Seismic response characteristics of marine reflection profiling systems

Summary. Factors influencing the seismic response characteristics of marine profiling systems are reviewed. The single frequency case is used to illustrate the influence of different frequencies on the response, as well as the towing depths of the source and receiver, and the geometry of a linear receiving array. The more realistic case of band-limited source waveforms is considered, using frequency spectra calculated from theoretically derived airgun signals. The results show that the number and shape of sidelobes of the profiling system response, as well as the filtering characteristics for reflections arising from reflectors in the vertical plane perpendicular to the axis of the receiver array are determined by the depths of the source and receiver and the relative amplitudes of the frequencies in the source waveform. These factors, along with the configuration of the hydrophone elements in the receiver array, determine the frequency and amplitude attenuation of reflections in the vertical plane containing the receiver array.
The filtering characteristics of the system both in and out of the vertical plane containing the receiver array are discussed, with implications for discriminating between off-axis and in-plane reflections. A plan view of the response of the system is constructed in the time domain for various profiling configurations and sources of different frequency content at a given time. This example shows how useful the resulting pictures are for optimizing acquisition parameters in profiling experiments.