Advancements in near-surface seismicreflection acquisition

3-D seismic refl ection methods have been established as the predominant seismic method for hydrocarbon exploration. While this is true for exploration scale surveys the same is not yet true for near-surface seismic refl ection investigations. While the benefi ts of employing 3-D methods have been documented they are yet to be fully adopted by the near-surface community. There are a number of reasons for this; primary among them is the labor involved with planting and re-cabling large numbers of geophones. The amount of time and labor involved in these operations has been a direct hindrance for 3-D investigations of the near-surface. To help overcome these limitations The University of Kansas geophysics group has developed a portable, automated seismic data acquisition system, known as the autojuggie. The autojuggie allows for effi cient ultra-shallow seismic imaging and is capable of quickly performing non-invasive, high-resolution 2-D or 3-D seismic surveys by deploying a dense array of geophones