How technology drives high-productivity vibroseis: a historical perspective

摘要

The development of high-productivity seismic recording using the vibroseis method over the last 30 years is treated from a Sercel perspective. The simultaneous use of vibrators has been highly dependent on real-time field computing capabilities such as those delivered by the correlator-stackers in the early 1980s. A second step forward in the mid 1980s-early 1990s was related to digital vibrator electronics, which provides efficient management and quality control of fleets of vibrators. However, it was only in the late 1990s with the advent of real-time satellite positioning (GPS) of these fleets that alternate or simultaneous sweeping was commonly used in production. During the last ten years, thanks to GPS timing, continuous data recording and innovative simultaneous sourcing methodologies, vibroseis has been able to reach unexpected levels of productivity. As a result, the cost per seismic trace has dropped, enabling denser spatial sampling and associated seismic imaging improvement.