Quantitative measurement of the environmental disturbance caused by onshore seismic surveys

Abstract

Environmental impact assessments are a key component of the approval process for many onshore seismic surveys. Quantifying the environmental disturbance caused by such surveys is, however, problematic, as although they cover large areas only a small fraction will be impacted. In this paper, I describe how disturbance can be quantified using the tree fractional cover statistic calculated using LiDAR data. I demonstrate its application using both a synthetic dataset and a real dataset from the Bowen Basin, Queensland, Australia. For the latter, the application of a disturbance minimisation survey design technique resulted in environmental disturbance being reduced from 13% to just 3.5%.

KEYWORDS:

• Land seismic
• Survey design
• Environmental impact

Acknowledgements

I would like to thank Anglo American Australia for permission to publish this work, as well as the assistance of my colleagues Max Ayliffe, Brendon Glass, Martine Goldner, Matt Grant, Adam Hughes, Carl Seymour, Malcolm Smyth, Katy Stelle, and Dominique Taylor.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).