Mitigating Mystery Data: Have you ever come across a tape with very little information on what the data of the tape contained? Data Manager at Silverthorne Seismic, Julie Hagedorn, explains a couple of ways to identify the data on “mystery” tapes. First, looking at the type of tape, such as a 9 Track Tape, can sometimes determine the age of the data. Looking at the EBCDIC header on tapes is also important. The EBCDIC header can give plenty of information when trying to determine the data on a tape such as a survey name, 2D line name, and so on. The trace header is another key factor when trying to determine what data is on a tape. The information found on a trace header can be used to plot the data on a map which then allows you to discover where the data is located.
