SEG-Y seismic

SEG-Y seismic: new data layer in SARIG

Michael Ross1 and Peter Hough2 1 Minerals Information and Promotions Branch, PIRSA 2 Petroleum Geophysics Branch, PIRSA

www.sarig.pir.sa.gov.au

Introduction
PIRSA has recently developed a new layer in SARIG to view and download processed SEG-Y open file (non-confidential) seismic data. The SEG-Y file format is an open standard developed by the Society of Exploration Geophysicists for storing and viewing geophysical data. This exciting

development enables web viewing of processed seismic data not previously possible from PIRSA. Downloading the SEG-Y data will allow users to further manipulate the display of the seismic data to suit requirements. This data supplements the following free data downloads already available in SARIG:

current mineral, petroleum and geothermal exploration and production tenements expired mineral, petroleum and geothermal exploration tenements and associated non-confidential company reports drillhole, geology, mineral deposits and sampling analyses

Figure 1 SARIG screen shot of new 2D SEG-Y data layer over pre-Tertiary sedimentary basins.

MESA Journal 62 September 2011

21

SARIG

state geophysical imagery (magnetic, gravity, radiometrics) seismic survey company reports seismic depth, time and isopach imagery. Once exclusive to the petroleum industry, processed seismic data is now available for easy use without the need for sophisticated hardware platforms, software requirements or prior extensive knowledge and experience of the geophysical recording technique. Since 1975 there have been over 350 2D seismic surveys recorded producing more than 110000 km of line profile data over the main onshore sedimentary basins in South Australia. While much of this activity has been concentrated on the deeper parts of the

basins a percentage has encroached into areas now deemed to be prospective for other commodities and targets such as uranium, coal seam methane, base metals and geothermal energy. Most surveys have been recorded under the Petroleum Acts of the day. Under the regulations relating to these Acts, basic data is made public 2years post the recording of the survey. Key datasets that are covered by this requirement include line location, processed data and various operational reports.

Officer Arckaringa Pedirka Arrowie Eromanga It is anticipated that data for the Otway, Murray, Stansbury and Cooper basins, and Gawler Craton will be available in SARIG in the near future. SARIG displays the actual extent of the processed data which may at times not be the same as the nominal/original full extent of the line, i.e. it may be a shortened reprocessed version.

2D SEG-Y data
To date, datasets have been consolidated, edited and uploaded for the following basins (Fig. 1):

How to access 2D SEG-Y data in SARIG

To gain access to 2D SEG-Y seismic data in SARIG, begin by selecting its data layer under Seismic Lines (Fig. 1).

Figure 2 SARIG screen shot showing seismic line 84-XFE over current mineral exploration licences and coalfields in the Arckaringa Basin. (Note: steps 6 and 7 are shown in Figures 4 and 5).

22

MESA Journal 62 September 2011

SEG-Y seismic

The case study example is for seismic line 84-XFE within the Arckaringa Basin. Figure 2 shows this line in SARIG over current mineral exploration licences and coalfield layers. The steps to access line 84-XFE are shown in Figures 26 and are summarised below. 1 2 3 Select the Identify tool from the Search/Identify menu (Fig. 2). Select the line(s) of interest on the map (Fig. 2). A Results window for the selected features appears on the screen (Fig.2). In the window there are three hyperlinked fields shown

as blue underlined text. PIRSA suggests using these in the following sequence to view and download the SEG-Y data. 4 JPEG file. Provides a quick preview A4 .jpg image of the seismic data without having to download the larger seismic dataset (Fig. 3). Note the image is representative only as the data has been adjusted to always fit an A4 page. Line. Returns a list and file size of SEG-Y datasets for the selected line (Fig. 4).

Note that there may be more than one version for some lines. To download the SEG-Y format data, select the required record from the list shown in Figure 4. This returns a download screen shown in Figure 5. Note that a SEG-Y viewer is required to view the downloaded SEG-Y data file. SARIG provides links to two suggested free viewers (Fig. 4). Select the download hyperlink option shown in Figure 5 to show line 84-XFE in a SEG-Y viewer (cropped) where users can further manipulate the data (Fig. 6).

Figure 3 A4-size preview of JPEG image of SEG-Y data for seismic line 84-XFE.

Figure 4 Returned list of SEG-Y datasets for seismic line 84-FXE (line shown in Fig. 2).

MESA Journal 62 September 2011

23

SARIG

Note that Microsoft Internet Explorer continues to present challenges to the SARIG development team and users may experience download issues. PIRSA suggests using Mozilla Firefox or Google Chrome which provide best overall performance for SARIG. Company Report. The company report column shown in Figure2 returns a list all downloadable open file reports for this seismic survey in .pdf format.

Province-based SEG-Y datasets

PIRSA can also provide more comprehensive province-based SEG-Y datasets to assist explorers in the assessment of their licence areas. Datasets are available for the Arckaringa, Arrowie, Cooper, Duntroon, Officer, Otway, Pedirka and Stansbury basins. For more information see the PIRSA Petroleum website <www.petroleum.pir.sa.gov.au>. Go to Products & Data, Seismic Data, Seismic Workstation Datasets. Prices range from $5001000.
For further information contact Peter Hough, phone +61 8 8463 3240, email <Peter.Hough@sa.gov.au>

Figure 5 Downloading window SEG-Y data file.

Figure 6 SEG-Y viewer example for seismic line 84-XFE (cropped to section area).

24

MESA Journal 62 September 2011