Seismic Interpretation

The seismic interpretation functionality is controlled from the Seismic Interpretation Dock, which opens when the Seismic Interpretation Button on the Ground Model Toolbar is clicked.

The seismic interpretation dock consists of the Manage Tab and the Interpet Tab.

Manage Tab

When interpreting seismic, the initial step is to generate a Seismic Interpretation Feature Class, which will contain the interpretation. This can be a new and blank interpretation feature class, but it can also be generated from either another feature class (for example interpretation points imported from Kingdom), or a raster intersecting the seismic.

Create a New, Blank Seismic Interpretation Feature Class

Select New Interpretation in the pulldown menu under the Manage Tab.
Select the Geodatabase where the new interpretation should be located.
Give the new interpretation a name.
Select a coordinate system the new interpretation should be given.
Click Create

When the seismic interpretation class has been created it will be available for selection under the Interpret Tab.

Create Seismic Interpretation From Feature Class

Select Interpretation from Feature Class in the pulldown menu under the Manage Tab.
Select the Geodatabase where the interpretation should be located.
Give the interpretation a name.
Select the seismic the interpretation should be linked to.
Select the feature class containing the points from which the seismic interpretation should be generated.
Set the Max Projection Distance. All points in the feature class within the Max Projection Distance will be projected on to the seismic.
Click Create

When the seismic interpretation class has been created it will be available for selection under the Interpret Tab.

Create Seismic Interpretation From Raster

Select Interpretation from Raster in the pulldown menu under the Manage Tab.
Select the Geodatabase where the interpretation should be located.
Give the interpretation a name.
Select the seismic intersecting the raster which the interpretation should be generated from.
Select raster for which the seismic interpretation should be generated.
Click Create

When the seismic interpretation class has been created it will be available for selection under the Interpret Tab.

Interpret Tab

The Interpret Tab functionality will be available when the Cross Section viewer in the Ground Model viewer is active (click on the Cross Section Viewer and observe the tab text is blue and the window has an orange frame) and a seismic line is displayed.

Initiate Seismic Interpretation

To initiate seismic interpretation, the following steps are required:

Display a seismic line in the Cross Section Viewer.
Select the Seismic Interpretation feature class to be interpreted
Select Feature Mode: When starting an interpretation on a new, blank seismic interpretation feature class, it is possible to make it either a single- or multi- feature horizon.
- Single Feature: A feature typically representing a continuous reflector, for example a regional horizon.
- Multi feature: A feature typically representing multiple individual events that should be grouped together, for example the base of set of slides, slumps or scars or even faults.
The name of the seismic line shown in the cross section viewer will be given in the seismic line field.
Select interpretation mode:
- No autotracking: Interpretation lines will be drawn directly between points entered, regardless of seismic signal.
- Autotrack internal: Interpretation lines will be drawn between points entered, guided by the seismic signal.
- Autotrack left: Interpretation lines will propagate leftwards from the point set, guided by the seismic signal, until it meets other interpretation lines in the same feature class or it is no longer able to trace the seismic reflector.
- Autotrack right: Interpretation lines will propagate rightwards from the point set, guided by the seismic signal, until it meets other interpretation lines in the same feature class or it is no longer able to trace the seismic reflector.
- Autotrack left and right: Interpretation lines will propagate both left- and rightwards from the point set, guided by the seismic signal, until it meets other interpretation lines in the same feature class or the seismic reflector is no longer traceable.
Select the Track Target: Select which part of the seismic amplitude the autotracking shall trace; -minimum or maximum amplitude, or zero crossing.
Click Start to start interpreting.

Conduct Interpretation

To pick the seismic interpretation horizon, left click once on the desired point in the cross-section viewer. Clicking again will establish a connection with the previous point and the points will be connected according to the interpretation mode used. Double-click to halt the interpretation and add it to the map. If a new point is now set at another location this will start a new interpretation line disconnected from the previous one. If new points are set in an area that has already been interpreted, the old interpretation will be overwritten and snapped to the new one.

The active interpretation feature class can be selected in three different ways when in interpretation mode:

Select button: The select button (keyboard shortcut: s) can be used to activate another interpretation feature class visualized in the cross section to interpret on this instead. Click the button or press “s” and select the interpretation with a left click.
Interpretation Feature Class drop down menu: Alternatively, this can be selected in the Interpretation Feature Class drop down menu under the Interpret Tab in the Seismic Interpretation Dock.
Keyboard shortcuts: In the pulldown menu mentioned above, numbers will be assigned to the different interpretation feature classes. These numbers represent keyboard shortcuts facilitating easy skipping between interpretation feature classes activated for interpretation.

Click interpret (keyboard shortcut “i”) or Erase (keyboard shortcut “e”) to exit select mode. In erase mode a polygon can be drawn around parts of the active interpretation feature class. Double left click will erase all interpretation within the polygon.

The Undo (keyboard shortcut “Ctrl+z”) and Redo (keyboard shortcut “Ctrl+y”) buttons will undo/redo prvious interpretation/erasing steps. Click OK to save your interpretation and exit interpretation mode.