Dispersion analysis of passive surface-wave noise generated during hydraulic-fracturing operations

Abstract Surface-wave dispersion analysis is useful for estimating near-surface shear-wave velocity models, designing receiver arrays, and suppressing surface waves. Here, we analyze whether passive seismic noise generated during hydraulic-fracturing operations can be used to extract surface-wave dispersion characteristics. Applying seismic interferometry to noise measurements, we extract surface waves by cross-correlating several minutes of passive records; this approach is distinct from previous studies that used hours or days of passive records for cross-correlation. For comparison, we also perform dispersion analysis for an active-source array that has some receivers in common with the passive array. The active and passive data show good agreement in the dispersive character of the fundamental-mode surface-waves. For the higher mode surface waves, however, active and passive data resolve the dispersive properties at different frequency ranges. To demonstrate an application of dispersion analysis, we invert the observed surface-wave dispersion characteristics to determine the near-surface, one-dimensional shear-wave velocity.

[1]  Peter Gerstoft,et al.  Green’s functions extraction and surface-wave tomography from microseisms in southern California , 2006 .

[2]  K. Wapenaar.  Retrieving the elastodynamic Green's function of an arbitrary inhomogeneous medium by cross correlation. , 2004, Physical review letters.

[3]  Mark E. Willis,et al.  Noise suppression in surface microseismic data , 2012 .

[4]  Michel Campillo,et al.  High-Resolution Surface-Wave Tomography from Ambient Seismic Noise , 2005, Science.

[5]  Marc Wathelet,et al.  An improved neighborhood algorithm: Parameter conditions and dynamic scaling , 2008 .

[6]  John N. Louie,et al.  Faster, Better: Shear-Wave Velocity to 100 Meters Depth From Refraction Microtremor Arrays , 2001 .

[7]  Richard D. Miller,et al.  Multichannel analysis of surface waves , 1999 .

[8]  Jianghai Xia,et al.  Multichannel analysis of surface waves (MASW)—active and passive methods , 2007 .

[9]  Kees Wapenaar,et al.  Reflection images from ambient seismic noise , 2009 .

[10]  Ali Özbek,et al.  Acquisition and processing of point receiver measurements in land seismic , 2000 .

[11]  Yingjie Yang,et al.  Processing seismic ambient noise data to obtain reliable broad-band surface wave dispersion measurements , 2007 .

[12]  Peter Gerstoft,et al.  Surface wave tomography from microseisms in Southern California , 2005 .

[13]  Dan Hampson,et al.  Inverse Velocity Stacking For Multiple Elimination , 1986 .

[14]  Roel Snieder,et al.  Finding sets of acceptable solutions with a genetic algorithm with application to surface wave group dispersion in Europe , 1994 .

[15]  Jianghai Xia,et al.  Imaging dispersion curves of surface waves on multi-channel record , 1998 .

[16]  R. Snieder.  Extracting the Green's function from the correlation of coda waves: a derivation based on stationary phase. , 2004, Physical review. E, Statistical, nonlinear, and soft matter physics.

[17]  Ed Kragh,et al.  Aquisition And Processing of Point Receiver Measurements in Land Seismic , 2000 .

[18]  G. McMechan,et al.  Analysis of dispersive waves by wave field transformation , 1981 .

[19]  Neil Lennart Anderson,et al.  Active-passive Array Surface Wave Inversion and Comparison to Borehole Logs in Southeast Missouri , 2005 .

[20]  Jianghai Xia,et al.  Generating an Image of Dispersive Energy by Frequency Decomposition and Slant Stacking , 2007 .

[21]  V. G. Savin,et al.  Imaging hydraulic fracture zones from surface passive microseismic data , 2007 .

[22]  Christopher L. Liner.  Elements of Seismic Dispersion: A Somewhat Practical Guide to Frequency-dependent Phenomena , 2012 .

[23]  Roel Snieder,et al.  IN SITU MEASUREMENTS OF SHEAR‐WAVE VELOCITY IN SEDIMENTS WITH HIGHER‐MODE RAYLEIGH WAVES* , 1987 .

[24]  Roger D. Borcherdt,et al.  On the characteristics of local geology and their influence on ground motions generated by the Loma Prieta earthquake in the San Francisco Bay region, California , 1992 .

[25]  Jon F. Claerbout,et al.  Imaging the Earth's Interior , 1985 .

[26]  M. B. Dobrin,et al.  Dispersion in seismic surface waves , 1951 .

[27]  Freeman Gilbert,et al.  Propagator matrices in elastic wave and vibration problems , 1966 .

[28]  David Halliday,et al.  Seismic surface waves in a suburban environment : Active and passive interferometric methods , 2008 .

[29]  Mark E. Willis,et al.  Analysis of Passive Surface-wave Noise In Surface Microseismic Data And Its Implications , 2011 .

[30]  M. Sambridge.  Geophysical inversion with a neighbourhood algorithm—I. Searching a parameter space , 1999 .

[31]  M. Ritzwoller,et al.  Monte-Carlo inversion for a global shear-velocity model of the crust and upper mantle , 2002 .

[32]  K. Wapenaar,et al.  Tutorial on seismic interferometry: Part 1 — Basic principles and applications , 2010 .

[33]  Leo Eisner,et al.  Reservoir characterization using surface microseismic monitoring , 2010 .

[34]  Mark E. Willis,et al.  An effective noise-suppression technique for surface microseismic data , 2013 .

[35]  Kees Wapenaar,et al.  Spurious multiples in seismic interferometry of primaries , 2006 .

[36]  Jianghai Xia,et al.  Combined Use of Active and Passive Surface Waves , 2005 .

[37]  Roel Snieder,et al.  Application of seismic interferometry to extract P- and S-wave propagation and observation of shear-wave splitting from noise data at Cold Lake, Alberta, Canada , 2008 .