Release notes 19th September 2023

This NDR release adds functionality for:

1. Reporting procedure for early revisions of SEG-D
2. Using CTAGs to define seismic acquisition dataset upload order
3. Coordinate Reference System assignment workflow
4. Data Manager’s view of proposed Edits
5. Availability of Inventory comments via the NDR metadata API

1.   Reporting procedure for early revisions of SEG-D

It is now possible for licensees to upload files containing SEG-D rev0 or rev1 to the NDR as a component of a seismic survey acquisition data set. This is in addition to the existing options which require legacy data to be upgraded to a more modern revision of SEG-D or to be merged with navigation data and output to SEG-Y.

This development introduces a step-by-step procedure that, in line with NSTA principles, ensures that what is reported is fit for reuse, as and when a future user obtains a legacy seismic survey acquisition data set from the NDR.

NSTA consider a seismic acquisition data set to consist of five components:

1. Acquisition report
2. Observers Logs
3. Source signature
4. Final Navigation data
5. Field data

In seismic data processing, each component plays a role in the creation of a quality product.

This new workflow enables reporting organisations to package the SEG-D of an acquisition data set using the widely available TAR utility. The output can then be submitted to the NDR using the usual data upload interface.

The NSTA has reached out to those organisations that are most likely to benefit from this service with a view to explaining how to make use of it in greater detail.

2.   Using CTAGs to define seismic acquisition dataset upload order

To improve acquisition dataset usefulness and integrity, all acquisition datasets have to be assigned CTAGs in a defined order. The order is shown below and prior CTAGs must be set before upload is allowed for each of the successive datasets.

1. Acquisition report - ctag "REPORT_ACQUISITION"
2. Observers logs - ctag "OBSERVER_LOG"
3. Source signature - ctag "SOURCE_SIGNATURE"
4. Final Navigation data - ctag "FINAL_NAVIGATION" (excluding SEG-Y Nav-seis)
5. Field data - ctag "DATA_ACQUIRED"

Each CTAG requires the previous ones to have been set before it becomes available in the CTAG setting popup box. Therefore so you cannot see or set a CTAG for  "SOURCE_SIGNATURE" until "OBSERVER_LOG" and "REPORT_ACQUISITION" have been set on documents either in the current session, already uploaded or in other sessions (in the same browser type) which have started the upload for the files with those CTAGs assigned.

Individual files for each CTAG are not required, some of these CTAGs may be in the same physical file. Multiple CTAGs can be set for the relevant dataset against individual files. For example, the source signature might be included within the acquisition report, in which case the acquisition report should be marked with at least two CTAGs, Report_Acquisition and Source_Signature.

3.   Coordinate Reference System assignment workflow

NSTA requires the spatial definition of both the survey polygon and the file headers to match and to be assigned for the seismic project.

Users with a Data Manager role can now assign the CRS for their existing seismic projects prior to loading data. (New projects made in the NDR have a CRS assigned as part of the creation form). There are sixteen specific CRS definitions that the NSTA will accept data to be referenced to, each of these has been summarised in the “Form and Manner” document and have been configured into the NDR.

To set the CRS for an existing seismic project, from the Project ID Menu, the Data Manager can launch the Suggest Edits pop-up UI and simply choose the required CRS from a drop-down menu, then click the green Submit Edits button to submit the change.

Some changes won’t be reflected immediately in the interface, so if you are planning to report seismic data please check and set the CRS in advance.

4.   Data Manager’s view of proposed Edits

Users with a Data Manager role can now see the status of their suggested edits via the UI. The table shows for an individual Data Manager the edit requests that they have submitted, and their status.

To access the new feature, users with the Company Data Manager role can launch the Edit Data Requests UI from Manage > Edit Data Requests.

5.   Availability of Inventory comments via the NDR metadata API

The NDR Metadata API now includes Inventory comments, these have been added by data reporting groups and give context to inventory settings, where an information type has been marked as “Not Acquired” or “Unavailable”.  

The same comments were already available to users through the Data Request workflow – if a user sees that an information type has been marked as e.g. “Unavailable”, hovering their mouse over the associated C Tag will show the Inventory comment for the item in a pop-up.