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A theoretical model is developed for predicting three important parameters of the pressure pulse radiated by an air-gun, namely the rise time, the amplitude of the initial pulse, and the period of the bubble pulse. A knowledge of these three parameters is essential for the efficient design of air-guns arrays. The prediction of the amplitude of the initial pulse is based on the assumption that the initial pulse is radiated by a spherical source with surface area equal to that of the air-gun ports and not by a spherical source with initial volume equal to that of the air-gun chamber, as has been assumed previously. A simple equation is obtained for predicting the period of the bubble pulsation, taking into account the effect of the air-gun body, boundaries such as the sea-surface and seabed and the presence of a number of identical air-guns placed at the same depth and fired simultaneously.

The response of transformer-coupled and transformerless marine seismic streamers feeding seismic amplifiers with and without input transformer is analysed with the aid of equivalent circuits. Examples are calculated showing how improvements in the performance of two practical transformer-coupled streamers, namely the increase in bandwidth and sensitivity and the decrease in the dependence on cable length, can be achieved when some of the streamers parameters are properly chosen. Transformerless streamer systems driving either a voltage amplifier or a “charge” amplifier are shown to be inherently superior to those with coupling transformers, save possibly in respect of their sensitivity to cross-feed.

In dealing with the problem of large amplitude multiple reflections arising from a hard water-bottom, it has been found that the use of extended source array techniques resulted in a considerably better penetration than that obtained using either computer simulated long arrays or the conventional air-gun array systems. The purpose of this paper is to use the concept of the array directivity factor in discussing the reason for the improvement in penetration achieved by using extended marine source arrays. Examples are given showing that the low frequency power radiated within the so called “penetration window” can be increased by a factor of two by choosing the correct spacing of the point sources forming the extended array. It is concluded that to ensure that most of the low frequency energy is concentrated within the penetration window to achieve deep penetration, a source array with spacing comparable with the wavelength is required.

The absolute amplitude of the pressure pulse radiated by a marine seismic source is one of the prime criteria used in evaluating its performance. A technique for this measurement is proposed which is applicable to all sources which radiate a bubble pulse. The technique is described with reference to an air-gun array in which the pulse radiated from a single gun is compared with that radiated by the full array. The advantage of the method is that absolute values of pressure are obtained without any need for a calibrated hydrophone. In theory this may seem a trivial advantage but in practice sensitivity factors for the hydrophone channel cannot always be relied upon. The proposed technique is illustrated by an example.

Commentaire sur l'article de S. Vaage, B. Ursin et K. Haugland paru dans Geophysical prospecting, NLD, 1984, 32, 676-689

The use of very long streamers in marine seismic surveys makes the response offset dependent. Line equalization networks are used to balance this effect. In this paper the response of the transformerless streamer system driving a charge amplifier is analyzed. Examples are given for a seismic cable 2500 m long, showing that the delay and the reduction in amplitude of the streamer impulse response in the absence of leakage are of the order of 1 ms and 0.6 dB, respectively. This means that the line equalization network currently used with the transformerless streamer system is not needed. We have also demonstrated that the presence of leakage resistance across the hydrophone group render the sensitivity of the transformerless streamer system offset dependent.

It is well recognized that in order to realize the full potential of the Vibroseis technique, one needs to ensure accurate phase locking and a meaningful cross-correlation. To achieve these two important objectives we require an accurate estimate of the compressional stress wave radiated by the vibrator into the ground. In this paper a simple method (subject of a patent application) is developed for predicting the compressional stress waves radiated by a vertical vibrator. The main feature of the proposed method is that it involves the field measurement of the acceleration of the reaction mass and the baseplate, respectively. The method is illustrated by computing the compressional stress waves generated by a typical vertical vibrator radiating into ice, chalk, sand, and mud. It is shown that for a seismic vibrator radiating into hard ground the pressure of the downgoing P-wave is 180° out of phase with the baseplate velocity. It is also shown that when the driving force of the seismic vibrator has a flat amplitude spectrum, the amplitude spectrum of the downgoing P-wave falls off by 6 dB/octave towards low frequencies.

A new technique is developed for shaping the pressure bubble pulse radiated by an array of air-guns. It involves the proper spacing of identical units. It is shown that considerable shortening of the pressure bubble pulse can be achieved provided there is sufficient mutual coupling between all the air-guns. The existing air-gun array technique for reducing the bubble pulse involves the redistribution of the energy of the bubble pulses which are produced by an array of variable sized air-guns such that no energy of the bubble pulses is radiated along the perpendicular to the array axis and only the sum of the initial pulses produced by the air-guns forming the array is radiated along that direction. However, the new air-guns array technique involves the damping of the bubble pulses which are produced by an array of identical air-guns by means of mutual interaction and the effective pressure pulse radiated by the array is given by the sum of the damped bubbles pulses produced by the mutually coupled identical air-guns. Preliminary field trials gave results consistent with the theoretical predictions. A comparison between the waveforms of the pressure bubble pulses radiated by a single air-gun and by an array of fourmore » identical air-guns shows that, due to the presence of mutual coupling between the four air-guns, effective damping of the bubble pulse radiated by the array is about 50 percent greater than that of the bubble pulse radiated by the single air-gun.« less

A new technique is developed for calibrating a low-frequency hydrophone. The technique involves the use of pressure pulses radiated by the Par 0.65 liter airgun when fired at a fixed depth but with various values of initial chamber pressure. The sensitivity of a low-frequency hydrophone, when determined by the proposed technique, is found to be in agreement with that obtained by using the so-called “impulse method”.

Recently the author developed and demonstrated (Safar 1980) an efficient method for operating the airgun. The method involves the generation of a short seismic pulse from the pressure bubble pulses radiated by an airgun when fired several times at the same optimum depth but with different chamber pressures. The purpose of this paper is to present and discuss the test results obtained when implementing the same method using a two-dimensional airgun array. The array consists of seven 0.65 liter airguns fired simultaneously at the same depth but with different chamber pressures. It is shown that the far-field pressure pulse radiated by the seven 0.65 liter airgun array is similar to that radiated by the Flexichoc seismic source. It is concluded that the proposed airgun array can be used as a subarray to form an extremely powerful super-long array suitable for deep seismic exploration. The author would like to thank the Chairman and Board of Directors of the British Petroleum Co. Ltd for permission to publish this paper. Thanks are also due to Mike Symes and Lovell Cox for carrying out the field tests and Seismograph Service (England) Ltd for providing the airguns.