Field trial of seismic recording using distributed acoustic sensing with broadside sensitive fibre‐optic cables

Distributed acoustic sensing is an emerging technology using fibre‐optic cables to detect acoustic disturbances such as flow noise and seismic signals. The technology has been applied successfully in hydraulic fracture monitoring and vertical seismic profiling. One of the limitations of distributed acoustic sensing for seismic recording is that the conventional straight fibres do not have broadside sensitivity and therefore cannot be used in configurations where the raypaths are essentially orthogonal to the fibre‐optic cable, such as seismic reflection methods from the surface. The helically wound cable was designed to have broadside sensitivity. In this paper, a field trial is described to validate in a qualitative sense the theoretically predicted angle‐dependent response of a helically wound cable. P‐waves were measured with a helically wound cable as a function of the angle of incidence in a shallow horizontal borehole and compared with measurements with a co‐located streamer. The results show a similar behaviour as a function of the angle of incidence as the theory. This demonstrates the possibility of using distributed acoustic sensing with a helically wound cable as a seismic detection system with a horizontal cable near the surface. The helically wound cable does not have any active parts and can be made as a slim cable with a diameter of a few centimetres. For that reason, distributed acoustic sensing with a helically wound cable is a potential low‐cost option for permanent seismic monitoring on land.     

A field experiment of walkaway distributed acoustic sensing vertical seismic profile in a deep and deviated onshore well in Japan using a fibre optic cable deployed inside coiled tubing

A two-dimensional walkaway vertical seismic profiling survey using distributed acoustic sensing was conducted at an onshore site in Japan. The maximum depth and the deviation of the observation well were more than 4,000 m and 81 degrees, respectively. Among the several methods for installing fibre optic cables, we adopted the inside coiled tubing method, in which coiled tubing containing a fibre optic cable is deployed. The signal-to-noise ratio of the raw shot gather was low, possibly due to poor coupling between the fibre optic cable and the subsurface formation resulting from the fibre optic cable deployment method and the existence of considerable tubewave noise. Nevertheless, direct P-wave arrivals, P–P reflections and P–S converted waves exhibited acceptable signal-to-noise ratios after careful optimization of gauge length for distributed acoustic sensing optical processing and the application of carefully parameterized tubewave noise suppression. One of the challenges in current distributed acoustic sensing vertical seismic profile data processing is the separation of P- and S-waves using only one-component measurements. Hence, we applied moveout correction using two-dimensional ray tracing. This process effectively highlights only reflected P-waves, which are used in subsequent subsurface imaging. Comparison with synthetic well seismograms and two-dimensional surface seismic data confirms that the final imaging result has a sufficiently high quality for subsurface monitoring. We acquired distributed acoustic sensing vertical seismic profile data under both flowing conditions and closed conditions, in which the well was shut off and no fluid flow was allowed. The two imaging results are comparable and suggest the possibility of subsurface imaging and time-lapse monitoring using data acquired under flowing conditions. The results of this study suggest that, by adopting the inside coiled tubing method without drilling a new observation well, more affordable distributed acoustic sensing vertical seismic profile monitoring can be achieved in fields such as CO₂ capture and storage and unconventional shale projects, where monitoring costs have to be minimized.     

The use of multi‐frequency acquisition to significantly improve the quality of fibre‐optic‐distributed vibration sensing

Unlike conventional sensors that measure the passage of seismic waves at a single position, distributed vibration sensing systems, also known as distributed acoustic sensing systems, detect the passage of seismic waves by averaging a measurement of strain over a section of fibre‐optic cable. Distributed vibration sensing systems work by transmitting pulses of light down the fibre and measuring the phase of the Rayleigh backscatter. At random positions along the fibre, however, fading occurs; this is where the amplitude of the backscattered signal is very small due to cancellation of the scattered electric fields, resulting in anomalously noisy traces in a common source gather. This paper addresses the problem of fading in a particular form of distributed vibration sensors: a new optical arrangement of the instrumentation is described that allows the measurement to be carried out quasi‐simultaneously at multiple optical interrogation frequencies. The interrogation frequencies are chosen to be sufficiently different that their fading properties are distinct and the diversity thus obtained is used to aggregate the data obtained to substantially reduce the noise caused by fading. As well as reducing the effects of fading, the aggregation of the independent results can also help to reduce the overall noise of the measurement and improve the linearity of the distributed vibration sensing system.     

A study of the geophysical response of distributed fibre optic acoustic sensors through laboratory‐scale experiments

In the past few years, distributed acoustic sensing has gained great interest in geophysics. This acquisition technology offers immense improvement in terms of efficiency when compared with current geophysical acquisition methods. However, the fundamentals of the measurement are still not fully understood because direct comparisons of fibre data with conventional geophysical sensors are difficult during field tests. We present downscaled laboratory experiments that enabled us to characterise the relationship between the signals recorded by conventional seismic point receivers and by distributed fibre optic sensors. Interrogation of the distributed optical fibre sensor was performed with a Michelson interferometer because this system is suited to compact test configurations, and it requires only a very simple data processing workflow for extracting the signal outputs. We show acoustic data that were recorded simultaneously by both the fibre optical interferometer and conventional three‐component accelerometers, thus enabling the comparison of sensor performance. We present results focused on the directionality of fibre measurements, on the amplitude variation with angle of incidence, and on the transfer function that allows accelerometer signals to be transformed into optical fibre signals. We conclude that the optical fibre response matches with the array of the displacement differences of the inline accelerometers deployed along the fibre length. Moreover, we also analysed the influence of various types of coupling and fibre cable coating on the signal responses, emphasising the importance of these parameters for field seismic acquisitions when using the distributed fibre optic technology.     

Vertical seismic profiling using distributed acoustic sensing with scatter-enhanced fibre-optic cable at the Cu–Au New Afton porphyry deposit,British Columbia,Canada

Wireline logs and vertical seismic profile data were acquired in two boreholes intersecting the main mineralized zone at the Cu–Au New Afton porphyry deposit, Canada, with the objectives of imaging lithological contacts, fault zones that may have acted as conduits that channelled the mineralization, and alteration zones. Log data provide physical rock properties for the main lithologies and alteration zones. Calliper logs reveal many faults and caved-in zones generally indicating rocks with low integrity at the borehole wall. The preponderance of these zones, as indicated by the logs, suggests that their response may dominate the seismic-reflection wavefield. Outside fault zones, compressional and shear-wave velocities exhibit significant variability due to porosity, the heterogeneity of volcanic fragmental rocks and alteration. Distributed acoustic sensing was used to acquire vertical seismic profiling data in the two boreholes surveyed with wireline logs. Straight and helically wound fibre-optic cables housed standard fibres and a fibre engineered to increase the intensity of backscattering at the distributed acoustic sensing interrogator. Standard and engineered optical fibres placed in the two boreholes were daisy-chained together to form two 5-km-long continuous fibres that were interrogated at once with two interrogators. A new generation of interrogator connected to the engineered fibres provided field data with lower noise level and higher signal-to-noise ratio. These data with higher signal-to-noise ratio from straight fibre-optic cable were processed and used for depth imaging. Depth images benefitted from new migration weights that account for the directional sensitivity of the straight fibre-optic cable and limit the extent of migration artefacts. Migration results show several reflectors with shallow dips to the northwest, some explained by faults intersecting the surveyed boreholes. The main sub-vertical lithological and alteration contacts at New Afton generated downgoing reflections that were not considered in the migration.     

The effect of gauge length on axially incident P‐waves measured using fibre optic distributed vibration sensing

Distributed vibration sensing, also known as distributed acoustic sensing, is a relatively new method for recording vertical seismic profile data using a fibre optic cable as the sensor. The signal obtained from such systems is a distributed measurement over a length of fibre referred to as the gauge length. In this paper, we show that gauge length selection is one of the most important acquisition parameters for a distributed vibration sensing survey. If the gauge length is too small, then the signal‐to‐noise ratio will be poor. If the gauge length is too large, resolution will be reduced and the shape of the wavelet will be distorted. The optimum gauge length, as derived here, is a function of the velocity and frequencies of the seismic waves being measured. If these attributes vary considerably over the depth of a survey, then the use of different gauge lengths is recommended. The significant increases in data quality resulting from the use of multiple gauge length values are demonstrated using field data.     

High‐resolution multi‐component distributed acoustic sensing

Distributed acoustic sensing uses an optical fibre together with an interrogator unit to perform strain measurements. The usage of distributed acoustic sensing in geophysics is attractive due to its dense spatial sampling and low operation cost if the optical fibre is freely accessible. In the borehole environment, optical fibres for distributed acoustic sensing are often readily available as a part of other sensing tools, such as for temperature and pressure. Although the distributed acoustic sensing system promises great potential for reservoir monitoring and surface seismic acquisition, the single axial strain measurement of distributed acoustic sensing along the fibre is inadequate to fully characterise the different wave modes, thus making reservoir characterisation challenging. We propose an acquisition system using five equally spaced helical optical fibres and a straight optical fibre to obtain six different strain projections. This system allows us to reconstruct all components of the 3D strain tensor at any location along the fibre. Analysing the condition number associated with the geometry of the optical fibre, we can systematically search for the optimum design parameters for our configuration. Numerical examples demonstrate the effectiveness of our proposed method to successful reconstruction of the full strain tensor from elastic wavefields of arbitrary complexity.     

Field testing of modular borehole monitoring with simultaneous distributed acoustic sensing and geophone vertical seismic profiles at Citronelle,Alabama

A modular borehole monitoring concept has been implemented to provide a suite of well‐based monitoring tools that can be deployed cost effectively in a flexible and robust package. The initial modular borehole monitoring system was deployed as part of a CO₂ injection test operated by the Southeast Regional Carbon Sequestration Partnership near Citronelle, Alabama. The Citronelle modular monitoring system transmits electrical power and signals, fibre‐optic light pulses, and fluids between the surface and a reservoir. Additionally, a separate multi‐conductor tubing‐encapsulated line was used for borehole geophones, including a specialized clamp for casing clamping with tubing deployment. The deployment of geophones and fibre‐optic cables allowed comparison testing of distributed acoustic sensing. We designed a large source effort (>64 sweeps per source point) to test fibre‐optic vertical seismic profile and acquired data in 2013. The native measurement in the specific distributed acoustic sensing unit used (an iDAS from Silixa Ltd) is described as a localized strain rate. Following a processing flow of adaptive noise reduction and rebalancing the signal to dimensionless strain, improvement from repeated stacking of the source was observed. Conversion of the rebalanced strain signal to equivalent velocity units, via a scaling by local apparent velocity, allows quantitative comparison of distributed acoustic sensing and geophone data in units of velocity. We see a very good match of uncorrelated time series in both amplitude and phase, demonstrating that velocity‐converted distributed acoustic sensing data can be analyzed equivalent to vertical geophones. We show that distributed acoustic sensing data, when averaged over an interval comparable to typical geophone spacing, can obtain signal‐to‐noise ratios of 18 dB to 24 dB below clamped geophones, a result that is variable with noise spectral amplitude because the noise characteristics are not identical. With vertical seismic profile processing, we demonstrate the effectiveness of downgoing deconvolution from the large spatial sampling of distributed acoustic sensing data, along with improved upgoing reflection quality. We conclude that the extra source effort currently needed for tubing‐deployed distributed acoustic sensing vertical seismic profile, as part of a modular monitoring system, is well compensated by the extra spatial sampling and lower deployment cost as compared with conventional borehole geophones.     

Vertical seismic profiling using a daisy‐chained deployment of fibre‐optic cables in four wells simultaneously – Case study at the Ketzin carbon dioxide storage site

The geological storage of carbon dioxide is considered as one of the measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and to mitigate global warming. Operators of storage sites are required to demonstrate safe containment and stable behaviour of the storage complex that is achieved by geophysical and geochemical monitoring, combined with reservoir simulations. For site characterization, as well as for imaging the carbon dioxide plume in the reservoir complex and detecting potential leakage, surface and surface‐borehole time‐lapse seismic monitoring surveys are the most widespread and established tools. At the Ketzin pilot site for carbon dioxide storage, permanently installed fibre‐optic cables, initially deployed for distributed temperature sensing, were used as seismic receiver arrays, demonstrating their ability to provide high‐resolution images of the storage formation. A vertical seismic profiling experiment was acquired using 23 source point locations and the daisy‐chained deployment of a fibre‐optic cable in four wells as a receiver array. The data were used to generate a 3D vertical seismic profiling cube, complementing the large‐scale 3D surface seismic measurements by a high resolution image of the reservoir close to the injection well. Stacking long vibro‐sweeps at each source location resulted in vertical seismic profiling shot gathers characterized by a signal‐to‐noise ratio similar to gathers acquired using geophones. A detailed data analysis shows strong dependency of data quality on borehole conditions with significantly better signal‐to‐noise ratio in regions with good coupling conditions.     

Design considerations for using Distributed Acoustic Sensing for cross-well seismics: A case study for CO2 storage

Downhole monitoring with fibre-optic Distributed Acoustic Sensing (DAS) systems offers unprecedented spatial resolution. At the same time, costs are reduced since repeated wireline surveys can be replaced by the permanent installation of comparatively cheap fibre cables. However, the single component nature of fibre data requires novel approaches when designing a monitoring project such as cross-well seismics. At the example of the shallow CO₂ injection test site in Svelvik, Norway, we model the evolution of velocity changes during CO₂ injection based on rock physics theory. Different cross-well seismic design scenarios are then considered to evaluate the best design and the limits of this method to detect containment breach. We present a series of evaluation tools to compare the effect of different well spacings for cross-well seismic tomography. In addition to travel-times, we also consider characteristic amplitude changes along the fibre unique to DAS strain measurements, which might add a constraint to the inversion. We also compare the effect of using helical fibres instead of classical straight fibres. We thus present a toolbox to evaluate and compare different monitoring design options for fibre optic downhole installations for cross-well monitoring.     

Distributed electric field sensing using fibre optics in borehole environments

In the past decade, rapid advances in distributed optical fibre sensing technologies have made it possible to record various geophysical data (e.g. strain, temperature and pressure) continuously in both time and space along the fibre, providing an unprecedented quantity and spatial density of data compared to traditional geophysical measurements as well as reducing data acquisition cost. To date, no distributed fibre-based electromagnetic field sensing system has been implemented although electromagnetic sensing could have a broad range of applications to geophysical imaging and monitoring in borehole environments. The goal of this paper is to provide a theoretical feasibility study regarding the design and use of an electromagnetic sensing optical fibre for geophysical applications. First, we present the sensitivity analysis of a ‘hypothetical’ optical fibre coated with polyvinylidene fluoride, a polymer that provides relatively high piezoelectric properties, yet unlike ceramics, is flexible. Using a two-dimensional electromagnetic modelling algorithm, we simulate the earth electric-field-to-fibre-strain transfer function and estimate the theoretical sensitivity of the optical fibre to electric fields. Given the state-of-the-art distributed acoustic sensing strain sensitivities in the picometres strain range, our numerical modelling analysis suggests that a perfectly coupled polyvinylidene fluoride–coated optical fibre can measure electric field values in the mV/m to V/m amplitude range. We then apply a cylindrically symmetric modelling algorithm to simulate numerical models demonstrating the applicability of such a fibre in an oilfield environment. Scenarios investigated employ an electric field source and suggest that the measurements can be used to distinguish the oil versus water ratio with a fibre mounted inside a producing steel cased oil well as well as distinguishing between brine and hydrocarbon filled reservoir zones with a fibre located outside of the casing.     

Imaging shallow structure with active-source surface wave signal recorded by distributed acoustic sensing arrays

Distributed acoustic sensing (DAS) is one recently developed seismic acquisition technique that is based on fiber-optic sensing. DAS provides dense spatial spacing that is useful to image shallow structure with surface waves. To test the feasibility of DAS in shallow structure imaging, the PoroTomo team conducted a DAS experiment with the vibroseis truck T-Rex in Brady’s Hot Springs, Nevada, USA. The Rayleigh waves excited by the vertical mode of the vibroseis truck were analyzed with the Multichannel Analysis of Surface Waves (MASW) method. Phase velocities between 5 and 20 Hz were successfully extracted for one segment of cable and were employed to build a shear-wave velocity model for the top 50 meters. The dispersion curves obtained with DAS agree well with the ones extracted from co-located geophones data and from the passive source Noise Correlation Functions (NCF). Comparing to the co-located geophone array, the higher sensor density that DAS arrays provides help reducing aliasing in dispersion analysis, and separating different surface wave modes. This study demonstrates the feasibility and advantage of DAS in imaging shallow structure with surface waves.     

拉索松弛对独塔斜拉桥地震反应的影响

为了研究地震作用下斜拉桥拉索松弛对独塔斜拉桥地震反应的影响,采用桁架单元模拟斜拉索,考虑拉索垂度效应,基于OpenSees平台建立了考虑成桥状态及拉索松弛的全桥有限元模型,输入5条强震记录进行地震反应分析,探究了斜拉索松弛及其对斜拉桥关键部位地震反应的影响规律。结果表明：强震作用下独塔斜拉桥的拉索会产生松弛,但拉索松弛现象仅发生在部分边索中;拉索松弛对最不利受力索的位置和最大索拉力影响可以忽略;拉索松弛可能增大也可能减小结构地震反应,其影响不可忽略且受地震动的频谱影响较大,应引起设计的注意。     

海洋地震垂直缆观测系统的射线照明分析

垂直缆地震法是海洋地震勘探学里新发展起来的一种具有潜在应用前景的观测技术。本文基于射线追踪理论,采用基于不规则单元的双线性走时插值和快速波前扩展的高精度和高效率方法,并以目标层反射点分布密度作为衡量观测系统的主要参数,通过一系列三维海底地层模型和炮点、垂直接收缆及其水听器布设的数值模拟实验,对海洋地震垂直缆观测系统进行照明分析,取得了垂直缆观测系统参数对目标层反射点分布的影响规律,为最佳垂直缆观测系统设计和提高地震成像质量提供参考依据。      

Convolutional neural networks for automated microseismic detection in downhole distributed acoustic sensing data and comparison to a surface geophone array

Distributed acoustic sensing is a growing technology that enables affordable downhole recording of strain wavefields from microseismic events with spatial sampling down to ∼1 m. Exploiting this high spatial information density motivates different detection approaches than typically used for downhole geophones. A new machine learning method using convolutional neural networks is described that operates on the full strain wavefield. The method is tested using data recorded in a horizontal observation well during hydraulic fracturing in the Eagle Ford Shale, Texas, and the results are compared to a surface geophone array that simultaneously recorded microseismic activity. The neural network was trained using synthetic microseismic events injected into real ambient noise, and it was applied to detect events in the remaining data. There were 535 detections found and no false positives. In general, the signal-to-noise ratio of events recorded by distributed acoustic sensing was lower than the surface array and 368 of 933 surface array events were found. Despite this, 167 new events were found in distributed acoustic sensing data that had no detected counterpart in the surface array. These differences can be attributed to the different detection threshold that depends on both magnitude and distance to the optical fibre. As distributed acoustic sensing data quality continues to improve, neural networks offer many advantages for automated, real-time microseismic event detection, including low computational cost, minimal data pre-processing, low false trigger rates and continuous performance improvement as more training data are acquired.     

对角预应力拉索重组竹框架地震易损性分析

传统的竹（木）框架结构因其抗侧力性能差,导致地震灾害下损失较大。在竹（木）框架中增设对角预应力拉索,可以有效地提高其抗侧刚度。为研究重组竹框架结构中对角预应力拉索对结构抗震失效概率,采用增量动力分析（IDA）对其易损性进行分析。通过定义3个性能水平,以地震峰值加速度作为地震强度指标,结构的层间位移角作为结构响应参数,分析得到无对角预应力拉索的重组竹框架的地震易损性曲线。最后分析对角预应力拉索对重组竹框架,得到2种预应力水平下的地震易损性曲线,并与无对角预应力拉索的重组竹框架的地震易损性曲线进行了对比,研究对角预应力拉索对重组竹框架地震易损性的影响。     

Analysis of the traveltime sensitivity kernels for an acoustic transversely isotropic medium with a vertical axis of symmetry

In anisotropic media, several parameters govern the propagation of the compressional waves. To correctly invert surface recorded seismic data in anisotropic media, a multi‐parameter inversion is required. However, a tradeoff between parameters exists because several models can explain the same dataset. To understand these tradeoffs, diffraction/reflection and transmission‐type sensitivity‐kernels analyses are carried out. Such analyses can help us to choose the appropriate parameterization for inversion. In tomography, the sensitivity kernels represent the effect of a parameter along the wave path between a source and a receiver. At a given illumination angle, similarities between sensitivity kernels highlight the tradeoff between the parameters. To discuss the parameterization choice in the context of finite‐frequency tomography, we compute the sensitivity kernels of the instantaneous traveltimes derived from the seismic data traces. We consider the transmission case with no encounter of an interface between a source and a receiver; with surface seismic data, this corresponds to a diving wave path. We also consider the diffraction/reflection case when the wave path is formed by two parts: one from the source to a sub‐surface point and the other from the sub‐surface point to the receiver. We illustrate the different parameter sensitivities for an acoustic transversely isotropic medium with a vertical axis of symmetry. The sensitivity kernels depend on the parameterization choice. By comparing different parameterizations, we explain why the parameterization with the normal moveout velocity, the anellipitic parameter η, and the δ parameter is attractive when we invert diving and reflected events recorded in an active surface seismic experiment.     

The damped cable system for seismic protection of frame structures — Part II: Design and application

The complementary sections of the studies carried out on the damped cable system, whose experimental and numerical characterization and assessment analyses are described in the companion paper, are presented herein. The first section includes a criterion for a preliminary evaluation of the section area of cables, the second branch stiffness of spring‐dampers and the mutual installation preload, and suggestions for a simplified nonlinear dynamic computation of the damping coefficient of dissipaters. A second section follows, aimed at evaluating the influence of cable layout on damped cable system performance. A numerical enquiry is developed on a four‐story and an eight‐story RC plane frame, to assess their seismic response for several shapes of cables, and determine what geometrical configurations are the best performing ones. In the third section, a demonstrative application of the protective system, represented by the seismic retrofit of a hospital building with RC structure, is offered. The characteristics of the system designed for this case study, including locations, dimensions, layouts, and technical installation details of cables and spring‐dampers, are illustrated, and the improvement of seismic performance as compared with the original conditions, is finally assessed. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Heated distributed temperature sensing for field scale soil moisture monitoring

Characterizing both spatial and temporal soil moisture (θ) dynamics at site scales is difficult with existing technologies. To address this shortcoming, we developed a distributed soil moisture sensing system that employs a distributed temperature sensing system to monitor thermal response at 2 m intervals along the length of a buried cable which is subjected to heat pulses. The cable temperature response to heating, which is strongly dependent on soil moisture, was empirically related to colocated, dielectric-based θ measurements at three locations. Spatially distributed, and temporally continuous estimates of θ were obtained in dry conditions (θ≤ 0.31) using this technology (root mean square error [RMSE] = 0.016), but insensitivity of the instrument response curve adversely affected accuracy under wet conditions (RMSE = 0.050).     

地震波斜入射下层状场地中地下综合管廊地震响应分析

利用黏弹性人工边界和等效地震荷载时域波动输入方法,结合土层和半空间的精确动力刚度矩阵,实现了地震波斜入射下层状场地地下综合管廊地震反应分析,建立了不同场地条件下地下综合管廊分析模型。计算结果表明:地震波倾斜入射情况下,综合管廊结构地震响应与垂直入射时具有显著差异,一般SV波以30°临界角附近入射时结构地震反应最为剧烈;地下综合管廊动应力集中主要分布在管廊角部、中柱上下端;成层土波速结构变化对地下综合管廊地震反应亦具有显著影响。总体上看:当穿越软夹层时管廊结构地震反应更为剧烈,且覆盖层越厚,管廊结构内力幅值越大。因此地下综合管廊结构抗震设计宜考虑地震波倾斜入射及场地土层性质的影响。