Remote seismic surveying systems and methods
OwnerGary Lee Scottinventor
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Remote seismic surveying systems and methods are disclosed. At least some embodiments illuminate a water or ground surface with a beam from a coherent electromagnetic wave source. Reflected electromagnetic energy is focused onto an image plane where it combines with a reference beam to form an interference pattern. Electronics track the intensity versus time for multiple points in the image and derive displacement signals for various physical locations in the survey region. These displacement signals are associated with seismic source firing times and locations before being stored as seismic traces in a survey database. Some variations use the reflected electromagnetic energy to create multiple interference patterns that vary due to different path length differences, thereby eliminating signal phase ambiguities.
Claims13
A seismic survey method that comprises:
- illuminating a water or ground surface with a beam from a coherent electromagnetic wave source;
- focusing electromagnetic energy reflected from the surface onto at least one image plane;
- combining the reflected electromagnetic energy with a reference beam from the coherent electromagnetic wave source;
- tracking an electromagnetic wave intensity versus time for at least one point in the at least one image plane;
- deriving a displacement signal based at least in part on the tracked electromagnetic wave intensity;
- receiving information from a separate ground unit on the water or ground surface specifying the location and time at which a seismic energy source is triggered and using said information to separate the displacement signal into a seismic trace;
- and
- storing the seismic trace in an information storage medium.
A seismic survey apparatus that comprises:
- a source of coherent electromagnetic energy that illuminates a surface;
- a mechanism that receives electromagnetic energy reflected from a surface and focuses it on a video detector;
- a beam splitter that redirects a portion of the electromagnetic energy from the source and causes it to interfere with the reflected electromagnetic energy as the reflected electromagnetic energy is focused on the video detector;
- a platform that elevates the apparatus over the surface;
- a spatial module that tracks the platform's position and orientation;
- and
- processing circuitry that tracks electromagnetic energy intensity signals from multiple points on the surface and responsively determines seismic traces, wherein the processing circuitry determines a correspondence between points on the surface and portions of a signal from the video detector based at least in part on outputs from the spatial module and wherein the processing circuitry receives from a separate ground unit information indicative of seismic source firing positions and timing, and responsively associates that information with said seismic traces when storing seismic trace data.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.