Seismic data analysis transfers seismic records measured at the surface or along wellbores into imagery, estimates, and models of subsurface structures and properties. It covers the topics of digital seismic data processing, seismic migration, and subsurface model building that are useful in both exploration geophysics and solid Earth geophysics. Although several excellent books have covered these topics either from the viewpoint of exploration geophysics or that of solid Earth geophysics, I was motivated to write this book to deal with common seismic analysis methods for both aspects of geophysics. This book is intended as an introductory text on common and practical methods in seismic data analysis.

Most of the materials for this book originated as lecture notes for graduate courses in geophysics at University of Houston and Texas Tech University. Students on these courses usually have a variety of backgrounds: many are recent graduates from geophysics, geology, engineering, computer sciences, or other physical science disciplines, and others are employees in the petroleum industry. They intend to apply seismic data analysis skills to problems in exploration geophysics, solid Earth geophysics, and engineering and environmental sciences. Although they may have access to some commercial or free software in seismic processing, most of these students have not gone through a systematic review of common approaches to seismic data analysis and the practical limitations of each method. Hence, an effort has been made in this book to emphasize the concepts and practicality of common seismic analysis methods using tutorial and case examples or schematic plots.