The IOGP Geomatics Committee and SEG Technical Standards Committee brought together over 80 industry experts for a milestone session on advancements in seismic data standards. Discussions focused on the SEG-Y Revision 2.1 format and its integration with IOGP P-formats, highlighting the urgent need to modernize seismic data handling and the transformative role of structured metadata in enabling automation and interoperability.
The session, led by Lucyna Kryla-Straszewska, IOGP principal manager for geomatics and digital, featured presentations from Mark Poole (bp representative on the IOGP Geomatics Committee), Tom Owen (member of IOGP P Formats and SEG Technical Standards Committee), and Jill Lewis (from Troika International Ltd, past Chair of SEG Technical Standards Committee and liaison to Open Subsurface Data Universe and IOGP). The three speakers brought decades of experience in survey positioning, seismic data standardization, and geospatial data management. Together, they outlined the evolution of SEG-Y formats from their origins in 1975 to the current Rev 2.1, emphasizing the shift from tape-based legacy systems to digital structured auto-readable formats.
SEG-Y Rev 2.1 key innovations include:
- Embedded XML headers for machine-readable trace layout definitions.
- Integration of IOGP P1 and P6 formats for complete and verifiable positioning and bin grid metadata.
- Support for ultra-high-resolution data, passive seismic, and 4D monitoring.
- Compatibility with AI and machine learning workflows through standardized, verifiable metadata.
The presenters underscored the immense cost of inefficiencies in manual seismic data workflows. With billions spent annually on upstream data management and software, improved automation and standardization represent key areas for efficiency gains and cost reduction. SEG-Y Rev 2.1, combined with P-format metadata, offers a solution that:
- Reduces manual human intervention.
- Enables seamless automated ingestion into applications and the OSDU Data Platform.
- Safeguards geodetic integrity across the data lifecycle and between systems.
- Enables reprocessing and long-term data usability.
As Jill Lewis noted, “If you can’t read the data automatically, you’re not truly in the digital world.” While SEG-Y Rev 2.1 and IOGP P Formats each offer significant benefits on their own, their combined implementation delivers far greater value—unlocking truly modern workflows and enabling full interoperability and automation across the geophysical data lifecycle.
The session concluded with a clear and unified call to action to promote adoption of SEG-Y Rev 2.1 with embedded IOGP P-formats data as an industry standard practice. Both a clarification note and example file have been recently published by the SEG to support implementation of the extended textual headers supported by the Revision 2.1 format to aid implementation.
Industry stakeholders including software vendors, seismic data managers, and acquisition teams can maximise the benefits of the updated formats within their organizations by enabling the modern workflows and contributing to the advancements in seismic data standardization. As Mark Poole emphasized, “In the face of contemporary challenges, please share the news, challenge us, and help drive adoption.”
Watch a recording of the webinar below, or at the event webpage.
