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US 11,555,938 B2Granted
Marine surveying using a source vessel
AssigneePGS Geophysical AS
InventorsChristian Strand, Edwin Thomas Hodges
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An actuation location for actuation of a first source coupled to a first marine survey vessel relative to a position of a second marine survey vessel towing a receiver to enhance illumination of a subsurface location can be determined based on a survey route of the second marine survey vessel and a priori data of the subsurface location. The first marine survey vessel can be navigated along a survey route of the first marine survey vessel to the actuation location during a marine survey by changing at least a cross-line position or an in-line position of the first marine survey vessel relative to the survey route of the second marine survey vessel.
Claims18
A method, comprising:
- while a marine seismic survey is in progress, determining based on data collected from a receiver during the survey that illumination of a subsurface location is below a threshold;
- responsive to determining that the illumination of the subsurface location is below the threshold, determining, for a first source coupled to a first marine survey vessel, an actuation location relative to a position of a second marine survey vessel to enhance illumination of the subsurface location based on a survey route of the second marine survey vessel and a priori data of the subsurface location, wherein the second marine survey vessel is towing the receiver;
- and
- navigating the first marine survey vessel along a survey route of the first marine survey vessel to the actuation location during a marine survey by changing at least a cross-line position or an in-line position of the first marine survey vessel relative to the survey route of the second marine survey vessel;
- wherein determining the actuation location is based on determining expected amplitude responses associated with multiple pairs of possible actuation locations and receiver locations, and selecting one pair that provides a greatest expected amplitude response among the multiple pairs.
2 more elements
A method, comprising:
- during a first portion of a marine survey:
- actuating a first source coupled to a first marine survey vessel to perform the marine survey;
- determining a subsurface location having an illumination below a threshold;
- and
- determining an actuation location to enhance illumination of the subsurface location based on a priori data of the subsurface location;
- and
- during a second portion of the marine survey:
- activating a second marine survey vessel from a standby mode in response to determining the subsurface location having the illumination below the threshold;
- navigating the second marine survey vessel to the actuation location;
- actuating a second source coupled to the second marine survey vessel at the actuation location;
- and
- deactivating the second marine vessel from the standby mode after actuating the second source at the actuation location;
- wherein the standby mode comprises a mode selected from a group comprising:
- the second marine survey vessel maintaining a fixed position relative to the first marine survey vessel;
- the second marine survey vessel maintaining a stationary position;
- and
- the second marine survey vessel moving at a reduced bottom speed relative to an activated bottom speed of the second marine survey vessel.
14 more elements
A non-transitory machine-readable medium storing a set of instructions executable by a processing resource to:
- while a marine seismic survey is in progress and responsive to data collected from receivers during the survey, determine whether an illumination of a subsurface location is below a threshold;
- responsive to a determination that the illumination is below the threshold, determine a plurality of actuation locations for actuation of a source towed by a first marine survey vessel relative to a survey route of a second marine survey vessel towing a receiver,
- wherein the plurality of actuation locations are determined from a plurality of possible actuation locations based on the survey route of the second marine survey vessel and based on expected amplitude responses associated the possible actuation locations;
- and
- actuate the source at one or more of the plurality of actuation locations.
2 more elements
A system, comprising:
- a first marine survey vessel configured to tow and actuate a source;
- a second marine survey vessel configured to tow a receiver;
- a third marine survey vessel configured to tow and actuate a different source;
- and
- a computing system in communication with the receiver, the computing system including a processing resource and a memory resource, wherein the computing system is configured to, during a marine survey:
- receive marine survey data from the second marine survey vessel indicating an illumination of a subsurface;
- determine an obstructed portion of the subsurface based on the indicated illumination;
- determine an actuation location to further illuminate the obstructed portion of the subsurface;
- and
- determine a survey route of the first marine survey vessel along the actuation location determine a different actuation location that is not along the survey route of the first marine survey vessel to further illuminate the obstructed portion of the subsurface;
- and
- determine a survey route of the third marine survey vessel along the different actuation location;
- wherein the third marine survey vessel is configured to change a position and a bottom speed of the third marine survey vessel relative to the position and the bottom speed of the second marine survey vessel according to the survey route of the third marine survey vessel.
10 more elements
A system, comprising:
- a first marine survey vessel configured to tow and actuate a source;
- a second marine survey vessel configured to tow a receiver;
- and
- a computing system in communication with the receiver, the computing system including a processing resource and a memory resource, wherein the computing system is configured to, during a marine survey:
- receive marine survey data from the second marine survey vessel indicating an illumination of a subsurface;
- determine an obstructed portion of the subsurface based on the indicated illumination;
- determine an actuation location to further illuminate the obstructed portion of the subsurface;
- determine a survey route of the first marine survey vessel along the actuation location;
- determine a different obstructed portion of the subsurface based on the indicated illumination;
- determine a different actuation location to further illuminate the different obstructed portion of the subsurface;
- dynamically update the survey route of the first marine survey vessel during the marine survey with the different actuation location as the different obstructed portion of the subsurface is determined;
- and
- wherein the first marine survey vessel is configured to dynamically change the position and the bottom speed of the first marine survey vessel relative to the position and the bottom speed of the second marine survey vessel according to the updated survey route of the first marine survey vessel.
10 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.