130: Why theory and perfect data are necessary for seismic analysis

Michael Burianyk discusses his new book, Understanding Amplitudes: Basic seismic analysis for rock properties. In the book, methods and techniques used to estimate rock properties from seismic data, based on an understanding of the elastic properties of materials and rocks and how seismic reflection amplitudes change, are described. Using AVO and other techniques, we can characterize rocks and the reservoirs inside them with a degree of qualitative, and even quantitative, detail. In this episode, Michael explains why Newton's ideas still matter despite Einstein, how to approach machine learning with healthy skepticism, why real data can be a hindrance to learning, and why he took the time to discover who was R. Hill. This is a conversation that scientists of all experiences will benefit from and learn. Visit https://seg.org/podcast to find links to Michael's books and past podcasts. RELATED LINKS * Check out the book, Understanding Amplitudes (https://seg.org/shop/products/detail/351710806) * Listen to Michael's podcast on Understanding Signals (https://seg.org/podcast/Post/7301) * Check out his first book, Understanding Signals (https://seg.org/shop/products/detail/114405237) BIOGRAPHY Michael Burianyk was born and raised on the Canadian Prairies. He graduated from the University of Saskatchewan with a BSc in physics and geophysics, and later received from the same institution an MSc in geological sciences, writing his thesis on seismic data he helped collect on an Arctic ice station. Next, he earned a Ph.D. in geophysics from the University of Alberta, studying the crust and lithosphere of western Canada, planning and participating in several LITHOPROBE field programs. After spending time in academic research, he moved to the petroleum industry where he gained expertise in amplitude vs. offset methods, seismic inversion, rock physics, and seismic petrophysics with Core Labs and later Shell Canada. He lived in The Netherlands for a decade, working with Shell’s R&D group in gravity and magnetics and later in their software development division as a geoscience subject matter expert directing the development of software applications and creating associated workflows for gravity and magnetics, EM, QI seismic, seismic balancing, surface gridding, and geodetics. Currently, he lives in France, creating geophysical educational material and pursuing other writing projects. SPONSOR This episode is brought to you by TGS. TGS offers a wide range of energy data and insights to meet the industry where it’s at and where it’s headed. TGS provides scientific data and intelligence to companies active in the energy sector. In addition to a global, extensive and diverse energy data library, TGS offers specialized services such as advanced processing and analytics alongside cloud-based data applications and solutions. Visit https://www.tgs.com/ to learn more. CREDITS Original music by Zach Bridges. This episode was hosted, edited, and produced by Andrew Geary at 51 features, LLC. Thank you to the SEG podcast team: Ted Bakamjian, Kathy Gamble, and Ally McGinnis. You can follow the podcast to hear the latest episodes on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, and Spotify.