Systems and Methods for Seismic Data Acquisition Employing Clock Source Selection in Seismic Nodes

A seismic data acquisition system comprising:

• one or more seismic sources;
• a sensor system for acquiring and/or monitoring analog seismic sensor data, the sensor system comprising a plurality of sensor modules, each module comprising a comparing unit comprising software;
• wherein the software in each module tests clock quality by running a sigma-delta modulator from two different clock sources and compares a noise-floor of the modulator when using the different clocks
• wherein the two different clock sources comprises a distributed slave clock and a master clock.

A method comprising:

• a) initiating one or more seismic sources;
• b) acquiring reflected analog seismic data using a sensor system, the sensor system comprising a plurality of sensor modules each comprising a comparing unit comprising software;
• c) testing clock quality using the software in each module by running a sigma-delta modulator from two different clock sources in each module;
• d) comparing a noise-floor of the modulator when using the different clocks;
• and
• e) selecting the clock that provides the best noise floor, or the clock that provides the noise floor below a specified value.