In-situ permeability from integrated poroelastic reflection coefficients

Abstract

A reliable estimate of the in-situ permeability of a porous layer in the subsurface is extremely difficult to obtain. We have observed that at the field seismic frequency band the poroelastic behavior for different seismic wavetypes can differ in such a way that their combination gives unique estimates of in-situ permeability and porosity simultaneously. This is utilized in the integration of angle- and frequency-dependent poroelastic reflection coefficients in a cost function. Realistic numerical simulations show that the estimated values of permeability and porosity are robust against uncertainties in the employed poroelastic mechanism and in the data. Potential applications of this approach exist in hydrocarbon exploration, hydrogeology, and geotechnical engineering. Copyright 2010 by the American Geophysical Union.