US Patent 10191170 Seismic data acquisition using water vehicles

A seismic acquisition system. The seismic acquisition system may include at least one unmanned water vehicle. The seismic acquisition system may also include at least one seismic streamer coupled to the at least one unmanned water vehicle, where the at least one seismic streamer has one or more seismic sensors coupled thereto for recording seismic data in a survey area. The seismic acquisition system may further include a buoyancy compensation mechanism coupled to the at least one seismic streamer, where the buoyancy compensation mechanism is configured to orient the at least one seismic streamer between a generally vertical direction and a generally horizontal direction through a water column.