to show your support for the show. It takes less than five seconds to leave a 5-star rating and is the number one action you can take to show your appreciation for this free resource. And follow the podcast while you are on the app to be notified when each new episode releases.

Original music created by Zach Bridges. Andrew Geary hosted, edited, and produced this episode for 51 features, LLC. Thank you to the SEG podcast team: Jennifer Cobb, Kathy Gamble, and Ally McGinnis.

Sara K. McBride discusses her paper, "Evidence-based guidelines for protective actions and earthquake early warning systems," in the January/February issue of GEOPHYSICS.

In this engaging and helpful conversation, Sara highlights the various protective actions people can take during an earthquake. She also shares who is most likely to be injured during an earthquake and how seismologists, earth scientists, and engineers can best protect and warn the populations they serve. This serves as an excellent reminder on how to stay safe during earthquakes, the latest research in warning people of danger, and a helpful path forward to continue to save lives during earthquakes.

Dr. Sara K. McBride is a Research Social Scientist at the United States Geological Survey.

RELATED LINKS

* Sara K. McBride, Hollie Smith, Meredith Morgoch, Danielle Sumy, Mariah Jenkins, Lori Peek, Ann Bostrom, Dare Baldwin, Elizabeth Reddy, Robert de Groot, Julia Becker, David Johnston, and Michele Wood, (2022), "Evidence-based guidelines for protective actions and earthquake early warning systems," GEOPHYSICS 87: WA77-WA102. (https://doi.org/10.1190/geo2021-0222.1)

* Read the January/February 2022 GEOPHYSICS issue (https://library.seg.org/toc/gpysa7/87/1)

Subscribers can read the full articles at https://library.seg.org/, and abstracts are always free.

CREDITS

SEG produces Seismic Soundoff to benefit its members, the scientific community, and inform the public on the value of geophysics. Please leave a 5-star rating on Apple Podcasts and Spotify to show your support for the show. It takes less than five seconds to leave a 5-star rating and is the number one action you can take to show your appreciation for this free resource. And follow the podcast while you are on the app to be notified when each new episode releases.

Original music created by Zach Bridges. Andrew Geary hosted, edited, and produced this episode for 51 features, LLC. Thank you to the SEG podcast team: Jennifer Cobb, Kathy Gamble, and Ally McGinnis.

Arnab Dhara discusses his paper, "Physics-guided deep autoencoder to overcome the need for a starting model in full-waveform inversion," in the June issue of The Leading Edge.

In recent years, physics-driven machine learning applications have been proposed wherein physics is integrated into the data-driven model to improve the ability of the machine learning methods to generalize and potentially overcome gaps in the physical theories. Solving geophysical problems by using hybrid physics-based and data-driven solutions has the potential to address simplifications in the physical models as well as overcome shortcomings with training data sets. Ultimately, they may refine and improve our understanding of the physics underpinning data sets.

In this conversation, Arnab proposes employing deep learning as a regularization in full-waveform inversion. He explains why physics-based solutions with machine learning are challenging to develop, how he made it possible to train the network without known answers, and why he tested his approach with the Marmousi and SEAM models. Arnab also shares why this research took over 20 years to build on the initial idea and how he used full-waveform inversion without a starting model. This is a cutting-edge conversation that may represent the future of FWI.

RELATED LINKS

* Arnab Dhara and Mrinal K. Sen, (2022), "Physics-guided deep autoencoder to overcome the need for a starting model in full-waveform inversion," The Leading Edge 41: 375–381. (https://doi.org/10.1190/tle41060375.1)

* Simon Shaw, Sam Kaplan, and Chengbo Li, (2022), "Introduction to this special section: Physics-driven machine learning," The Leading Edge 41: 374–374. (https://doi.org/10.1190/tle41060374.1)

* Read the June 2022 special section: Physics-driven machine learning (https://library.seg.org/toc/leedff/41/6)

Subscribers can read the full articles at https://library.seg.org/, and abstracts are always free.

CREDITS

SEG produces Seismic Soundoff to benefit its members, the scientific community, and inform the public on the value of geophysics. Please leave a 5-star rating on Apple Podcasts and Spotify to show your support for the show. It takes less than five seconds to leave a 5-star rating and is the number one action you can take to show your appreciation for this free resource. And follow the podcast while you are on the app to be notified when each new episode releases.

Original music created by Zach Bridges. Andrew Geary hosted, edited, and produced this episode for 51 features, LLC. Thank you to the SEG podcast team: Jennifer Cobb, Kathy Gamble, and Ally McGinnis.

Yanlong Niu discusses his paper, "In-situ physical properties of reclaimed lands in Singapore," from the May issue of The Leading Edge.

Reclaimed land construction is crucial for the sustainable development of the land-scarce city-state of Singapore. To characterize the physical properties of two different types of reclaimed lands, Yanlong and his co-authors conducted both active and passive seismic surveys.

Yanlong explores the value of multichannel analysis of surface waves to investigate these lands and shares what they discovered with these pioneering tests. These in-situ measurements are crucial for civil engineering constructions and the redevelopment of reclaimed lands in the future. So he also offers tips on how other geophysicists can build upon this study in their communities.

RELATED LINKS

* Yanlong Niu, Yunyue Elita Li, Siau Chen Chian, Enhedelihai Nilot, and Gang Fang, (2022), "In-situ physical properties of reclaimed lands in Singapore," The Leading Edge 41: 296–303. (https://doi.org/10.1190/tle41050296.1)

* Niels Grobbe and Fabio Tosti, (2022), "Introduction to this special section: Engineering geophysics," The Leading Edge 41: 294–294. (https://doi.org/10.1190/tle41050294.1)

* Read the May 2022 special section: Engineering geophysics (https://library.seg.org/toc/leedff/41/5)

Subscribers can read the full articles at https://library.seg.org/, and abstracts are always free.

SPONSOR

Geospace Technologies sponsor this episode.

For decades, Geospace has delivered robust data acquisition systems of all scales. Geospace's PRM solutions were the first to provide a 4D understanding of marine reservoirs. Today, Geospace leads with Optoseis fiber optic sensing technology for reservoir monitoring.

Recently, the company launched a reduced sensor footprint solution using compact phased array technology for passive monitoring of microseismicity known as SADAR. Visit https://geospace.com to learn about the latest advances in reservoir intelligence.

CREDITS

SEG produces Seismic Soundoff to benefit its members, the scientific community, and inform the public on the value of geophysics. Please leave a 5-star rating on Apple Podcasts and Spotify to show your support for the show. It takes less than five seconds to leave a 5-star rating and is the number one action you can take to show your appreciation for this free resource. And follow the podcast while you are on the app to be notified when each new episode releases.

Original music created by Zach Bridges. Andrew Geary hosted, edited, and produced this episode for 51 features, LLC. Thank you to the SEG podcast team: Jennifer Cobb, Kathy Gamble, and Ally McGinnis.