Seismic inversion for caol seam thicknesses - Test case from the Belvoir Coalfield, England

Conventionally processed seismic reflection sections can be inverted for acoustic impedance to obtain detailed information about lithological variations in the zone of interest. Generalized linear inversion (GLI) has previously been applied to achieve this for delineating the extent of potentially hydrocarbon-bearing reservoir formations and for reservoir characterization. We report here the first application of GLI methodology to data from the Coal Measures. Our purpose was to test whether it is possible to obtain accurate estimates of seam thicknesses from the seismic data. If this could be done successfully, the technique would have important applications in both longwall coal mining and in coalbed methane exploitation from horizontal wells drilled in-seam.