Active steering for marine sources

A seismic survey system for in-sea use, comprising:

• a winch mountable on a tow vessel and comprising a winch cable coupleable to a source array, the source array comprising one or more seismic sources for generating acoustic pulses in water, the source array towable between a deflected lead-in and a centerline of a survey path;
• a positioning system for determining a current position of the source array;
• a controller for adjusting the winch to modify the current position of the source array to a desired crossline position;
• and
• a pulley attached to the deflected lead-in, wherein the winch cable engages the pulley.

A seismic survey system for in-sea use, comprising:

• a winch comprising a winch cable, wherein the winch cable is coupleable to a deflected lead-in;
• a roller slideably coupled to the winch cable and attached by a distance rope to a source array, the source array comprising one or more seismic sources for generating acoustic pulses in water;
• a positioning system for determining a current position of the source array;
• and
• a controller for adjusting the winch to modify the current position of the source array to a desired crossline position.

A seismic survey system for in-sea use, comprising:

• a first winch mountable on a tow vessel, the first winch comprising a first winch cable coupleable to a source array, the source array comprising one or more seismic sources for generating acoustic pulses in water, the source array towable between a first deflected lead-in and a second deflected lead-in;
• a positioning system for determining a current position of the source array;
• a controller for adjusting the first winch to modify the current position of the source array to a desired crossline position;
• the first winch further comprising a capstan, wherein a first end and a second end of the first winch cable are coupleable to opposite sides of the source array;
• and
• a first pulley attached to the first deflected lead-in and a second pulley attached to the second deflected lead-in, wherein a first segment of the first winch cable having the first end engages the first pulley and a second segment of the first winch cable having the second end engages the second pulley.

A seismic survey system for in-sea use, comprising:

• a first winch mountable on a tow vessel, the first winch comprising a first winch cable coupleable to a source array, the source array comprising one or more seismic sources for generating acoustic pulses in water, the source array towable between a first deflected lead-in and a second deflected lead-in;
• a positioning system for determining a current position of the source array;
• a controller for adjusting the first winch to modify the current position of the source array to a desired crossline position;
• a second winch mountable on the tow vessel, the second winch comprising a second winch cable coupleable to the source array, wherein the first winch cable is coupleable to a first side of the source array and the second winch cable is coupleable to a second side of the source array;
• and
• a first pulley attached to the first deflected lead-in and a second pulley attached to the second deflected lead-in, wherein the first winch cable engages the first pulley and the second winch cable engages the second pulley.