Enhanced signal-to-noise ratio and bandwidth through explosives design

The signal-to-noise ratio and bandwidth of explosive-sourced seismic data are the direct result of the<br>properties of the explosives used and the near-surface conditions. Conventional wisdom has dictated<br>that certain properties are desirable in seismic explosives. A series of experiments have shown that<br>some of these assumptions should be revisited.<br>Multivarient testing has confirmed that the efficacy of seismic explosives can be improved in many<br>environments. This reinforces the contention that the design of the explosive utilized is critical to the<br>ultimate quality of seismic data. These results suggest that a method of testing and customizing<br>explosives to take advantage of these variations can be established.<br>Current data suggest that 3 to 6 dB of signal enhancement may be achieved in the seismic bandwidth<br>through the use of metalized explosives. Examples of these improvements will be presented in the<br>paper. Based on these improvements, it should be possible to achieve better signal-to-noise ratio and<br>bandwidth.