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Seismic time-frequency analysis using an improved empirical mode decomposition algorithm

WEI CHEN1,2,3 ,  YANGKANG CHEN4 ,  ZIXIANG CHENG5
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1 Key Laboratory of Exploration Technology for Oil and Gas Resources of the Ministry of Education, Yangtze University, Wuhan Hubei 430100, P.R. China.,
2 Hubei Cooperative Innovation Center of Unconventional Oil and Gas, Wuhan Hubei 430100, P.R. China.,
3 State Key Laboratory of Geodesy and Earth’s Dynamics, Institute of Geodesy and Geophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan 430077, P.R. China.,
4 Bureau of Economic Geology, John A. and Katherine G. Jackson School of Geosciences, The University of Texas at Austin, University Station, Box X, Austin, TX 78713-8924, U.S.A.,
5 School of Engineering, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90007, U.S.A.,
JSE 2017, 26(4), 367–380;
Submitted: 9 June 2025 | Revised: 9 June 2025 | Accepted: 9 June 2025 | Published: 9 June 2025
© 2025 by the Authors. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution -Noncommercial 4.0 International License (CC-by the license) ( https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ )
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Abstract

Chen, W., Chen, Y. and Cheng, Z., 2017. Seismic time-frequency analysis using an improved empirical mode decomposition algorithm. Journal of Seismic Exploration, 26: 367-380. Among the time-frequency analysis approaches, the EMD-based approaches have been proven to show higher spectral-spatial resolution than the traditional approaches. However, the mode mixing problem always exists in these approaches which will affect the subsequent interpretation performance. In this paper, we apply a novel improved complete ensemble empirical mode decomposition (ICEEMD) technique to time-frequency analysis of seismic data. The ICEEMD approach can help decompose a 1D non-stationary signal into intrinsic mode functions with less noise and more physical meaning, and result in a higher frequency resolution in the time-frequency maps. The application of the algorithm to 1D seismic signal can help obtain a more meaningful analysis regarding the non-stationary components. Its application to 2D and 3D seismic data has the potential to enable a better geological and geophysical interpretation. We use a 1D real seismic trace, a 2D seismic section and a 3D seismic cube to show the superior performance of the proposed approach.

Keywords
Empirical Mode Decomposition (EMD)
time-frequency analysis
seismic data
Improved Complete Ensemble Empirical Mode Decomposition (ICEEMD)
subsurface characterization.
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Journal of Seismic Exploration, Electronic ISSN: 0963-0651 Print ISSN: 0963-0651, Published by AccScience Publishing
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