Paper submitted to EAGE Annual 2026
Summary
Traditional 3D marine streamer seismic acquisition is designed for exploration surveys with relatively deep geological targets. As a result, configurations typically used only two closely spaced sources towed ahead at the centre of the streamer spread. While adequate for deep subsurface imaging, these setups provide coarse spatial sampling, and sparse source lines. Typically, large-volume source arrays are used. Langhammer and Bennion (2015) revisited acquisition designs and employed three sources. These triple-source configurations can improve shot sampling and produce smaller crossline bin sizes. However, in shallow water and for shallow targets—where dense near-offset coverage is essential for reliable imaging, AVO analysis, and efficient multiple suppression—such narrowly towed source configurations remain inadequate. Advanced acquisition configurations with multiple wide-tow sources have been presented by Widmaier et al. (2019). This technology can be leveraged for improving acquisition efficiency or enhancing image. By providing better near offset coverage, improved spatial sampling, and higher trace density, they are effective for imaging both shallow and deep targets.
The emergence of ultra-high resolution 3D seismic acquisition for offshore wind site characterization and high-density 3D for CCS container delineation has led to adapted wide-tow multi-source concept with uniform source lines, as described by Widmaier et al. (2023). These designs feature uniform source-line sampling, dense near-offset coverage, small bin sizes, high trace density, and compact, environmentally friendly sources. In this paper, we describe survey design considerations for these configurations, with an emphasis on offshore wind farm site characterization.