Seismic stratigraphy interpretation by deep convolutional neural networks: A semisupervised workflow

Depicting geologic sequences from 3D seismic surveying is of significant value to subsurface reservoir exploration, but it is usually time- and labor-intensive for manual interpretation by experienced seismic interpreters. We have developed a semisupervised workflow for efficient seismic stratigraphy interpretation by using the state-of-the-art deep convolutional neural networks (CNNs). Specifically, the workflow consists of two components: (1) seismic feature self-learning (SFSL) and (2) stratigraphy model building (SMB), each of which is formulated as a deep CNN. Whereas the SMB is supervised by knowledge from domain experts and the associated CNN uses a similar network architecture typically used in image segmentation, the SFSL is designed as an unsupervised process and thus can be performed backstage while an expert prepares the training labels for the SMB CNN. Compared with conventional approaches, the our workflow is superior in two aspects. First, the SMB CNN, initialized by the SFSL CNN, successfully inherits the prior knowledge of the seismic features in the target seismic data. Therefore, it becomes feasible for completing the supervised training of the SMB CNN more efficiently using only a small amount of training data, for example, less than 0.1% of the available seismic data as demonstrated in this paper. Second, for the convenience of seismic experts in translating their domain knowledge into training labels, our workflow is designed to be applicable to three scenarios, trace-wise, paintbrushing, and full-sectional annotation. The performance of the new workflow is well-verified through application to three real seismic data sets. We conclude that the new workflow is not only capable of providing robust stratigraphy interpretation for a given seismic volume, but it also holds great potential for other problems in seismic data analysis.