|
<< Click to Display Table of Contents >> Navigation: Input/Output > Convert SEG-D to SEG-Y |
Converting raw SEG-D field data into SEGY files
![]()
![]()
g-Platform can read raw SEG-D filed data and converts into SEG-Y or .gsd internal format. g-Platform supports the latest SEG-D revision version 3.1 besides revision version 0.0, 1.0, 2.0 and 3.1
SEG-D standard was first implemented in 1980 and later it was updated in the year 1994 and called as SEG-D Revision 1.0. With the increase in technology SEG-D was revised again in 1996. This revision was called as SEG-D revision 2.0. Later in the year 2006 more changes were implemented and it was known as SEG-D revision 2.1. In the year 2009, few more improvements made into the SEG-D thus results in a new revision named as SEG-D revision is 3.0. Now the latest SEG-D revision 3.1 was introduced in October, 2015. g-Platform can able to read all the SEG-D revisions including the latest revision 3.1
There are many different kinds of SEG-D formats from the beginning. The demultiplexed (or trace sequential) data formats are
8015 |
|
20-bit binary data |
8022 |
|
8-bit quaternary exponent data |
8024 |
|
16-bit quaternary exponent data |
8036 |
|
24-bit 2's complement integer data |
8038 |
|
32-bit 2's complement integer data |
8042 |
|
8-bit hexadecimal exponent data |
8044 |
|
16-bit hexadecimal exponent data |
8048 |
|
32-bit IBM floating point format data |
8058 |
|
32-bit IEEE floating point format data |
Now a days we receive SEG-D data in an external hard disks but less likely on tape cartridges. There is a chief difference in external hard disk writing format and tape cartridge data format. In the case of external hard disks the data appears in a byte stream where as in the case of tape cartridges it will have boundaries between each trace written to tape cartridge.
Demultiplexed SEG-D tape cartridges consists of a header record followed by a number of demultiplexed data records and then a single EOF (End of File) mark. This sequence is repeated for each shot on the line. From SEG-D Rev 2 the writing of single file marks between shots is now optional.
Convert SEGD files into SEGY module will provide the SEGD header information by clicking the Vista Items. The major advantage of all the modules in g-Platform is about interactivity and ease of use in displaying QC items. In this SEGD modules also we can check various parameters by simple click on one tab and interactively look for various available information in the corresponding windows (tabs).
In order to get all the information about various SEGD parameters, one must click the “Read Headers”.

For example if the user is looking for the Acquisition Instrument manufacturers code or manufacturer’s serial number, user can get this information quickly by clicking on the selected shot or FFID in the Input file list tab and the corresponding information about the Manufacturer’s serial number etc will be displayed in the Header Name tab if user selects General #1 in the Headers table tab. There is plenty of information available for each header under the Header Name and the corresponding information will be displayed in the Headers Table Tab. The schematic diagram of the above explanation is shown below.

User can have the following information from the vista items …
•Channel Sets
•Input file list
•Header name
•Headers Table
•SP-Line map
•Suspicious file list
•Location map
•Input - Current SEG-D file
In the Channel Sets, it will provide the information about data channels, auxiliary channels, start and end times and number of channels etc.

In the Input file list tab, we can get all the information about the Seismic data like the SEGD file name and its corresponding FFID, Shot point, Data format, Sample Interval (ms), Trace Length (ms) and Total Traces.

From the Header Name tab, we can get the information about General Headers, Extended headers and External headers information.

![]()
![]()



![]()
![]()




Separator size - specify the separator size. By default, 4 Bytes.
Check year - by checking the recording year, it separates the files. By default, YES (Checked).
Check manufacturer - it checks the recording instrument manufacturer information. By default, YES (Checked).
Time tolerance - specify the time tolerance value to split the output SEG-Y file. By default, 60 minutes. In case multiple lines are recorded in the same input file and combined as a single file, this time tolerance will identify the difference between two different sail lines by looking at the time stamp values. In Marine seismic, the vessel/boat makes a turn to start a new sail line. For this, it will take more than 60 minutes some times even more.
Number of coincidences - number of bytes that are checked at the beginning of the trace to detect starting positions of the traces
FFID check { Weak (last half bytes), Exact, None } - checks the beginning of the traces by FFID
Weak - it detects/checks the last 2 byte of the FFID as FFID takes 4 bytes.
Exact - it checks/detects the all bytes of the FFID as it is usually done.
None - it won't consider the FFID at all.



General headers - located at the beginning of the SEGD file. It contains global information like SEG-D revision, acquisition date & time, sample format, no of sample, record length, recording system etc.
Channel sets - contains gain settings, filters types, receiver information (geophone, hydrophone) etc.
Extended headers - these are additional trace headers information beyond general headers information. This contains meta data like survey parameters, navigation information, custom fields defined by the recording instrument etc.
External headers - these are extra headers information which is linked to SEG-D files but in a separate file. This is used when the SEG-D internal header exceeds it's capacity.
Trace header - it contains the trace information such as trace number, trace identification, recording time breaks, source and receiver coordinates, trace gain etc.
Trace header extension - any additional meta beyond the standard trace header information like auxiliary trace information etc.
![]()
![]()
![]()
![]()
There is no information available for this module so the user can ignore it.
![]()
![]()
In this example workflow, we read the SEGD files from a directory and convert SEG-D files to SEG-Y and create time stamps. Before executing the module, first read all the headers and check that all information is correct or else change the SEG-D revision and/or any other parameters to make sure that correct information is read. To input the data,
•Select Input type as "Directory". Provide the input SEG-D files directory. Check Look sub-folders option. This ensures if there are any SEG-D files are inside the sub-folders, it considers them as input SEG-D files.
•Click on ""Read headers" action item
•Launch Vista items by right click on Convert SEG-D to SEG-Y -> Vista Groups -> All Groups -> In new window.


To view any SEG-D file, select the Input file name from the Input file list tab and it will display the selected SEG-D file in the Input - Current SEG-D file tab. Similarly, General Header, 1, 2, 3 or extended headers information can be obtained by selecting the respective field and the corresponding information will be available in Headers table.
•In the Parameters tab, select Mode as "Create all". It'll create both SEG-Y files and Time stamp files.
•Provide path to create an output file name

From the output directory, we get two files since our Output mode is Create all option i.e., SEGY output & Time stamp file.

![]()
![]()
![]()
![]()
YouTube video lesson, click here to open [VIDEO IN PROCESS...]
![]()
![]()
Yilmaz. O., 1987, Seismic data processing: Society of Exploration Geophysicist
* * * If you have any questions, please send an e-mail to: support@geomage.com * * *