Patent ID: 8509028

Claim:
A method for separating multiple-vibrator seismic data and reducing separation-related noise, said seismic data being recorded in an actual or simulated survey with N vibrators (N>1) operating simultaneously, with the number of sweeps per vibrator being fewer than N and the sweeps for each vibrator being different from the sweeps for the other vibrators in some manner, a sweep being defined as a period of continuous source energy radiation terminated by a listening time or other cessation of vibration for a time period at least as long as the two-way travel time of a seismic wave traveling from a vibrator down to a pre-selected deepest target of interest and back up to a seismic receiver, said method comprising: (a) separating the survey data, using a computer, to obtain a preliminary estimate of N seismograms, one per vibrator; and (b) adjusting the seismograms, using a computer, to match the survey data and to satisfy selected characteristics of noise-free seismograms, thereby producing N updated seismograms in which separation-related noise has been removed.