3-D shallow-water seismic survey evaluation and design using the focal-beam method: a case study offshore Abu Dhabi

For 3-D shallow-water seismic surveys offshore Abu Dhabi, imaging the target reflectors requires high resolution. Characterization and monitoring of hydrocarbon reservoirs by seismic amplitude-versus-offset techniques demands high pre-stack amplitude fidelity. In this region, however, it still was not clear how the survey parameters should be chosen to satisfy the required data quality. To answer this question, we applied the focal-beam method to survey evaluation and design. This subsurface- and target-oriented approach enables quantitative analysis of attributes such as the best achievable resolution and pre-stack amplitude fidelity at a fixed grid point in the subsurface for a given acquisition geometry at the surface. This method offers an efficient way to optimize the acquisition geometry for maximum resolution and minimum amplitude-versus-offset imprint. We applied it to several acquisition geometries in order to understand the effects of survey parameters such as the four spatial sampling intervals and apertures of the template geometry. The results led to a good understanding of the relationship between the survey parameters and the resulting data quality and identification of the survey parameters for reflection imaging and amplitude-versus-offset applications.