Hybrid Virtual Interferometry Technique Based on Stacking of Neighboring Virtual Traces to Enhance Acoustic Logging Data

Abstract

The accurate extraction of useful signals from the measurement data is one of the important parts and challenges of the understanding of subsurface information. The desired signal is usually hidden in the background noise, and the amplitude is weak due to the particular geological environment of the subsurface or the consistency of the measuring instrument. By extending the theory of seismic interferometry to include the effects of adjacent virtual channels and by combining super- and reverse-virtual interferometry, we obtain a hybrid virtual interferometry technique based on stacking neighboring virtual traces for wave reconstruction. We have verified the effectiveness of the processing method in suppressing noise interference and extracting useful signals using synthetic data tests. The method is applied to the processing and interpretation of acoustic measurements acquired in a cased borehole of a coal formation and an open hole of an igneous formation, where the processed waveforms are finely reconstructed, and the estimated slowness results are in good agreement with other measurements, thus providing an effective tool for data analysis.