System and method for seismic imaging around wellbores

1 . A method of processing seismic data, the method comprising:

a. obtaining seismic data, wherein the seismic data was acquired throughout a region of interest with a plurality of azimuthal receiver elements of a logging-while-drilling tool while a drill bit is drilling a wellbore;

b. decomposing the seismic data into monopole and dipole modes to obtain a monopole mode and a dipole mode;

c. cross-correlating each receiver pair of the monopole mode and of the dipole mode to generate a monopole waveform and a dipole waveform;

d. identifying a time of direct arrival of acoustic energy from the drill bit and applying bulk time shift for each of the monopole waveform and the dipole waveform;

e. stacking corresponding waveforms from the bulk time shift to improve signal-to-noise ratio to generate a stacked monopole waveform and a stacked dipole waveform;

f. processing the stacked monopole waveform and the stacked dipole waveform to isolate reflected arrivals;

g. performing migration on the reflected arrivals to obtain a monopole migrated image and a dipole migrated image; and

h. classifying the interface as either a fracture or an impedance contrast using the monopole migrated image and the dipole migrated image.

2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the method is azimuthally-dependent, comprising:

a. prior to the cross-correlating, binning the monopole mode and the dipole mode into a plurality of azimuth bins;

b. cross-correlating the monopole mode and the dipole mode in each azimuth bin separately;

c. identifying a time of direct arrival of acoustic energy from the drill bit and applying bulk time shift for each of the monopole waveform and the dipole waveform in each of the azimuth bins;

d. stacking corresponding waveforms from the bulk time shift to improve signal-to-noise ratio to generate a stacked monopole waveform and a stacked dipole waveform in each of the azimuth bins;

e. processing the stacked monopole waveform and the stacked dipole waveform to isolate reflected arrivals;

f. performing migration on the reflected arrivals to obtain a monopole migrated image in each of the azimuth bins and a dipole migrated image in each of the azimuth bins; and

g. determining the azimuth from the wellbore to the interface based on amplitude and travel time information in the monopole migrated image and the dipole migrated image.

3 . The method of claim 1 wherein the obtaining the seismic data comprises:

a. drilling the wellbore in a subsurface volume of interest with a drill string comprising a drill bit and a logging while drilling tool, wherein the logging while drilling tool comprises a plurality of azimuthal receiver elements and wherein the drill bit is utilized as a seismic source;

b. recording seismic data at the plurality of azimuthal receiver elements continuously throughout formations of interest while the drill bit is drilling the wellbore; and

c. storing the seismic data in a non-transitory computer readable medium.

4 . The method of claim 3 wherein the seismic data is first stored on the non-transitory computer readable medium located on the logging while drilling tool and then transferred to a second non-transitory computer readable medium for the rest of the method.