Compressive sensing marine streamer system

Abstract

Embodiments included herein are directed towards a marine seismic streamer. The seismic streamer may include an outer skin formed in a longitudinally extending tubular shape, an inner surface of the outer skin defining an internal volume containing a gel substance. The seismic streamer may also include a plurality of micro-electro-mechanical (“MEMS”) sensors and a plurality of hydrophones associated with the outer skin, wherein the plurality of MEMS sensors are spaced non-uniformly in the seismic streamer along an axial direction of the streamer, such that not more than 100 MEMS sensors are located in the seismic streamer over a continuous 100 meter axial length of seismic streamer. The seismic streamer may further include an electronics system extending axially through an inside portion of the outer skin and a strength member core extending axially through an inside portion of the outer skin.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A marine seismic streamer, comprising:
 an outer skin formed in a longitudinally extending tubular shape, an inner surface of the outer skin defining an internal volume containing a gel substance;   a plurality of micro-electro-mechanical (“MEMS”) sensors and a plurality of hydrophones associated with the outer skin, wherein the plurality of MEMS sensors are spaced non-uniformly in the seismic streamer along an axial direction of the streamer, such that not more than 100 MEMS sensors are located in the seismic streamer over a continuous 100 meter axial length of seismic streamer;   an electronics core extending axially through an inside portion of the outer skin, wherein the plurality of MEMS sensors are in electrical communication with the electronics core; and   a strength member core extending axially through an inside portion of the outer skin.   
     
     
         2 . The marine seismic streamer of  claim 1 , wherein at least two of the plurality of MEMS sensors are placed adjacent to one another in the axial direction along the streamer and have a 0.39 meter or less spacing therebetween. 
     
     
         3 . The marine seismic streamer of  claim 2 , wherein the plurality of MEMS sensors includes no more than 80 MEMS sensors for over a continuous 100 meter length of seismic streamer. 
     
     
         4 . The marine seismic streamer of  claim 1 , wherein the plurality of MEMS sensors are spaced at an average spacing that is greater than spatial Nyquist interval for the continuous 100 meter length of the seismic streamer. 
     
     
         5 . The marine seismic streamer of  claim 4 , wherein at least two of the plurality of MEMS sensors are placed adjacent to one another in a longitudinal direction along the continuous 100 meter axial length of seismic streamer and have a 0.5 meter or less spacing therebetween. 
     
     
         6 . The marine seismic streamer of  claim 3 , wherein one or more adjacent MEMS sensors of the plurality of MEMS sensors include an average spacing therebetween of between 1 and 4 meters. 
     
     
         7 . The marine seismic streamer of  claim 6 , wherein the average spacing of all the MEMS sensors in the axial direction is not less than 1.78 meters. 
     
     
         8 . The marine seismic streamer of  claim 1 , wherein the sensors are irregularly spaced with respect to one another in the axial direction. 
     
     
         9 . The marine seismic streamer of  claim 8 , further comprising:
 a first sensor attached to a first side of the outer skin and a second sensor attached to a second side of the outer skin.   
     
     
         10 . The marine seismic streamer of  claim 8 , wherein the plurality of sensors includes three component (“ 3  C”) MEMS sensors. 
     
     
         11 . The marine seismic streamer of  claim 8 , further comprising:
 one or more seismic streamer orientation detection devices configured to determine a relative position of at least a portion of the seismic streamer.   
     
     
         12 . A method for performing a seismic survey, comprising:
 towing a marine seismic streamer having an outer skin formed in a longitudinally extending tubular shape, an inner surface of the outer skin defining an internal volume containing a gel substance;   acquiring seismic data using a plurality of sensors and a plurality of hydrophones associated with the outer skin, wherein the plurality of sensors include a pre-determined minimal number of sensors in the seismic streamer for a continuous 100 meter length of seismic streamer, wherein the number of sensors are spaced apart from one another axially along the streamer non-uniformly at an average spacing over the continuous 100 meter length of the seismic streamer that is greater than spatial Nyquist interval; and   communicating the seismic data to an electronics system extending axially through an inside portion of the outer skin, wherein the plurality of sensors are in electrical communication with the electronics system.   
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 12 , wherein the pre-determined maximum number of sensors is not more than 80 over the continuous 100 meter length of the seismic streamer. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 12 , wherein at least two of the plurality of MEMS sensors are placed adjacent to one another in the axial direction along the streamer and have a 0.39 meter or less spacing therebetween over the continuous 100 meter length of the seismic streamer. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 14 , wherein the plurality of sensors includes three component (“3C”) sensors.