SINGLE VESSEL RANGE NAVIGATION AND POSITIONING OF AN OCEAN BOTTOM SEISMIC NODE

• US 20160245945A1
• Filed: 02/23/2016
• Published: 08/25/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 02/24/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: PXGEO UK Ltd. (PXGEO Ltd.)
• Original Assignee: Seabed Geosolutions BV (PXGEO Ltd.)
• Inventors: Rokkan, Arne Henning, Danre, Jean-Baptiste
• Granted Patent: US 10,132,949 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: B63B 2022/006 specially adapted for measuring or watch purposes
• CPC Class Codes: B63B 22/00 Buoys floating decoys, e.g. for waterfowl A01M31/06; means for indicating the location of underwater objects B63C7/26; life-buoys, e.g. rings B63C9/08; mountings of acoustic transducer in underwater equipment, e.g. sonobuoys G10K11/006; electric cables supported on or from floats H02G9/12
• CPC Class Codes: B63B 35/00 Vessels or similar floating structures specially adapted for specific purposes and not otherwise provided for
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/18 using ultrasonic, sonic, or infrasonic waves
• CPC Class Codes: G01V 1/3808 Seismic data acquisition, e.g. survey design
• CPC Class Codes: G01V 1/3835 measuring position, e.g. by GPS or acoustically
• CPC Class Codes: G01V 1/3852 to the seabed

Abstract

Apparatuses, systems, and methods for monitoring, positioning, and/or guiding a plurality of seismic nodes on or near the seabed by a plurality of acoustic pinging devices coupled to a deployment line and at least one surface buoy. The acoustic pinging devices are configured to emit a unique ID that may be detected by a receiver or transceiver located on each of the surface buoys. The acoustic pinging devices may be coupled to each node or only to a portion of the plurality of nodes (such as every two, three, or four nodes). The monitoring system may be configured to identify the ID, position, depth, and height of each seismic node during travel to the seabed and upon node touchdown with the seabed. A guidance system may be configured to guide the deployment of the deployment cable based upon node position data determined by the monitoring system.

Claims

1. A monitoring system for the deployment of seismic nodes on or near the seabed, comprising

a plurality of autonomous seismic nodes coupled to a cable;

a plurality of acoustic pingers coupled to the cable, wherein each pinger is configured to emit a ping at a predetermined interval;

a surface vessel, configured to deploy the plurality of seismic nodes in a body of water; and

at least one surface buoy coupled to the surface vessel by a first buoy connecting line, wherein each surface buoy comprises an acoustic receiver configured to detect the emitted pings from the plurality of acoustic pingers.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the buoy connecting line is configured to provide power to the surface buoy and data transfer between the surface buoy and the surface vessel.

3. The system of claim 1, further comprising a plurality of surface buoys, wherein at least one of the plurality of surface buoys is coupled to the surface vessel by a first buoy connecting line and at least one of the plurality of surface buoys is coupled to the surface vessel by a second buoy connecting line.

4. The system of claim 1, further comprising a plurality of surface buoys coupled to the surface vessel, wherein at least one of the plurality of surface buoys is positioned on one side of the deployment cable and at least one of the plurality of surface buoys is positioned on the other side of the deployment cable.

5. The system of claim 1, further comprising a plurality of surface buoys coupled to the surface vessel, wherein the plurality of surface buoys are configured to substantially remain in a predetermined position with respect to the other surface buoys.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein each of the plurality of acoustic pingers is associated with a unique ID.

7. The system of claim 6, wherein the unique ID is based upon a plurality of N frequencies and a plurality of Y internal addresses, wherein the number of unique IDs comprises N×

Y unique IDs.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein each of the plurality of acoustic pingers is coupled to a separate one of the plurality of seismic nodes.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein each of the plurality of acoustic pingers is configured to emit a ping at a predetermined interval for a period of time, wherein the predetermined interval is at least 2 seconds and the period of time is at least 5 minutes.

10. The system of claim 1, wherein each of the plurality of acoustic pingers is coupled to and synchronized with a clock.

11. The system of claim 1, wherein the at least one surface buoy is an unmanned surface vessel.

12. The system of claim 1, wherein the at least one surface buoy is a self-positioning buoy.

13. The system of claim 1, wherein the at least one surface buoy is self-powered.

14. The system of claim 1, wherein the monitoring system is configured to identify the ID, position, depth, and height of each seismic node upon touchdown with the seabed.

15. The system of claim 1, wherein the monitoring system is configured to monitor the touchdown position of the plurality of seismic nodes on the seabed and communicate the touchdown position of each of the plurality of seismic nodes with the surface vessel at approximately the same time as touchdown.

16. The system of claim 1, further comprising a guidance system configured to guide the deployment cable from the surface vessel based upon node position data determined by the monitoring system.

17. The system of claim 1, wherein the surface vessel comprises an acoustic receiver configured to detect the emitted pings from the plurality of acoustic pingers.

18. The system of claim 1, wherein each of the plurality of acoustic pingers is configured to be remotely actuated by a surface transceiver.

19. The system of claim 1, wherein each of the plurality of acoustic pingers is configured to be actuated by contact with water.

20. A monitoring system for the deployment of autonomous seismic nodes on or near the seabed, comprising

a plurality of autonomous seismic nodes coupled to a deployment cable;

an acoustic pinger coupled to each of the plurality of seismic nodes, wherein each pinger is configured to emit a ping with a unique ID;

a surface vessel, configured to deploy the plurality of autonomous seismic nodes in a body of water; and

one or more surface acoustic receivers located on one or more surface buoys positioned behind the surface vessel, each configured to detect at least one of the emitted pings.

21. The system of claim 20, wherein data is transmitted between the one or more surface buoys and the surface vessel through a wireless link.

22. A method for monitoring the deployment of a plurality of seismic nodes on or near the seabed, comprising

deploying a plurality of autonomous seismic nodes from a surface vessel, wherein the nodes are coupled to a deployment cable, wherein each node is coupled to an acoustic pinger configured to emit a ping with a unique ID;

providing one or more surface buoys coupled to the surface vessel, wherein each surface buoy comprises an acoustic receiver configured to detect the emitted pings; and

monitoring the deployment of the deployed seismic nodes by receiving the emitted pings at the one or more surface buoys.

23. The method of claim 22, further comprising emitting pings from each of the acoustic pingers for a predetermined time after deployment of the autonomous seismic nodes from the surface vessel.

24. The method of claim 22, further comprising requesting each of the acoustic pingers to transmit a ping in response to a request from a surface transceiver.

25. The method of claim 22, further comprising determining the node position of one or more of the plurality of seismic nodes based on the received pings.

26. The method of claim 22, further comprising positioning the deployment cable from the surface vessel based on one or more of the determined positions of the plurality of seismic nodes.

27. The method of claim 22, further comprising modifying the deployment position of the cable from the surface vessel based on a touchdown position of one or more of the plurality of seismic nodes.

28. The method of claim 22, further comprising modifying the deployment position of the deployment cable from the surface vessel based on one or more predicted touchdown positions of the plurality of seismic nodes.

29. The method of claim 22, further comprising modifying the deployment position of the cable from the surface vessel based on a difference between an actual touchdown position of a seismic node and a predetermined seabed position of the seismic node.