Bio-acoustic sensing device and method for marine seismic survey

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9915743-B2
Application number	US-201514873736-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Oct 2, 2015
Priority date	Nov 7, 2014
Publication date	Mar 13, 2018
Grant date	Mar 13, 2018

Abstract

A method and marine seismic processing system including an interface for receiving recorded data, wherein the recorded data includes seismic data and bio-acoustic data; a seismic data processor for estimating a source signature from the recorded data, wherein the source signature is associated with a seismic source that emits seismic waves in water during a seismic survey; and a bio-acoustic processor that estimates a presence of a mammal generating the bio-acoustic data, based on a processed signal obtained by removing the source signature from the recorded data.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A marine seismic processing system comprising:
an interface for receiving recorded data, wherein the recorded data includes seismic data and bio-acoustic data;
a seismic data processor for estimating a source signature from the recorded data, wherein the source signature is associated with a seismic source that emits seismic waves in water during a seismic survey; and
a bio-acoustic processor that estimates a presence of a mammal generating the bio-acoustic data, based on a processed signal obtained by removing from the recorded data energy coherent with the source signature.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the recorded data includes signals having a frequency between 1 and 200 kHz.

3. The system of claim 1 , wherein the source signature is cross-correlated with the recorded data for obtaining the processed signal.

4. The system of claim 1 , wherein the seismic data processor or the bio-acoustic data processor is configured to transform the recorded data in a frequency-time domain and apply at least one mask for removing the source signature.

5. The system of claim 1 , wherein the seismic data processor or the bio-acoustic data processor is configured to,
apply a beam forming process to determine an angle of acoustic waves generated by the seismic source and received by seismic sensors,
transform the recorded data from the time-space domain to an angle-dependent domain, and
apply a filter at the angle of the acoustic waves arriving from the seismic source.

6. The system of claim 1 , wherein the seismic data processor or the bio-acoustic data processor is configured to process the recorded data to account for signal deformation that takes place in water.

7. The system of claim 1 , wherein the recorded data is recorded with a single set of seismic sensors.

8. The system of claim 1 , wherein the recorded data is recorded with a first set of seismic sensors and with a second set of bio-acoustic sensors.

9. The system of claim 1 , further comprising:
plural processing channels for receiving and conditioning the recorded data; and
plural splitters for splitting outputs of the processing channels into first and second streams,
wherein the seismic data processor processes the first streams, and
the bio-acoustic processor processes the second streams to detect a presence of a mammal.

10. The processing system of claim 1 , wherein the bio-acoustic processor comprises:
a source signature filter module configured to receive the second streams and to remove a source signature associated with a seismic source that generates sound waves.

11. The processing system of claim 1 , wherein the bio-acoustic processor is configured to determine the presence of the mammal and identify the type of mammal based on the processed signal.

12. The processing system of claim 1 , wherein the bio-acoustic processor communicates with a seismic source controller.

13. A seismic acquisition system comprising:
at least one streamer;
seismic sensors distributed along the at least one streamer and configured to record data; and
a processing system including a seismic data processor and a bio-acoustic processor,
the seismic data processor estimating a source signature from the recorded data, wherein the source signature is associated with a seismic source that emits seismic waves in water during a seismic survey, and
the bio-acoustic processor estimating a presence of a mammal generating bio-acoustic data, based on a processed signal obtained by removing from the recorded data energy coherent with the source signature.

14. The system of claim 13 , wherein the source signature is cross-correlated with the recorded data for obtaining the processed signal.

15. The system of claim 13 , wherein the seismic data processor or the bio-acoustic data processor is configured to transform the recorded data in a frequency-time domain and apply at least one mask for removing the source signature.

16. The system of claim 13 , wherein the seismic data processor or the bio-acoustic data processor is configured to,
apply a beam forming process to determine an angle of acoustic waves generated by the seismic source and received by seismic sensors,
transform the recorded data from the time-space domain to an angle-dependent domain, and
apply a filter at the angle of the acoustic waves arriving from the seismic source.

17. The system of claim 13 , wherein the seismic data processor or the bio-acoustic data processor is configured to process the recorded data to account for signal deformation that takes place in water.

18. The system of claim 13 , wherein the bio-acoustic processor comprises:
a source signature filter module configured to receive the second streams and to remove a source signature associated with a seismic source that generates sound waves.

19. A method for detecting a mammal during acquisition of seismic data, the method comprising:
generating with a seismic source a seismic wave;
recording data with seismic sensors, wherein the data includes seismic data and bio-acoustic data;
processing the data in a bio-acoustic processor to obtain the bio-acoustic data, wherein the processing removes energy coherent with the seismic source's signature; and
determining a presence of a mammal based on the bio-acoustic data.

20. The method of claim 19 , further comprising:
alerting a vessel's operator when the mammal is detected; and
taking a mitigation action to reduce exposure to the seismic waves of the mammal.

Assignees

• Sercel Rech Const Elect

Inventors

• Sallas John
• Vallez Simon

Classifications

• G01V1/36 Primary

  Effecting static or dynamic corrections on records, e.g. correcting spread; Correlating seismic signals; Eliminating effects of unwanted energy · CPC title

• G01V1/38

  specially adapted for water-covered areas (G01V1/28 takes precedence) · CPC title

• G01V1/001 Primary

  Acoustic presence detection · CPC title

• G01V2210/59

  Other corrections · CPC title