Monitoring subsurface changes by tracking direct-wave amplitudes and traveltimes in continuous DAS VSP data

Instrumenting wells with distributed acoustic sensors (DAS) and illuminating them with passive or active seismic sources allows precise tracking of temporal variations of direct-wave traveltimes and amplitudes, which can be used to monitor variations in formation stiffness and density. This approach has been tested by tracking direct-wave amplitudes and traveltimes as part of a CCS project where a 15 kt supercritical CO2 injection was monitored with continuous offset VSPs using nine permanently mounted surface orbital vibrators (SOVs) acting as seismic sources and several wells instrumented with DAS cables cemented behind the casing. The results show a significant (from 15 to 30%) increase of strain amplitudes within the CO2 injection interval, and travetime shifts of 0.3 to 0.4 ms below this interval, consistent with full-wave 1.5D numerical simulations and theoretical predictions. The results give independent estimates of the CO2 plume thickness and P-wave velocity reduction within it.

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