A Significant Step Toward the introduction of Low-Frequency Vibroseis in Russia

Looking back to the recent history of land seismic acquisition worldwide, one can assert that the 90’s have been marked by the swap from 2D to 3D surveys, and the 00’s by an increase in crew productivity with the use of new shooting techniques. Although not over yet, the present decade is advanced enough to give us a good clue of how it will mark seismic acquisition. Four tendencies are standing out yet: broadband seismic; densification of source and receiver grids; reduction or suppression of source and receiver arrays; and wider azimuth surveys with longer offsets. Among these tendencies, the broadband has known the most impressive development, as a clear correlation exists between the dataset bandwidth and the imaging quality, with a particular effort observed towards the low frequencies: unlike high-frequencies, they are hardly absorbed by the subsurface, and their presence in the seismic data improves the vertical resolution, the velocity model accurateness and the inversion effectiveness. However, low frequencies are still not employed on Russian seismic projects. This paper describes successful tests performed in Russia recently, which open the way to their introduction for production projects.