121: Solving the seismic wave attenuation problem

Nimisha Vedanti highlights her Honorary Lecture on understanding seismic wave attenuation mechanisms. Nimisha explains how she discovered the problem of seismic attenuation, why seismic attenuation is one of the least understood physical mechanisms, practical takeaways from her lecture, and highlights from two real-world case studies. Visit https://seg.org/podcast for the complete show notes. BIOGRAPHY Nimisha Vedanti received M.Sc. (Tech) in Exploration Geophysics from Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, India, and Ph.D. (2007) from Osmania University, Hyderabad, India, while working as a Junior Scientist at CSIR-National Geophysical Research Institute, Hyderabad, India. She held a postdoctoral position at the University of Texas at Austin, USA (2007-2008), and worked as CSIR-Raman Research Fellow at the Department of Geoscience, University of Calgary, Canada in 2016. She has been a visiting scientist at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) and SINTEF Petroleum Research, Trondheim, Norway, under Indo-Norwegian Collaboration Programs (2005-2006 and 2010-2013). She had short research stay at the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, Saudi Arabia in April 2018. Nimisha was the Indian project coordinator for the Indo-Norwegian collaborative projects that focused on the ‘4D Seismic Monitoring of In-situ Combustion Process in Balol Heavy Oil Field, India’ and ‘Feasibility Assessment of a CO2 EOR process in Ankleshwar Oil Field, India’. She led these projects in collaborations with NTNU, SINTEF, and the Oil and Natural Gas Corporation of India under a tripartite agreement signed under the aegis of Norwegian Embassy in India. Presently, Nimisha is senior principal scientist and in charge of Shallow Seismic Group at CSIR-National Geophysical Research Institute, Hyderabad, India. Her group is carrying out 2D/3D seismic surveys for the exploration of Coal Bed Methane and Shale Gas in the Gondwana coal fields of India. She is also leading two research projects focused on the assessment of sedimentary basins of India for CO2 EOR and sequestration. These projects are supported by the Department of Science & Technology, Govt. of India, and the Natural Environment Research Council, UK. She is also serving the Academy of Scientific and Innovative Research, India as a Professor. She has published more than 60 articles and co-authored a handbook titled Fractal Models in Exploration Geophysics published by Elsevier Science under the ‘Seismic Exploration Series.’ Nimisha is a recipient of many prestigious awards, including the ‘National Geoscience Award’ given by the Ministry of Mines, Govt. of India, ‘Young Scientist Award’ given by the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research(CSIR)-Ministry of Science and Technology, Govt. of India, ‘Krishnan Medal’ by the Indian Geophysical Union, ‘KR Gupta Medal’ by the Geological Society of India and Indian Science Congress Association’s Young Scientist Award. She is the lead coordinator for the theme ‘Geological Sequestration of CO2 and Enhanced Oil Recovery’ during the forthcoming 36th International Geological Congress (IGC) 2021. SPONSOR This episode is sponsored 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, Ally McGinnis, and Mick Swiney.