We have modified the Sobel filter by orienting it along the dip of seismic reflections and the azimuth of discontinuous features.
We find that the proposed plane-wave Sobel filter is a straightforward and inexpensive means for enhancing discontinuous features in 3D seismic images.
Many popular coherence attributes come with considerable computational cost because they require calculation and eigendecomposition of the local covariance matrix or structure tensor at each point in the 3D image.
The significant cost of eigendecomposition can be partially alleviated in practice by parallelization.
One of the key benefits of this method is its superior efficiency in comparison with other similar attributes.
The main costs of this attribute are the estimation of local slopes and azimuth scanning.
Local slopes can be estimated using accelerated plane-wave destruction.
Azimuth scanning and picking are easy to parallelize.
As demonstrated in this paper, the proposed plane-wave Sobel attribute can help geological interpretations of subsurface faults and channels.
It can also be used to enhance other discontinuous or chaotic features commonly interpreted in seismic images, such as unconformities, salt boundaries, and mass transport complexes.
Plane-wave Sobel attribute for discontinuity enhancement in seismic images
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