Continuous Wavefields Method – The Acoustic Wavefield Generated by the Seismic Vessel

Summary The acoustic wavefield originating from the seismic vessel itself is generally not treated as acoustic signals in the imaging of marine seismic data, and is typically categorized as ambient noise. If this acoustic wavefield could be characterized, the noise could be attenuated. Also, this ambient noise may be used to image the subsurface, alternatively as a complement to images based on active sources. During a field test of the continuous wavefields method acquired offshore Malaysia late 2019, also more than one hour of “passive” seismic data were acquired without triggering any airguns. In this paper, estimation of the acoustic wavefield generated by the seismic vessel itself using these data is discussed. The continuous wavefields method has been used to create a seismic image of the subsurface from these data. This image is compared with an image produced from data acquired by triggering individual airguns with short random time intervals.