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This thesis addresses a few specific issues in the use of wide azimuth P-wave seismic data for fracture detection based on numerical modelling and real data. These issues include the seismic response of discrete fractures, the effects of anticline and uncertainties in real data analysis. For this, I implemented the finite difference scheme for modelling the seismic response in 3D fractured media; appropriate approaches are then selected to study discrete fracture models and the effect of the anticline with 3D seismic modelling, followed by an integrate real case study. Finite difference (FD) is widely used in seismic modelling. There are three FD schemes described in this thesis, the standard staggered grid (SSG), the rotated staggered grid (RSG), and the diamond staggered grid (DSG). Both qualitative and quantitative comparison has been made to reveal their capability in modelling 3D fractured media. The SSG has shown best performance for anisotropic media with orthorhombic symmetry or higher symmetry system. For lower anisotropy symmetry, the DSG is preferred than the RSG in terms of computation efficiency. A new solution to the diamond grid issue is developed which can simplify the DSG implementation, and an optimized workflow is proposed to simulate large 3D fractured models. The SSG scheme is implemented in three dimensions and it provides a useful tool for various practical modelling studies. With the above tool, two modelling studies have been carried out, on the effects of the discrete fractures and of the presence of anticline: the Discrete Fracture Model (DFM) study provides many insights into seismic response of discrete fracture and the link between the discrete fractures and aligned micro cracks, as well as the features in scattering waves. The modelling results demonstrate that, P-wave seismic anisotropy increases with the decrease of discrete fracture spacing, and different spacing leads to different patterns in scattering waves. The study also reveals the azimuthal AVO variation on the top of discrete fracture layer, which is similar to that we find in homogenous anisotropic media. The study of the anticline structure with vertical fractures, which is built with the parameters from a real case, is to assess the anticline structure effect on fracture parameter inversion based on the Singular Value Decomposition (SVD) method. The fracture density can be resolved accurately at the top of the anticline, whilst that on the flanks tends to be over-estimated. The results also indicate that the SVD method is a reliable approach for directly estimating the fracture density. P-wave azimuthal attributes are commonly employed to invert fracture density and orientation. Many factors may affect the accuracy of the inversion results. The integrated study in this thesis shows that azimuthal coverage, offset-depth ratio, data quality and geological structures all affect the final prediction, and different attributes shows different sensitivities to these factors. Furthermore, the combined analysis of both geological observation and pre- and post-stack seismic attributes can reduce the uncertainties for fracture detection.

In recent decades, more types and quantities of medical data have been collected due to advanced technology. A large number of significant and critical information is contained in these medical data. High efficient and automated computational methods are urgently needed to process and analyze all available medical data in order to provide the physicians with recommendations and predictions on diagnostic decisions and treatment planning. Traumatic pelvic injury is a severe yet common injury in the United States, often caused by motor vehicle accidents or fall. Information contained in the pelvic Computed Tomography (CT) images is very important for assessing the severity and prognosis of traumatic pelvic injuries. Each pelvic CT scan includes a large number of slices. Meanwhile, each slice contains a large quantity of data that may not be thoroughly and accurately analyzed via simple visual inspection with the desired accuracy and speed. Hence, a computer-assisted pelvic trauma decision-making system is needed to assist physicians in making accurate diagnostic decisions and determining treatment planning in a short period of time. Pelvic bone segmentation is a vital step in analyzing pelvic CT images and assisting physicians with diagnostic decisions in traumatic pelvic injuries. In this study, a new hierarchical segmentation algorithm is proposed to automatically extract multiplelevel bone structures using a combination of anatomical knowledge and computational techniques. First, morphological operations, image enhancement, and edge detection are performed for preliminary bone segmentation. The proposed algorithm then uses a template-based best shape matching method that provides an entirely automated segmentation process. This is followed by the proposed Registered Active Shape Model (RASM) algorithm that extracts pelvic bone tissues using more robust training models than the Standard ASM algorithm. In addition, a novel hierarchical initialization process for RASM is proposed in order to address the shortcoming of the Standard ASM, i.e. high sensitivity to initialization. Two suitable measures are defined to evaluate the segmentation results: Mean Distance and Mis-segmented Area to quantify the segmentation accuracy. Successful segmentation results indicate effectiveness and robustness of the proposed algorithm. Comparison of segmentation performance is also conducted using both the proposed method and the Snake method. A cross-validation process is designed to demonstrate the effectiveness of the training models. 3D pelvic bone models are built after pelvic bone structures are segmented from consecutive 2D CT slices. Automatic and accurate detection of the fractures from segmented bones in traumatic pelvic injuries can help physicians detect the severity of injuries in patients. The extraction of fracture features (such as presence and location of fractures) as well as fracture displacement measurement, are vital for assisting physicians in making faster and more accurate decisions. In this project, after bone segmentation, fracture detection is performed using a hierarchical algorithm based on wavelet transformation, adaptive windowing, boundary tracing and masking. Also, a quantitative measure of fracture severity based on pelvic CT scans is defined and explored. The results are promising, demonstrating that the proposed method not only capable of automatically detecting both major and minor fractures, but also has potentials to be used for clinical applications.

This work was conducted to help understand a premature and irregular water breakthrough which resulted from a waterflooding project in the increment II region of Haradh oilfield in Saudi Arabia using different geophysical methods. Oil wells cannot sustain the targeted oil production rates and they die much sooner than expected when water enters the wells. The study attempted to identify fracture systems and their role in the irregular water sweep. Single-well acoustic migration imaging (SWI), walkaround vertical seismic profiling (VSP) and cross-dipole shear wave measurements were used to detect anisotropy caused by fractures near and far from the borehole. The results from all the different methods were analyzed to understand the possible causes of water fingering in the field and determine the reasons for discrepancies and similarities of results of the different methods. The study was done in wells located in the area of the irregular water encroachment in Haradh II oilfield. Waterflooding was performed, where water was injected in the water injector wells drilled at the flanks of Harahd II toward the oil producer wells. Unexpected water coning was noticed in the west flank of the field. While cross-dipole and SWI measurements of a small-scale clearly identify a fracture oriented N60E in the upper tight zone of the reservoir, the VSP measurements of a large-scale showed a dominating fracture system to the NS direction in the upper highpermeability zone of the same reservoir. These results are consistent with the directions of the three main fracture sets in the field at N130E, N80E and N20E, and the direction of the maximum horizontal stress in the field varies between N50E and N90E. Results suggested that the fracture which is detected by cross-dipole at 2 to 4 ft from the borehole is the same fracture detected by SWI 65 ft away from the borehole. This fracture was described using the SWI as being 110 ft from top to bottom, having an orientation of N60E and having an angle of dip of 12° relative to the vertical borehole axis. The detected fracture is located in the tight zone of the reservoir makes a path for water to enter the well from that zone. On the Other hand, the fractures detected by the large-scale VSP measurements in the NS direction are responsible for the high-permeability in the upper zone of the reservoir.