Seismic acquisition with Dispersed Source Arrays: first results

Abstract

Summary An acquisition method is proposed that involves the exploitation of inhomogeneous sources. The constraint of employing only identical units can be abandoned. We suggest to replace (or reinforce) traditional broadband sources with narrow(er)band devices, together representing a dispersed source array (DSA). The whole inhomogeneous ensemble of sources incorporated to the arrays is required to cover the entire temporal and spatial bandwidth of interest. The DSA concept can be an important step towards the robotization of the seismic acquisition process and an improved operational flexibility. In addition, narrow band source design can be better optimized, no compromises are needed. Specific attention can be addressed to choose source depths and spatial sampling intervals that are optimum for particular sources. Preliminary examples show that it is possible to produce valid migration outputs from DSA data.