The “What is Seismic” project will develop (or identify existing materials) a collection of reference lists, data
rules, data object definitions, best practice recommendations, semantic disambiguations and learning materials to
support seismic data management through its life cycle.
The Challenge
Seismic data is one of the most malleable data types used in earth sciences. From planning through acquisition,
processing, interpretation and brokerage seismic data is organized, reorganized, divided, combined, renamed,
recalculated, reprocessed, reinterpreted and distributed countless times. The result is often chaotic data systems
rife with duplication, ambiguity and confusion.
Interwoven spatial, business and technical challenges make this datatype difficult to manage or make fully
interoperable. The PPDM Association working groups focused on this challenge will consider what can be done to
improve legacy data while providing a firm foundation for new seismic data.
Although many technical container and communication systems have been designed by industry, supporting best
practices for data content and professional development focused at helping bring this complex data into convergence
have been lacking. This PPDM Association project will emphasize technology neutral data behavior and expectations
alongside professional development.