Three-dimensional streamer geometry inversion based on self-integration of Inertial Measurement Unit data for deep-towed multichannel seismic exploration

Deep-towed multichannel seismic exploration has proven to be a highly effective tool to accurately invert geoacoustic properties of shallow deep-sea sediments. As a critical prerequisite, precise geometry inversion of receiver array is pivotal to achieve high-resolution imaging of fine-grained subseafloor sediments and reliable inversion of their physical parameters. Traditional inversion methods, which primarily use travel times of direct and sea-surface/seafloor reflected acoustics/seismic waves as constraints, are limited to inverting two-dimensional geometric configurations. In marine environments with strong lateral currents, these approaches may yield misleading results, as such currents may severely distort the horizontal geometry of the streamer. In this study, we propose an innovative self-integration method based on Inertial Measurement Unit data. By leveraging inertial navigation principles, this method achieves a high-precision reconstruction of the three-dimensional (3D) attitude and position of each node, facilitating a full 3D reconstruction of the deep-towed streamer. Notably, the full attitude and position of each node are determined independently, preventing cumulative geometric distortions. To account for the non-uniform instrument and measurement errors inherent in the Inertial Measurement Units, the proposed method integrates a Kalman filter for real-time error compensation. Validation using synthetic datasets with varying degrees of stochastic noise and sensor bias demonstrates the method’s capability for accurate, high-resolution 3D streamer geometry reconstruction.