摘要 |
A method for moving seismic streamers or acoustic energy sources through water in marine geophysical operations. The equipment can be deployed or retrieved from one or more vessels, and two or more tow vehicles maneuver seismic streamers through the water independently of a seismic vessel. Manned or unmanned tow vehicles can tow the streamers ahead of, behind, or to the side of a seismic vessel, or can form an array independent of the seismic vessel. Tow vehicles can be located at both ends to change the tow direction. The invention is particularly useful in customizing an array configuration, in reorienting the array at the end of each survey line, and permits deployment of receivers and sources in different combinations. By decoupling the tow vehicles and streamers from the source vessel, turning time at the survey region borders and the possibility of streamer entanglement is significantly reduced.
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