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Seismic attributes and their classification
A ttributes have proliferated recently
with different selections available on
different workstations. What do they all
mean? When do we use one and when
another? The answers to these questions
are not easy but the first step is to un-
derstand what our options are, and
herein lies the purpose of this article.
An attribute is necessarily a deriva-
tive of a basic seismic measurement. All
the horizon and formation information
attributes available are not independent
of each other but simply different ways
of presenting and studying a limited
amount of basic information. That basic
Figure 1. Attribute classification.
1090 THE LEADING EDGE OCTOBER 1996
ALISTAIR R. BROWN
Consulting Reservoir Geophysicist
Dallas, Texas
information is time, amplitude, fre-
quency, and attenuation, and these form
the basis of the attribute classification
shown in attached hierarchy (Figure 1).
As a broad generalization, time-de-
rived attributes provide structural infor-
mation, amplitude-derived attributes
provide stratigraphic and reservoir in-
formation. Frequency-derived attributes
are not yet well understood but there is
widespread optimism that they will pro-
vide additional useful reservoir infor-
mation. Attenuation is not used today
but there is a possibility that in the fu-
ture it will yield information on perme-
ability. Most attributes are derived from
the normal stacked and migrated 3-D
data volume but variations of basic
measurements as a function of angle of
incidence (and hence source-to-receiver
offset) provides a further source of in-
formation. The principal examples of
these prestack attributes are AVO.
Poststack attributes can be extracted
along one horizon or summed over a
window. The latter provides the concept
of a formation attribute. In some cases
the window is a constant flat time inter-
val so that the display is effectively a
thick time slice, sometimes termed a
stat (statistical) slice. The
window may be of a constant
time interval but hung from
one structurally-interpreted
horizon so that the window
properly follows a reservoir.
The window may also be the
interval between two struc-
turally-interpreted horizons,
for example the top and the
base reservoir reflections.
Within the window, values
may be summed to produce a
gross attribute measurement,
only some of the information
may be extracted to provide a
selection attribute, or the vari-
ation of the attribute within
the window may be measured
to assess a distribution.
I know people have tried
other classification ap-
proaches but I recommend
this one. Do you find this use-
ful? What novel applications
have you put attributes to re-
cently? Do you feel the list
has significant omissions?