Release Notes

NORSAR Software Suite 2023 is a new major release featuring new functionalities, improvements, and bug fixes. Highlights of the release are a new 3D Point Spread Function workflow, MDesign export functions, a 2D lateral property gradients function and a new dark user interface style. See the list below for details.

Common functions 

• Reset of settings and selection of Preferences available from the Startup dialog.
• New style option under Preferences: Dark. 
• Improved user’s control of the 3D Viewers. 
• Extensive validation of user-defined input: Maximum name length and valid characters. 
• File import no longer requires a suffix, that is, a “.” in the filename. 
• With a single click, switch on/off many elements of common type in the 3D Viewer.  

NORSAR-2D

• Can make lateral property (Vp, Vs, density, etc.) gradients. 
• To make 2D model from 1D Model is improved and is more stable. 
• Improved coordinate info from the Hot Cursor.

NORSAR-3D 

• Supercritical reflections can be filtered or plotted with a separate color in the Interactive Illumination Rays plot and in the Shot-Direction Ray-Tracer. 
• Improved Max Diving Depth filter in the Illumination Cubes workflow. 
• Corrected the generation of Time-to-Depth mapping function from a time domain velocity cube. 
• Polyline import for data in US-feet. 
• Connection to Mesa 17.

SeisRoX 

• New workflow to compute Point Spread Functions (PSFs) only. 
• Improved progress report when workflows are running. 
• Improved SEG-Y export of results. 

MDesign 

• Extensive new export functions and formats. 

In addition, several stability fixes and improvements.

NORSAR Software Suite 2022.1 is a new release featuring new functionality, improvements and bug fixes.

NORSAR-2D 

• Disallow using illegal characters in 2D section names. 

NORSAR-3D 

• New Import functionalities: 
  • Import Tigress format property cubes. 
  • Import Esri shape format polygons as polylines. 
• Wells: New functionality to make a property cube from the velocity or density in a well. 
• 1D Model Editor: Fixed that Qp and Qs columns were sometimes not editable. 
• General 3D Model Builder:
  • New function “Fit property between horizon”. 
  • New function to merge property cubes.
  • Fixed that “Cut two interfaces against each other” could only be run once. 
  • Fixed that “Store property” on a new name corrupted the list of material properties. 
  • Improved user control of the function “Extrapolate/Interpolate in property”. 
  • Improved cross section plots of blocks.
• Kirchhoff Prestack Modelling Workflow:  
  • New functionality: Modelling of registration along a DAS cable. 
  • Fixed that workflows were not correctly copied. 
• General: Fixed crash when opening a project containing a corrupt NORSAR-3D model. 

SeisRoX 

• Eclipse Import: Fixed crash when trying to import a partial model. 
• Eclipse Import: Fixed user interface issues. 
• Local-target PSDM Workflow: Fixed potential crash when plotting PSF and/or filter and switching between cases. 
• Full-field PSDM Workflow: Fixed that PSF, filter and reflectivity were not stored. 

In addition, minor stability fixes and improvements.

NORSAR Software Suite 2022 is a new release featuring several improvements and bug fixes.

General

• Fixed crash when plotting petromarkers and using the hot cursor in the 3D viewer

NORSAR-3D

• Allow for importing multiple polylines in one go
• Added checkbox for plotting all polylines
• Fixed crash in Kirchhoff pre-stack workflow setup
• Fixed seismogram generator workflow sometimes stopping
• Fixed that blocks and properties were not plotted in some cases in the general model builder
• Fixed crash when running the NIP tracer workflow
• Fixed that models were corrupted if property names were too long
• Fixed crash when resampling a 2D property grid
• Added warning if a project is located directly on the root of a drive on Windows (e.g D:\) , which can cause various problems

SeisRoX

• Fixed license error in the SeisRoX local target workflow
• Fixed that it was not possible to export PSFs from the SeisRoX local target workflow

In addition, minor stability fixes and improvements.

NORSAR Software Suite 2021.3 is a new release featuring several improvements and bug fixes.

NORSAR-2D

• Model Builder
  • Fixed missing sample at the end of plotted horizons.
  • Fixed wrong units in the Background Image Mapping window for a time model.
  • Fixed a missing update when a one-sample horizon was deleted.
  • Improved error message on blocking.

NORSAR-3D

• Data import/export
  • Fixed that grid import did not handle files larger than 2 GB.
  • Improved help on the symmetry axis import (SEG-Y cubes with azimuth and dip).
  • Export of polylines is introduced.
  • SEG-Y property cube export:
    • Header info can now not be edited, as it is only for info.
    • Manual setting of the z-sampling field in the SEG-Y header is only requested when needed.
    • The displayed size and sampling are always matching with the units. 
    • Improved help.
  • SEG-Y property cube import:
    • The displayed size and sampling are always matching with the units. 

• Model Builder
  • Fixed smoothing issue of large property cubes on Linux.
  • Grid Layer Cake Model Builder:
    • Improved handling of ‘zero-thickness’ layers (partially coincident interfaces). None or much smaller glitches between the interfaces where they intersect.
  • General Model Builder:
    • New interface edit function: Merge, Smooth, and Resample.
  • From 2D model to 2.5D model and from Many 2D models to 3D models:
    • Max allowed number of samples in the 2D general line definition is increased to 10000.

• Workflows
  • Fixed crash in the Seismogram Generator workflow when trying to plot shot dependent working box.
  • Introduced a new parameter: ‘Wavefront Analysis Level’ in the WF tracing advanced parameters.
  • Introduced a message in the Batch Monitor window if some parts of the initial disc have been stopped during the wavefront propagation.
  • Improved distribution of shots among the jobs in the Batch Wavefront Tracer.
  • Fixed ‘Restore Defaults’ option in the Advanced Tracing Parameters window.

• Kirchhoff modelling
  • Filter attributes in Advanced Greens Function Parameters setup: Preserve Max Offset values along local X/Y-axis.
  • Improved reuse of existing Greens functions.

SeisRoX

• 3D Viewer
  • Fixed crash when displaying reflectivity in a reservoir model without elastic properties.

General

• Minor stability fixes and improvements.

NORSAR Software Suite 2021.2 is a major new release featuring new tools and several improvements and bug fixes.

The new Workflow Queue System allows the user to set up and run a queue of workflows e.g., several batch wavefront tracer setups, or a number of different illumination maps. It is an efficient tool for generating different modelling results for example by running the queue automatically over night.

The Illumination Cubes workflow is a new NORSAR-3D workflow that can be used e. g. as a survey planning device in connection with surveys intended to be used for inversion projects (tomography, FWI etc.). The workflow performs tracing through the model and maps the ray paths to a regular 3D cell grid in space. Several ray attributes can be mapped, in order to get a picture of to what extent the parts of the model are penetrated (illuminated) by the rays, and what ray directions are represented.

A 2D model can now be extracted from a 3D model along a 2D New General Section in the NSS project (in addition to a 2D model along an Inline/Crossline Section). The general (random) section is along a selected NSS polyline. The NSS 2D modelling allows for a user-friendly and efficient ray-path and event analysis, even in the most complex models.

A 3D model from a set of NORSAR-2D models is introduced. The 3D model is approximately interpolating between the 2D models. The selected models may be inlines or crosslines or a combination of inline and crossline or general sections. All selected models must have the same number of surfaces.
 

New tools

NORSAR-2D

• A 2D model can be extracted from a 3D model along a general 2D section, in addition to an Inline/Crossline section

NORSAR-3D

• A new integrated Workflow Queue System is now supported in NORSAR-3D.
• A new Illumination Cubes workflow is introduced.
• A 2D Smif model can be made from a 3D model along a general 2D section.
• A 3D model from a set of NORSAR-2D models is introduced.

General

• Dock widget workspace implemented.
   

Bug fixes and improvements

NORSAR-2D 

• Improved import of Smif files into the 2D model builder (inline/crossline 2D sections).
• Get N2D horizon names in the Smif file.

NORSAR-3D 

• Export of 2D model on SEGY via 2.5D model.
• Fixed crash when clip polygon is deleted in General Model Builder.
• Fixed sorting of grids correctly in Grid Layer Cake model.
• Fixed Ray Code selection in Survey Domain IMAP that was wrong after using Max diving ray depth IMAP.
• Fixed plot of the Static shot dependent work box for non-projected shots.

General

• Reorganized and updated functionalities for Workflows and Illumination Maps.

In addition, minor stability fixes and improvements.

This is a bugfix and maintenance release which addresses the following issues:

Distributed Job Scheduling

• Fixed remote agents not starting

Cube Import

• Fixed not showing correctly when opened

General Model Builder

• Fixed sorting of blocks by depth

Generate Illumination Maps

• Fixed Illumination Map Setups not listed

2D Viewer

• Fixed hot cursor

Tracer

• Fixed cannot retrace shots with index > 100000

VirtualGL startup script (Linux)

• Fixed starting wrong version

NORSAR Software Suite 2021.1 is a new release featuring several improvements and bug fixes. 

The new cost benefit analysis tool is extended with support for Illumination Map combiner results. 

The interactive Shot Direction Ray Tracer is improved with new options for user friendliness and for better visualization of rays. 

Kirchhoff modelling is extended to support TTI anisotropy. 

New tools 

NORSAR-2D 

• Support for random lines is introduced. 
  • A General 2D Section can be defined along a polyline. 
  • A 2.5D model can be made from a 2D model, including for a 2D model along a General 2D Section. 

NORSAR-3D 

• New Cost Benefit combiner option. 
• New Cost Benefit now supports IMAP combiner results. 
• Kirchhoff modelling is extended to support anisotropic media, i.e., transversely isotropic media having vertical (VTI), tilted (TTI) or horizontal (HTI) symmetry axis. 

Bug fixes and improvements 

General 

• Fixed graphic glitches in windows that were moved in or out of the workspace. 
• Added startup script to run with VirtualGL on Linux. 

NORSAR-3D 

• General Model Builder:  
  • Possible to use filter with wild card (*) to filter lists. 
  • Windows convention list selection style. 
  • Fixes for automatic resizing of columns in lists. 
  • Possible to delete a horizon and all its interfaces. 
  • New property functions: define a 3D material property function as a constant gradient along a user-specified direction. 
• Shot Direction Ray Tracer 
  • Support for setting angles by Dip/Azimuth (in addition to Theta/Phi). 
  • Support for plotting markers for ray end points, reflection points, transmission points and ray diving points. 
• MESA Connector 
  • Fixed problem exporting SMA maps. 

In addition, minor stability fixes and improvements. 

NORSAR Software Suite 2021 is a major new release featuring new tools and several improvements and bug fixes.

The new cost benefit analysis tool is a systematic approach to estimate a user defined Cost and Benefit function for different illumination maps based on user selected illumination map parameters. 

The interactive Shot Direction Tracer is tracing Single Rays in a given model. It is an efficient tool for various purposes like testing the ray behaviour in a given model and visualization of geometrical spreading and shadow zones, to intuitively explain results from workflows like the Interactive Wavefront Tracer, Illumination Maps, Illumination Rays, and others.

New tools

NORSAR-2D
•    A new integrated Interactive 2D Event Handler is introduced
•    An interactive tool to generate general 2D ray codes is now supported in the new NORSAR-2D version.

NORSAR-3D
•    A new Cost Benefit function tool is introduced. 
•    A new integrated Shot Direction Ray Tracer is now supported in NORSAR-3D

MDesign 
•    New functionality for simulation of DAS helical fiber

Bug fixes and improvements

General
Important upgrades have been done to the underlying code base and graphic system to secure performance, compatibility, and security. The new NSS version is supported on the following systems: 

• Windows 10
• CentOS 7 or newer, Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 or newer

NORSAR-3D

• General Model Builder: 
  • Clip grid surfaces when loading to fit the model box.
  • Clip triangular mesh surfaces when loading to fit the model box.
  • Clip property cubes when loading to fit the model box.
  • Material properties (Vp,Vs,Rho,…) in  cross section plots are now computed by means of splines functions. This shows material properties exactly as they are used in the wavefront tracers.
  • 2D material property function (single inline or crossline) is expanded into a 3D cube when loaded into the model builder. 
  • The function ‘Cut two interfaces against each other’ shows progress bar and can be cancelled during the process.
• Grid Layer Cake Model Builder: 
  • Coincident z-values input grids are allowed. This is a common representation for complex geometries in grid-based interpretation and mapping software.

In addition, minor stability fixes and improvements.

NORSAR Software Suite 2020.1.42630 is a bugfix release featuring several improvements and bug fixes.

NORSAR-2D

• Added the classic 2D Property Scanner to the legacy tools menu. (Available on Linux only.)
• Fixes for undo/redo functionality in the 2D model builder.

NORSAR-3D

• Fixed bug in Event Attribute Extractor to handle different receiver topology for different shots.
• Model Builder: 
  • Interface intersections: Handle when the intersection creates many, very small interfaces.
  • Improvement in the property interpolation between horizons.
  • Improve text and default when an interface shall be used in a block.
  • Fixed error in property cube list for a block.
  • Updated help in symmetry axis.
  • User specified model width when a cylindrical, 2.5D model is made from a NORSAR-2D model.
• Improved max diving ray depth IMAP depth coloring.
• Fixed IMAP plotting.
• Improved message when spaces in Survey name.
• More efficient handling of large survey files in Full-field PSDM Simulator.
• Fixed bug for downwards tracing in NIP.
• Minor stability fixes and improvements.

NORSAR Software Suite 2020.1 is a new main release featuring new functionality; a major upgrade to the inherent 2D functionality is introduced, a 2D spikeogram and travel time analysis tool. In 3D a new workflow for Diving wave surface map is introduced and in addition a 3D distance measuring tool is added.

In addition, several improvements and bug fixes are included.

New functionality 

• 2D modelling tool
  • Survey projection on a horizon
  • Block names introduced
  • Interactive spikeogram/traveltime plot
  • Interactive retracing from traveltime plot 
• 3D diving wave surface map workflow
• 3D distance measure tool

Bug fixes and improvements

• Batch system: Store and load setup of remote nodes 
• Batch system: Interactive ray tracing setup can be reused in batch workflows
• 2D model builder background image is default in background
• 2D model builder background image is stored together with model
• 2D model builder: Model dimensions default button is added
• Fixed holes in 3D model builder is improved
• Large SEGY cubes will be cropped to model box when used in 3D Model Builder
• Minor stability fixes and improvements