Integration of Processing and Inversion Methods for High-Resolution Multichannel Seismic Data with Sparker Source

• Grant number: 25/03205-0
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: April 01, 2025
• End date: March 31, 2026
• Field of knowledge: Physical Sciences and Mathematics - Geosciences - Geophysics
• Principal Investigator: Luigi Jovane
• Grantee: Otavio Tamio Fukushima Neto
• Host Institution: Instituto Oceanográfico (IO). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 16/24946-9 - Sea-level changes and Global Monsoon System: clues from marine cores in Brazil, AP.PFPMCG.TEM

Abstract

High-resolution multichannel seismic data is an important approach for geological and paleoceanographic studies, and has already been widely used in the exploration industry. Recently, it has also been employed in the development of offshore wind farms. However, the Brazilian academic field lacks studies in this context. Following market trends, the CORE laboratory at IO-USP has pioneered the acquisition of a Sparker seismic data acquisition system for high-resolution multichannel seismic data. Since its acquisition, the laboratory has been developing expertise in advanced processing and inversion techniques with international collaborators from academia and industry. Thus, the project aims to characterize the Brazilian margins, specifically the Santos continental shelf, in an unprecedented way. The final products of the processing are stacking velocity models, wavelets extracted from the data, and zero-phase wave data. The conversion of reflection amplitude data to elastic properties as a function of depth is a process called inversion, which generates a model of estimates of the elastic parameters associated with the medium. These estimates are important tools for characterizing properties such as lithology, porosity, and density. The inversion depends on a properly processed section (ideally free of noise), low-frequency information (extracted from stacking velocity models), and waveform information. With this in mind, the project aims to develop processing and inversion of three seismic sections acquired with a Sparker source on the Santos continental shelf.