Ultra-high density land nodal seismic – Processing challenges and rewards

The desire for ultra-high density (UHD) seismic surveys is now becoming more achievable for future exploration and field development with the increasing availability of versatile nodal land systems. Acquisition geometry design using a higher density of sources as well as receivers considerably reduces the effects of spatial aliasing and also provides better subsurface illumination. By sampling the wavefield more densely, there are improved recordings of both signal and noise. This presents new opportunities for processing and imaging. We use a recent UHD nodal survey with nominal trace density approaching 200 times that of typical conventional cable-based surveys to discuss the challenges and rewards.