Application of bi-Gaussian S-transform in high-resolution seismic time-frequency analysis

The S-transform is one of the most widely used methods of time-frequency analysis. It combines the respective advantages of the short-time Fourier transform and wavelet transforms with scale-dependent resolution using Gaussian windows, scaled inversely with frequency. One of the problems with the traditional symmetric Gaussian window is the degradation of time resolution in the time-frequency spectrum due to the long front taper. We have studied the performance of an improved S-transform with an asymmetric bi-Gaussian window. The asymmetric bi-Gaussian window can obtain an increased time resolution in the front direction. The increased time resolution can make event picking high resolution, which will facilitate an improved time-frequency characterization for oil and gas trap prediction. We have applied the slightly modified bi-Gaussian S-transform to a synthetic trace, a 2D seismic section, and a 3D seismic cube to indicate the superior performance of the bi-Gaussian S-transform in analyzing nonstationary signal components, hydrocarbon reservoir predictions, and paleochannels delineations with an obviously higher resolution.