Technical Paper: Three methods for mitigating airwaves in shallow water marine CSEM data

Society: SEG
Paper Number:
Presentation Date: 2009
 

Over the past several years, Marine Controlled-Source EM (MCSEM) techniques have been successfully applied in deep water (water depth >1 km) for oil/gas exploration. In contrast, application of this technology in shallow water, although available, is challenged due to ‘airwaves’ that mask the signal from the target reservoir at depth. Based upon ‘lateral wave’ theory, we propose three airwave-mitigation approaches to reduce the effects of these arrivals on MCSEM data. By comparing the detectability of a target in deep water versus shallow water for models including bathymetry, we show that the airwave effects in a shallow water environment can be reduced leading to a greater reservoir detectability.

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