Comparison of Near Field Hydrophone and High-Resolution 3D Seismic Data in a Deepwater Field

Near-field hydrophone (NFH) data from hydrophones attached to a marine source array are commonly recorded for every shot in a seismic survey and are typically used for source signature estimation. There is recent interest in using NFHs to acquire near zero-offset reflection data in the sub-surface to estimate multiples and/or generate images for interpreting the shallow sub surface. In this study we compare active and inactive NFH data acquired during a dual source OBN acquisition with data from a High-Resolution 3D (HR3D) survey using the P-Cable system in a deepwater field. The comparison reveals that the inactive zero-offset NFH data provide decent quality near-offset stacks in the shallow section but that the signal-to-noise ratio (S/N) degrades with depth due to the noisy environment at the hydrophone locations on the source array. The HR3D data, with higher lateral trace density and a less noisy environment for hydrophones, are superior in delineating intricate sub-surface features and delivers a better S/N in the deeper sections.