Patent ID: 9348045
Filing Date: 2016-05-24
CPC Classification: G01V

Claim Text:
1. A method of seismic surveillance above a region of the subsurface of the earth containing structural or stratigraphic features conducive to the presence, migration, or accumulation of hydrocarbons, comprising the steps of: (a) accessing a plurality of seismic receivers positioned proximate to the region of the subsurface of the earth; (b) continuously recording a passively acquired signal from each of said seismic receivers at a location proximate to said seismic receivers for a predetermined period of time, thereby obtaining a plurality of passive seismic recordings; (c) processing at least a portion of said passive seismic recordings to produce a plurality of virtual-source gathers, wherein said plurality of virtual source gathers have storage size that is less than a storage size of said at least a portion of said passive seismic recordings by a factor of at least 10; (d) processing at least a portion of said virtual source gathers to obtain an image representative of at least a portion of the region of the subsurface of the earth; and, (e) using at least a portion of said image to explore or monitor the region of the subsurface of the earth.