Patent attributes
Embodiments herein use an acquisition vessel towing a plurality of receivers and a seismic source and a source vessel towing a seismic source to acquire seismic data corresponding to a subsurface below a bottom surface of a body of water. When activating the seismic source on the acquisition vessel, the plurality of receivers acquire survey data for a central coverage area underneath a swath defined by the plurality of receivers. However, when activating the seismic source on the source vessel, the plurality of receivers acquires survey data for a side coverage area. The embodiments herein control a separation distance between the acquisition and source vessels so that there is a gap between the central and side coverage areas resulting from activating the seismic sources towed by those vessels. This gap can reduce the cost and time required to perform the seismic survey.
