Abstract

Diffraction Imaging (DI) is a high-resolution imaging technology designed to image and identify in very fine detail the small scale fractures in shale and carbonate reservoirs that form areas of increased natural fracture density. Diffraction Imaging provides a separate 3D (stack), 4D (angle gathers) or 5D (angle and azimuth gathers) image of discontinuities, or objects which are small compared to the wavelength of seismic waves such as fault edges, small scale faults, fractured zones, pinch-outs, reef edges, channel edges, salt flanks, reflector unconformities, injectites, fluid fronts, caves and karst, in general any small scattering objects. Diffraction imaging is the direct response to subsurface discontinuities and is in most cases obtained from pre-stack, pre-migration data rather than post-stack, post-migration images. The diffractions volume can be used as a complement to the structural images produced by reflection imaging (Khaidukov et al., 2004; Taner et al., 2006; Moser and Howard, 2008; Koren et al., 2010; Dell and Gajewski, 2011).