158: What geophysicists and engineers need to know about DAS

Mark Willis discusses his upcoming Distinguished Instructor Short Course, "Distributed acoustic sensing for seismic measurements – what geophysicists and engineers need to know." Geoscientists and engineers are very comfortable using seismic data sets acquired with geophones, hydrophones, and accelerometers because they have a long, well-defined set of standards for acquiring, processing, and interpreting them. However, distributed acoustic sensing (DAS) seismic measurements are rapidly augmenting and, in some cases replacing the data from these conventional tools. In this conversation with host Andrew Geary, Mark helps geoscientists and engineers build intuition and understanding of DAS seismic technology's value, limitations, and applications. Mark also discusses the most common objection to DAS, when DAS is better than conventional seismic acquisition, and tips for someone planning their first DAS seismic survey. Mark will be teaching this course for the first time at IMAGE, and this is a great preview of the valuable, insightful, and helpful tools and resources you will gain from this course. RELATED LINKS * Register for Mark's course at IMAGE - 26 August (https://seg.org/shop/products/detail/443222174) * Learn more about Mark's course and see the latest schedule (https://seg.org/Education/Courses/DISC/2022-2023-DISC-Mark-Willis) * SEAFOM (https://seafom.com/) * Discover SEG on Demand (https://seg.org/Education/SEG-on-Demand) * See the entire archive of the SEG podcast (https://seg.org/podcast) BIOGRAPHY Mark E. Willis is the Chief Scientific Advisor of Borehole Seismics at Halliburton. He is responsible for mentoring technologists, developing and promoting geophysical innovations, and fostering long-term client relationships. Previous to joining Halliburton in 2011, he worked in various research technology, supervisory, and management positions at Mobil Oil, Cambridge GeoSciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology Earth Resources Laboratory, and ConocoPhillips. In his career, he has performed research and development in distributed acoustic sensing, VSP technology, deep sonic log imaging, fracture identification using seismic data (time-lapse VSP, microseismics, and surface seismic scattering), interferometric imaging, Kirchhoff and reverse time depth migration, full waveform inversion, machine learning, velocity model building, and sonic waveform processing. Willis holds a B.S. in Applied Math and Physics from the University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee and a Ph.D. in Geophysics from MIT. He has written over 100 papers, publications, and presentations and holds multiple patents. He is a member of the SEG, EAGE, SSA, SPWLA, and ASA. CREDITS SEG produces Seismic Soundoff to benefit its members, the scientific community, and inform the public on the value of geophysics. Please leave a 5-star rating on Apple Podcasts and Spotify to show your support for the show. It takes less than five seconds to leave a 5-star rating and is the number one action you can take to show your appreciation for this free resource. And follow the podcast while you are on the app to be notified when each new episode releases. Original music created by Zach Bridges. Andrew Geary hosted, edited, and produced this episode for 51 features, LLC. Thank you to the SEG podcast team: Jennifer Cobb, Kathy Gamble, and Ally McGinnis.