Improved seismic survey line-change design and simulator validation

Marine seismic surveys have been employed for decades for geophysical exploration. Typically, a number of several kilometers long streamers are towed behind a vessel line by line. Streamers contain hydrophones for receiving sub-surface reflected sound waves produced by sound sources. The resulting data gives the basis for mapping the geological sub-surface structure. The required 180° turn between survey lines is time-consuming and operationally challenging. Improving this line-change maneuver could improve survey efficiency and environmental footprint significantly. Dynamic modeling of the towed streamers is important to several aspects of the operation, such as designing improved line-changes, improved streamer steering algorithms and improved streamer navigation systems. Further, during line-changes much of navigation systems are not in operation making synthetic data important.
A streamer simulator has been further validated on full-scale data that comprises the end of a line, the line-change and the start of the next line. An improved line-change design is also introduced, employing the streamer simulator for demonstration and validation. The design is aimed at reducing the line-change path length, thus reducing line-change time, while maintaining straight cables on the lines. Clothoids are employed for smoothing out the turn path between radius turns. The line-change is demonstrated using the validated streamer simulator, showing a significant reduction in line-change time compared to the original turn.