A method of acquiring seismic data adapted for a land or transition zone environment including placing a location identifier in a particular location, placing a seismic sensor near the location identifier, reading the location identifer using a seismic data cable, recording seismic data acquired by the seismic sensor using the seismic data cable, and assigning sensor position coordinates to the seismic data based on measured position coordinates of the location identifier. The invention also includes an apparatus adapted for seismic data acquisition in a land or transition zone environment including a location identifier, a seismic senor capable of being placed near the location identifier, a seismic data cable, means for reading the location identifier using the seismic data cable, means for recording seismic data acquired by the seismic sensor using the seismic data cable, and means for assigning sensor position coordinates to the seismic data based on measured position coordinates of the location identifier.
The present invention re lates to a seismic data acquisition method and apparatus and in particular to a seismic data acquisition method and apparatus adapted for use in a land or transition zone environment th at provides for improved seismic sensor position determination, thereby reducing perturbation noise generated by inaccurate assignment of seismic sensor position coordinates to seismic data.
Seismic data is collected to remotely sense subsurface geologic conditions, particularly in connection with the exploration for and production of hydrocarbon reserves, such as oil, natural gas, or coal. To gather seismic data, acoustic sources such as explosives or vibrators are used to produce an acoustic pulse that is transmitted through the subsurface geologic formations. Changes in acoustic impedance between different geologic layers cause a portion of the acoustic energy to be reflected and returned toward the earth's surface. These reflected signals are received by seismic sensors and are processed to create images of the subsurface geology.
Seismic data is typically acquired on land using strings of seismic sensors that are known as geophones. The geophone string is laid over a certain area in a given pattern. This pattern could either be linear or it could be a spatial pattern covering a certain area (typically 50 by 50 meters) with its center of gravity located in a predetermined position. This group of seismic sensors is typically called a station and the center of gravity is referred to as a station location.
A seismic data acquisition system can control and acquire data from a large number of seismic stations. In a two dimensional (2D) application, the stations are laid in one line which could include 1000 stations covering up to 50 kilometers. In a three dimensional (3D) application, the stations are typically organized in several parallel lines. Each line in a 3D seismic survey is similar to the line of a 2D application, with a typical line being perhaps 5 kilometers in length and each line including on the order of 100 or so stations. Between five to twenty lines, for instance, could be active at any given time during a 3D survey and they will typically be connected to a single set of seismic data recording equipment. Adjacent lines of a 3D survey could be separated by between 300 and 1000 meters, for instance.
A large 3D system can control 3000 or more stations at any time. Within a station, the grouping of the data from individual geophones attenuate noises such as horizontally traveling waves (ground roll) and random noises. Random noises can be generated by wind, rain, scratching of the geophone case by vegetation, geophone cable oscillation, etc. The level of noise attenuation depends, in part, on the pattern used. The data from multiple stations will be processed later on to provide the seismic image of the subsurface geology.
In a typical land seismic acquisition process, a 3D seismic survey is first planned to account for the client's geophysical objectives and to attempt to minimize terrain constraints on the seismic survey. The 3D seismic survey plan will generally include a seismic sensor lay-out scheme (including identifying all of the planned seismic station locations and the sensor lay out pattern) and a seismic source deployment scheme.
A survey crew will then travel to the seismic survey location to determine the positions on the earth's surface where the stations will be laid. The survey crew typically plants a survey peg (a small flag) at the center of each station. This peg is characterized by a unique identifier, a peg index. The surveyors then generate a correspondence table between the peg index values and the station coordinate values.
Later, the lay-out crew attempts to install the geophone string in the proper pattern, while visually ensuring that the center of gravity of the pattern is at the peg. The geophone string is then connected to a cable "take-out" connector of a seismic data transmission cable. In most case, the peg index (or station reference) and the electronics address on the seismic data transmission cable are incremented in the same pattern. However this is not always possible.
In the real world, many problems can occur that can generate errors when the position coordinates of the seismic station locations are matched with the acquisition channels of the seismic data acquisition system. With complex lay-out in difficult terrain, some acquisition channels may not be used to allow the bypassing of obstacles. The number of skipped take-out connectors must be properly recorded by the lay-out crew and transmitted to the recording computer so that this information can be used to properly map the relationship between the station location and the electronic channel address. In 3D applications, the line definition based on the electronic acquisition channel does not always represent the seismic line configuration on the ground. In fact, a single physical line cable can be folded to represent multiple seismic data acquisition lines. With the complex network structures in new seismic data acquisition systems, various network layers can be used to physically communicate to a given acquisition channel: this allows a large flexibility for the lay-out operation (i.e. a large contour). In these cases, the electronic addressing scheme does not represent the seismic line lay-out.
A similar problem occurs if a cross-line or backbone cable is used to transmit seismic data from a seismic data cable to the recording equipment. If the take-out at which the backbone cable is joined to the seismic data cable is not properly recorded and accounted for, it is possible to improperly shift the coordinate values attributed to the seismic data acquired by seismic sensors recorded using the seismic data cable.
The mapping between the electronic address and seismic station reference is conventionally performed at the central seismic recorder using information from the survey team, the lay-out team and the network definition. This logic can easily be corrupted. Errors generate major perturbations in the seismic processing, and the image quality of the processed seismic data can thereby be drastically decreased.
The quality of the seismic image obtained from the seismic data is also affected by other geometry problems. The center of gravity of the seismic sensor group should be as close as possible to the survey peg; otherwise the seismic image will be blurred. Seismic data is typically processed using algorithms that rely on accurate information regarding the position coordinates of the seismic sensors used to acquire the seismic data. When the actual sensor position coordinates differ from the sensor position coordinates that are assigned to the seismic data, the processing algorithms will often fail to correctly perform the intended data processing operation, and may in fact introduce noise or processing artifacts into the processed seismic data. The non-optimum group pattern may also limit the performance of some types of processing intended to reduce noise (especially operations intended to reduce coherent noise such as ground roll noise).
Group patterns and the group center of gravity are not always within acceptable tolerances, as the lay-out of the geophones are based on visual judgments of distance and position performed by a seismic crew member. There is currently very little quality control performed regarding geophone positioning. Sensor positioning errors (i.e. associating incorrect seismic sensor position coordinates with seismic data) typically generate noise behind the signal.
After processing (DM0-stack) the noise level is reduced independent of the kind of perturbation by about 14 dB, which is expected from coverage of 20 to 60 fold. Doubling the amount of perturbations nearly results in a 6 dB increase of the perturbation noise before and after processing. With this study, it is clear that small positioning errors generate clear perturbations in the expected signal to noise ratios of seismic data. Major noise has to be expected when substantially incorrect seismic sensor positions are assigned to seismic data. While this study looks at only one particular case, it clearly shows the relative importance of these types of seismic data acquisition errors.
There are two primary types seismic sensor positioning errors that need to be corrected or prevented during seismic data acquisition. First, inaccurate matching of survey information with the physical deployment of a particular geophone string (i.e. the electronic acquisition channel of the seismic data acquisition system) has to be suppressed. This is achieved in the inventive method and apparatus by remotely detecting survey peg information on a particular seismic data acquisition channel. This type of correction or cross-checking is typically performed before the seismic data is acquired by the seismic sensors.
Second, induced noise in the seismic image due to improper correspondence between the assumed and actual positions of the geophones at each station, such as differences between the actual and the planned positions of the center of gravity of the geophone string, has to be reduced. To reduce these differences, the inventive method and apparatus provides for airborne acoustic positioning to determine the actual 2D positions of the geophones after lay-out. As a basic quality control procedure, geophones outside the adequate positioning tolerances can be identified and their position can either be corrected for, or the data from these sensors can be ignored.
A more sophisticated approach is to reposition the center of gravity of the group during digital data grouping output, using adequate mathematical compensation schemes. The subsequent seismic processing sequence can thus be modified or adapted to compensate for deviations between the planned position and the actual position of the group center of gravity. Digital filtering for noise attenuation and some types of seismic processing procedures depend of the geometry of the seismic sensor group. Suitable adjustments can be made to these processes to compensate for deviations between the optimum or assumed positions and the actual deployed positions. For example, if the geophones of a particular group are laid in a bunched fashion due to terrain constraints, the digital filter control parameters can be modified, or the digital filtering process can be skipped altogether for the seismic data acquired by the geophones in this group.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide for an improved method and apparatus for seismic sensor position determination.
An advantage of the described embodiment of the present invention is that the seismic sensors can be installed with larger tolerances, insuring easier and faster lay-out.
Another advantage of the described embodiment of the present invention is that the data quality can be higher after adequately correcting for any deviations between the planned seismic sensor deployment and the actual seismic sensor deployment.
A further advantage of the described embodiment of the present invention is that the likelihood of inaccurately assigning seismic sensor position coordinates to seismic data can be significantly reduced.
In one aspect, the present invention involves a method of acquiring seismic data adapted for a land or transition zone environment including placing a location identifier in a particular location, placing a seismic sensor near the location identifier, reading the location identifier using a seismic data cable, recording seismic data acquired by the seismic sensor using the seismic data cable, and assigning sensor position coordinates to the seismic data based on measured position coordinates of the location identifier.
In another aspect, the present invention involves an apparatus adapted for seismic data acquisition in a land or transition zone environment including a location identifier, a seismic sensor capable of being placed near the location identifier, a seismic data cable, means for reading the location identifier using the seismic data cable, means for recording seismic data acquired by the seismic sensor using the seismic data cable, and means for assigning sensor position coordinates to the seismic data based on measured position coordinates of the location identifier.
In yet another aspect, the present invention involves an apparatus adapted for seismic data acquisition in a land or transition zone environment including a positioning device, a seismic sensor capable of being placed near the positioning device, and means for determining the distance between the seismic sensor and the positioning device using an airborne acoustic transmission between the positioning device and the seismic sensor.
In a still further aspect, the present invention involves a method of determining the position of a seismic sensor adapted for seismic data acquisition in a land or transition zone environment including the steps of placing a positioning device in a particular location, placing a seismic sensor near the positioning device, and determining the distance between the seismic sensor and the positioning device using an airborne acoustic transmission between the positioning device and the seismic sensor.
The invention and its benefits will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings.
FIG. 4 is a process flow diagram of a seismic data acquisition method in accordance with the present invention.
FIG. 1 shows a schematic view of a portion of a 3D seismic survey sensor lay-out scheme in a land environment. A plurality of parallel lines 10 are laid down over a particular geographic area and a number of pre-planned seismic survey station locations 12 are positioned at regular intervals along their lengths. It should be understood that only a portion of the entire 3D seismic survey sensor lay-out scheme is shown in FIG. 1. As discussed above, each line in a typical 3D seismic survey may be five kilometers in length and may including 100 stations. There may be between five to twenty active lines in a typical 3D seismic survey and the spacing between the lines may be on the order of 300 to 1000 meters or so.
In the first phase of the seismic data acquisition process, a layout plan is created that determines where the lines 10 should be placed on the surface of the earth to obtain an "optimal" (in some geophysical sense) seismic image of the subsurface area of interest. In this first phase, the required line spacing (i.e. the distance between adjacent lines 10) and the required station spacing (i.e. the distance between adjacent seismic survey station locations 12 on a particular line 10) will be selected which will allow the acquired seismic data to have the spatial resolution/image quality required to perform the type of geological analysis desired.
In the second phase of the seismic data acquisition process, a survey crew has placed survey pegs 14 as close as possible (based on the field conditions and the accuracy of the survey equipment) to the desired station locations 12. In many cases, a survey peg 14 can be located at or near the precise spot planned for the seismic survey station location 12, but in some cases, the survey peg will be located offset from the desired location, typically due to terrain factors such as a lake 16 in FIG. 1. Other types of obstacles that may need to be bypassed during a seismic survey include buildings, fences, rock outcrops, trees, etc.
In the third phase, seismic data cables 18 have been placed along lines 10 by a sensor lay-out crew. A high-speed backbone cable 19 (also referred to as a cross-line cable) is connected to a recording truck 20 and to each of the seismic data cables 18, typically using master router units attached at backbone take-outs 21. The backbone cable 19 is used to transmit seismic data from the seismic data cables 18 to the recording truck 20. A string of geophones (not shown in FIG. 1) are then distributed about survey pegs 14 by the sensor lay-out crew and are connected to seismic data cables 18 at cable take-outs 22. When a seismic source is actuated, equipment within recording truck 20 records the digitized geophone output data. The geophone output comprises seismic data that is used to create seismic images of the geologic subsurface. Due to the lake 16 and the fixed distance between cable takeouts 22 on seismic data cables 18, one cable take-out has not been used and this is labeled in FIG. 1 as by-passed cable take-out 24.
FIG. 2 shows an enlarged view of area 2—2 from FIG. 1. A pair of pre-planned seismic survey station locations 12 on line 10 are shown as well as their associated survey pegs 14. The lower survey peg 14 has been placed at the desired station location 12 while the upper survey peg 14 has been placed offset from the desired station location 12 because the planned station location is inaccessible due to a lake 16. A seismic data cable 18 has been laid generally along the line 10 and cable take-outs 22 are located near survey pegs 14. Geophone strings, each consisting of five interconnected geophones 26, are laid-out in the vicinity of the survey pegs 14 and are connected to the seismic data cables 18 at cable take-outs 22. The output from the geophones 26 (i.e. the seismic data acquired by the seismic sensors) is transmitted through seismic data cable 18 to the recording truck 20 where the seismic data which may or may not be pre-processed within the truck, is recorded as discussed above.
The geophones 26 in the vicinity of the lower survey peg 14 have been laid-out in what could be described as an "X" or cross pattern. In a typical seismic survey, a particular desired geophone station lay-out pattern is selected when the planned seismic sensor lay-out scheme is developed. At some survey pegs, however, it will be impossible to properly duplicate this desired pattern, typically due to terrain constraints. At the upper survey peg 14 in FIG. 2, the upper-most and left-most geophones 26 cannot be deployed in their desired positions due to the lake 16.
In conventional seismic data acquisition systems, the geophones are hardwired together and only cumulative aggregate values from the geophone string are transmitted along the seismic data cable 18. New generations of seismic acquisition equipment will provide for independent digitization for each sensor output. One possible design for these types of sensors is described in a commonly-assigned PCT International Patent Application having international Publication Number WO 98/12577, published 26 Mar. 1998. These types of digital sensors are preferably organized into a digital network.
In one potential system design, the sensors communicate to a line box via a digital take-out which acts as power distribution to the digital sensor and a router for sensor data to the line box. With this type of design, geophones may be grouped together in a sensor string similar to a conventional system. However, the information in the digital sensor string is digital instead of analog and the output of each digital sensor is available to be processed or recorded (rather than being immediately summed together with all of the outputs from the other geophones in the string to create a cumulative aggregate value).
Using this type of system, additional functions can be added at the digital take-out or near the connector of the digital geophone string to allow for improved seismic sensor positioning determination. Positioning components can allow the relative mapping between the geophone strings and the survey pegs to be determined and can allow the distances between neighboring stations to be verified. Other positioning components can allow the relative 2D positions of the digital geophones versus the survey peg and the line to be determined. The positioning components can also internally store the survey information (i.e. the 3D position and survey peg reference information). The storage of this survey information can be performed directly by the surveying crew during the initial survey operation or by an integrated satellite-based global positioning system unit. The reading of this information may then be performed by the main control computer just before, during, or just after seismic data acquisition (or at various times during the seismic data acquisition process).
A portion of this type of seismic data acquisition system is shown in schematic format in FIG. 3. A pre-planned seismic survey station location 12 on line 10 is shown with a survey peg 14. A seismic data cable 18 has been laid out generally along the line 10 and a cable take-out 22 is located near the survey peg 14. A geophone string consisting of five interconnected single seismic sensors, preferably digital geophones 26, is laid-out in the vicinity of the survey peg 14 and is connected to the seismic data cable 18 at cable take-out 22. The output from the geophones 26 is transmitted through seismic data cable 18 to the equipment in the recording truck 20.
The primary components for seismic sensor positioning in this embodiment of the inventive method and apparatus are referred to as a positioning node, PNODE 28, a main acoustic transceiver, MAT 30, a secondary acoustic transmitter, SAT 32, and a survey peg electronic tag 34. As will be discussed in more detail below, these components can be tightly integrated with the type of digital geophone system technology referred to above, which can significantly reduce the cost and improve the commercial viability of the inventive method and apparatus.
These components and their associated method of use have been specifically adapted for use in a land or transition zone environment. This can be contrasted to a conventional marine seismic acquisition environment where the seismic sensors are positioned within streamers that are towed behind a seismic survey vessel. In a marine environment, the positions of the seismic sensors are effected by crosscurrents, waves, and other transient forces which cause rapid and often dramatic changes in the relative positions of the sensors with respect to the vessel. In a land or transition zone environment, however, little seismic sensor movement is expected. Any detectable sensor movement in a transition zone (shallow water marine) environment will often be of relatively small magnitude and will take place over a relatively long period of time.
In this embodiment of the inventive method and apparatus, PNODE 28 contains electronic elements that drive the geophone relative position determination process. MAT 30 and SAT 32 include acoustic transmitters that generate airborne acoustic signals using a loud-speaker, and thereby act as positioning devices. MAT 30 also includes a microphone and a connector to external devices, such as the survey peg electronic tag 34, which may comprise resistors and/or capacitors attached onto the survey peg, as discussed below. With the new type of seismic data acquisition system, PNODE 28 and the digital geophones 26 can be digital nodes on the sensor network. MAT 30 and SAT 32 are typically connected by a separate cable to PNODE 28, although in another embodiment of the present invention, the PNODE 28 and the MAT 30 are integrated into a single piece of hardware.
PNODE 28 is typically a small box that contains low power electronics. One of its primary functions is to identify the survey peg electronic tag 34 via determination of the tagged value. The physical description of the tag and the process of determining the tagged value are described below. As a secondary function, PNODE 28 controls the relative distance measurements between the MAT 30 and/or the SAT 32 and other components of the system such as the digital seismic sensors, geophones 26. For this purpose, PNODE 28 generates electronic signals that drive the MAT 30 and/or the SAT 32 which convert the electronic signals into an airborne sounds. The signals and airborne sounds can alternatively be pulse, frequency sweep, or digitally encoded sweep.
These airborne acoustic signals are detected at the geophones 26 by microphones that are attached to each of the sensors. Preferably, the microphone for each geophone 26 is connected to the same analog to digital conversion circuitry used to digitize the seismic sensor output (i.e. to produce the digital seismic data) and the system uses this same circuitry to convert the received airborne acoustic transmission produced by MAT 30 and SAT 32 into digital format. To function correctly, the geophone 26 and its associated microphone must be located relatively near the MAT 30 and the SAT 32. How near to each other these components must be positioned will depend in part, on the sensitivity of the microphones, the amplitude of the airborne acoustic transmission, and the level of background noise in the area. The acoustic signals received by the microphones attached to the geophones 26 are transmitted over the same cable that is used to transmit seismic data from the geophone to the PNODE 28 using a multi-plexing technique.
PNODE 28 also allows the distance between the MAT 30 and the SAT 32 to be determined, using again the concept of acoustic distance measurement. For this purpose, either the MAT 30 or the SAT 32 needs to be equipped with a microphone to receive the acoustic signals produced by the other component.
In the preferred embodiment, MAT 30 contains the following elements: a loudspeaker, a microphone, and a terminal connector for the survey peg electronic tag 34. There is typically no electronics in the MAT 30. The loudspeaker in the MAT 30 allows it to generate airborne signals to perform distance measurements between the MAT 30 and the other components of the seismic data acquisition system. This loudspeaker is typically driven at 1 or 2 watt (electrical) in a frequency range of between 50 to 2000 Hertz. It is preferable to have the MAT 30 and the SAT 32 produce a low frequency spread spectrum acoustic signal because this type of signal will be non-directional. This is important because the MAT and SAT will not be aligned toward any single geophone 26. In addition, the signal will be less subject to interference due to environmental noise. The MAT 30 may be rather small in size and may, for instance, have a diameter of approximately 5 centimeters. The MAT 30 may be connected to the survey peg electronic tag 34 through the use of a connector: the peg value detection principle should preferably not be affected by the presence of a film of water on the device.
MAT 30 transfers the electric analog information from the survey peg electronic tag 34 to the PNODE 28. The electronic circuitry used by the PNODE 28 to generate the airborne acoustic signal produced by MAT 30 and SAT 32 is preferably the same signal generation electronic circuitry used by the PNODE to field test the resistance and capacitance of the geophones 26. An additional amplifier may be needed to increase the output of the signal generation electronic circuitry in PNODE 28 to allow it to properly drive the loudspeakers on the MAT30 and the SAT, 32.
The MAT 30 is typically equipped with a microphone for distance measurement. The distance measurement principle is described later on. This microphone is primarily used to measure the distance between the MAT 30 and the SAT 32 at the same station, with the SAT producing the airborne acoustic transmission. This microphone can also be used to detect signals from the MAT and SAT from other geophone groups, to ensure distance measurements between geophone groups, or to determine the relative positions of the MAT 30 and the SAT 32 within a group versus other groups. The MAT 30 is typically physically sealed in a small plastic box. A thin diaphragm, such as titanium foil, may be used in front of the loud speaker and the microphone. This diaphragm allows the transmission of the acoustic signal while also allowing water sealing. The cables are also typically sealed onto the box.
The secondary acoustic transducer (SAT 32) may be physically built into the same type of box as MAT 30, but it is typically only equipped with the loudspeaker component.
The MAT 30 and the SAT 32 may be incorporated into a short independent string terminated by a connector designed to be connected into PNODE 28. The cable used for this application may be very light and may consist, for instance, of the small gauge multiple pair wires. The MAT 30 and SAT 32 cable typically transmits only low frequency analog signals to the PNODE 28, where the signals are digitized.
A preferred method for electronically reading the survey peg electronic tag 34, the location identifier, is to determine the impedance of an electrical component or components attached to the survey peg 14. The survey peg 14 may, for example, consist of a little rod with a flag. These survey pegs 14 may, for instance, be instrumented with two electrical components, either resistors or capacitors, that are connected with wires and that thereby act as survey peg electronic tags 34.
The resistance and/or capacitance values for these components can be measured by PNODE 28 using the well-known technique for measuring the resistance and capacitance of geophones. This same electrical circuitry can be used to determine the resistance or capacitance of the survey peg electronic tags 34. Each electronic tag component could have, for instance, 20 different discrete values. If two different components were used at each survey peg 14, the combination of two component values will allow the recording equipment to identify 400 different combinations of values for the pegs. A correspondence table would typically be prepared to associate the survey peg electronic tag 34 values (which vary from 1 to 400) with particular station numbers. The survey pegs 14 are typically marked visually in a permanent fashion with this "electronic tag" number. The survey peg electronic tag 34 is a position identifying device that allows the electronic tag value to be read using the seismic data cable 18 and which allows seismic sensor position coordinates to be assigned to the seismic data acquired by, the seismic sensors 26 based on the correspondence table produced by the survey team associating electronic tag values with measured position coordinates of the attached survey peg 14.
Physically, the use of a capacitor on the peg is in theory the best choice, as PNODE 28 is designed to be able to determine complex impedances at a given frequency and natural objects lack significant electrical capacitance values. By performing the test at two different frequencies, equations can be used to determine the values of the capacitors or the resistance of water in the connector. In one embodiment, the capacitor is the component of the survey peg, while the parallel resistor is the effect of a film of water on the connector. In a more simple design, two resistors could be used on the survey peg. In that case, the range of values of these resistors should be chosen so that there is no confusion when a thin film of water is present on the connector joining the survey peg electronic tag 34 to the MAT 30. The two electrical components connected to the survey peg 14 (i.e. the survey peg electronic tag 34) may be electronically connected to the PNODE 28 by wires. These wires are preferably short (not more than 50 centimeters), so that the MAT 30 may be positioned only a short distance away from the survey peg 14. This ensures more accurate positioning of the seismic sensors, geophones 26, via acoustic positioning using the survey peg as a position reference.
In the preferred implementation, the digital geophones 26 are equipped with microphones for signal reception, while the MAT 30 and the SAT 32 are equipped with speakers for generating the airborne acoustic signals. It would, of course, be possible to generate airborne acoustic signals at each of the geophones 26 and use MAT 30 and SAT 32 to receive the airborne acoustic signals generated at the geophones. The distance between a sound transmitter (a speaker) and a receiver (a microphone) can be estimated from the time of flight of the sound wave multiplied by a calculated sound velocity.
For accurate measurements, the air temperature needs to be measured. This may be performed at each geophone and at each acoustic transceiver. The wind velocity also changes the acoustic wave propagation velocity. The sound reaching the receiver, however, typically travels close to the ground and is somewhat protected from the wind.
The airborne signal can be either a pulse, a sweep or a spread spectrum signal. Sweep signals reduce the instantaneous power required for the measurement, and increases the signal/noise ratio. After reception of the signals, correlations have to be performed to determined the arrival time. In the preferred design, the electronics that drive the acoustical positioning system (transmission and reception) are the same electronics used during conventional seismic data acquisition. The test signal generator normally used for geophone testing can be used, for instance, to drive the source. A special adaptation amplifier may be required to drive the audio speaker. The microphone will be multiplexed on the seismic channel of that particular sensor.
In designs that use the signal burst concept, electrical energy may be stored in a capacitor, and then suddenly discharged into the audio speaker. This principle is often used in high frequency "pulse-echo" type detector based on piezoelectric resonators and is very simple electronically. With this type of application, multiple bursts may be generated to increase the signal/noise ratio after stacking.
Normally, airborne acoustic signals will be acquired by all geophones 26 of the same group (i.e. at the same station) at the same time, and all distance measurements within the same group will be performed at the same time. This can be generalized and the distance measurement for all groups will be performed at the same time, as there is no perturbation from one group to the other one: the signal from the source of another source will come after the one of interest (as the distance is longer). Different sweeps can be used to ensure that there is no correlation error.
The correlation process (if a signal sweep is used) and the first arrival detection can be also performed in the central system. The air temperature is typically measured at the geophone 26 and the acoustic sources (MAT 30 and SAT 32) with a simple electrical probe connected to an analog to digital converter. This temperature measurement is transmitted to the central system where the temperature correction is typically performed.
This system is primarily designed to determine distance measurements inside a group of seismic sensors, and particularly for the case where each of the seismic sensors are individually measured. In this situation, geophone distances are small (often separated from the survey flag 14 by no more than 5 to 10 meters). The frequency range used with the sweep 1 method is typically from 50 Hz to 2 kHz, so that a small size speaker has no directivity: the energy of the acoustic wave is independent of the azimuth and direction. The typical accuracy is around one or two percent of the measured distance. This includes the effects of temperature correction, wind perturbation, scattering and other noises. An expected maximum range with an input power of 1 Watt could be at least 10 meters in normal noise situation (using an optimum coding method).
If the geophones 26 are laid in-line, along line 10, a single acoustic source could be used to locate the relative positions of the geophones. If the geophones 26 are laid in an areal pattern, it is preferable to use two acoustic sources. With two transmitters per group (the MAT 30 and the SAT 32), the relative position of every geophone 26 in the group can be determined via triangulation. In the preferred implementation, this distance can be measured by the acoustic method as the MAT 30 is equipped with a microphone: it can also listen to the signal generated by the SAT 32.
However, the positions of the geophones 26 can be determined only with a certain degree of accuracy (i.e. within a certain area of uncertainty). The shape and the dimension of this area of uncertainty will depend on the relative position of the geophone 26 versus the source(s) (the MAT 30 and the SAT 32). When using two sources for geophone triangulation, the geometrical 2D position can be determined without an absolute azimuth reference. To achieve an absolute azimuthal reference, SAT 32 needs to be located at a known azimuth versus MAT 30. This can be achieved by laying the SAT 32 "in-line" with respect to the MAT 30 (which is located near the survey peg 14). The "in-line" azimuth can be obtained by visual alignment with the survey peg 14 of the next group (in a pre-defined direction; either towards increasing group index, or decreasing group index). Another method for obtaining this absolute azimuthal reference is to always lay-out the SAT 32 in a predetermined azimuthal orientation with respect to MAT 30, such as due north. Positioning the SAT 32 with the proper azimuthal alignment can be left up the lay-out crew or the survey crew can place a secondary peg 36 in the proper azimuthal orientation with respect to the survey peg 14 and the lay-out crew can place the SAT 32 near this secondary peg.
If the following information is known: 1) the position of the MAT 30, 2) the distances from the MAT 30 and the SAT 32 to a particular geophone 26, 3) the distance from the SAT to the MAT, and 4) the azimuthal orientation of the SAT with respect to the MAT, then there are only two possible positions for the geophone 26 (on opposite sides of a line running through the MAT and the SAT). This "two possible positions" problem needs to be resolved only in 3D seismic applications.
There are several methods for resolving the two possible position problem to determine the true position of the geophone 26. A third acoustic source (located in a known off-line orientation with respect to the MAT 30 and the SAT 32) could be used, for instance. When the MAT 30 and SAT 32 from an adjacent station are not located in-line with the MAT and SAT of the current station, it may be possible to use one of these devices from the adjacent station as the third acoustic source.
Another procedure for obtaining the same result is to use the seismic source signal to resolve this position. In 3D seismic data acquisition, the seismic source will move around the seismic data acquisition system, so that the source azimuth (for a given geophone group) will be varying over the full range. This azimuth will be known by the acquisition computer, as the source position is one of the main parameters used to control seismic data quality. When the source azimuth is offset from the line 10, the surface wave generated by the seismic source can be used to determine the proper group orientation versus the line: this allows the line symmetry problem of acoustic positioning to be solved. The sensor configurations can be determined from the first break pick up for digital geophones 26 of each group. This is feasible as the data from each of the sensors is acquired individually. In other words, the sensor closest to the source will detect the surface break first, when compared to a more remote sensor. It should be remembered, however, that this process could be perturbed by complex statics.
The method of using the positioning system components will now be described in more detail. As shown in FIG. 4, a first step is the create layout plan step 38. In this step, a seismic data acquisition plan is developed that will accomplish the client's geophysical objectives (i.e. that will allow adequate images of the subsurface geology in the area to be developed) and to attempt to minimize terrain constraints on the field crews. The next step, the perform survey-install survey peg step 40, involves a survey crew visiting the site, making position measurements, and installing survey pegs that mark where the desired station locations are located on the surface of the earth.
Using the embodiment of the inventive system describe above, the survey peg 14 will have an attached survey peg electronic tag 34. There is no need to lay-out the pegs in incremental fashion versus the electronic tag values. In fact, a given peg bundle handled by a survey crew may contain several pegs with the same electronic tag values: the risk of confusion during the cross-checking process is small as the number of tag values is quite large. On the planted peg, he typically incrementally writes an incremental peg number. Finally he enters the following values in his survey table: the peg number, the true measured peg coordinates, and the peg electronic tag value.
The surveyor may also install the secondary peg 36 as a positioning reference for the secondary positioning source (SAT 32). This peg, typically having no reference value, could be installed approximately 2 meters way from the main peg in a given azimuth (a compass may be used to determine the azimuth, as 5 degrees of accuracy is typically sufficient). The distance can be estimated with an accuracy of 0.5 meter: it has no influence of the positioning process as the distance between the MAT 30 and the SAT 32 will be determine by acoustic positioning.
In the deploy sensor step 42, the sensor lay-out crew installs the other components of the seismic data acquisition equipment, including the digital geophones 26 that are placed in a given array around the survey peg 14, and the other positioning equipment (PNODE 28, MAT 30, SAT 32). The wires from the survey peg electronic tag 34 are connected to the main acoustic transducer (MAT 30): as these wires are short, the MAT 30 is required to be placed near the survey peg 14. The secondary source (SAT 32) should be laid out either in the vicinity of the secondary peg 36 or in a predetermined azimuthal direction with respect to MAT 30, as discussed above.
When all of this seismic data acquisition hardware has been laid out and connected to the central system, spread control and data acquisition can be started. This is typically done in the determine actual position step 44. Within the central system, the take-out network (or geophone group) electrical addresses are associated to the peg numbers by the conventional process. During this mapping process the information about non-linear or non-continuous hardware distribution and network configuration should be taken in account (skip gap, multiple back-bone, . . . ).
After this mapping process has been completed, the seismic data acquisition system typically performs the detection of the electronic tags for each groups in a quasi-simultaneous fashion. The central system performs a comparison between the detected tag values versus the expected tag value from the surveyor's table. If there is a discrepancy, a error exist either in the surveyor's table or a mistake has occurred during, the line equipment lay-out.
After the peg detection and mapping control steps, the relative position of the geophones in each group can be performed. First, the distance between the MAT 30 and the SAT 32 is measured. Here, the SAT 32 is transmitting the sound wave while the MAT 30 is in receiving mode (using its microphone). This process for distance measurement has been described previously.
Second, a distance measurement is made between the MAT 30 and each geophone of the group. For this purpose, the MAT 30 is transmitting the sound wave, while all the digital geophones 26 are in reception mode with their microphones. Physically, the acquisition for all geophone is typically performed simultaneously: this allows the MAT 30 to send the coded signal only once.
Third, a distance measurement is made between the SAT 32 and all of the geophones in the group. This is performed in a similar fashion as measuring the distance from the MAT 30 to each of the geophones.
Finally, all remaining distances are determined through 2D triangulation. Typically X,Y coordinates are calculated supposing that the X axis is defined by the line passing through the MAT 30 and the SAT 32. These position coordinates can be used for quality control purposes. Seismic sensors with incorrect positions can be displayed to the system observer or used in digital group forming.
The distances between MATs 30 and SATs 32 of successive groups (i.e. neighboring survey pegs 14) can also be measured using the inventive method and apparatus. For this purpose, the MAT 30 from one station is transmitting the sound wave while the MAT 30 from another station is in reception mode (with its microphone). These measurements can be used either for quality control or for digital correction. Another reason inter-group airborne acoustic transmission is used in the inventive method and apparatus is to verify that the MAT 30 and the SAT 32 in a given group are laid in the right order.
The MAT 30 and SAT 32 can also be used to confirm that the geophones 26 have been laid out in the proper order (i.e. laying out the prescribed pattern in the prescribed order). In case of error, group symmetry should be calculated for the XY coordinate. If a group has been improperly laid-out, the symmetrical XY coordinate should be determined and transmitted to the digital group forming unit. In practice, this determination is typically performed inside the unit for digital group forming.
There are two primary methods for utilizing the seismic sensor positioning information. In one method, the actual position measurements of each of the seismic sensors are explicitly taken into account in each step of the seismic data processing process. This is often extremely (and prohibitively) computer intensive.
Another method utilizes the fact that in the majority of stations in the seismic survey, the geophones will be deployed in their pre-planned locations and a processing sequence will have been established based on these pre-planned positions. One method for efficiently processing seismic data obtained under these circumstances is to compare the actual positions of the seismic sensors to their planned positions. This step is shown in FIG. 4 as the calculate deviation step 46. If the position differences are below a certain threshold level, the seismic data can be conventionally processed. If the position differences exceed a certain level, these positioning differences can be addressed by a compensate for deviation step 48. The most simple method for compensating for deviations is to ignore (i.e. either fail to record or delete) the seismic data acquired by the out of position sensor. More sophisticated approaches include repositioning the center of gravity of the group during digital data grouping output using adequate mathematical compensation schemes. Interpolation schemes can be used, for instance, to mathematically "move" the group center of gravity from its actual position to the planned position.
Many types of seismic processing procedures, such as digital filtering for noise attenuation, include assumptions regarding the geometry of the seismic sensor group. If the actual positions of the seismic sensors are substantially different from the planned or assumed positions, these procedures may be unable to properly perform their intended functions. For example, if the geophones of a particular group are laid in a bunched fashion due to terrain constraints, a ground roll removal algorithm may not be able to effectively remove ground roll at that station. In this case, it may be preferable to not process the seismic data acquired by the geophones in this group with this ground roll removal algorithm at all. In some cases, a tiered approach may be used, where relatively minor positioning deviations are corrected by a first method and relatively major positioning deviations are corrected by a second method.
In the preferred embodiment of the inventive method and apparatus, a significant effort has been made to utilize existing seismic data acquisition components to perform the new functions required to determine the positions of the seismic sensors. Examples of this use of existing components include: determining the value of the survey peg electronic tag 34 using geophone resistance and capacitance field testing electronics, generating the airborne acoustic signal using geophone field testing source generation electronics, converting the received airborne acoustic signal to digital format using the analog to digital converter used to digitize the received seismic signals, transmitting the received airborne acoustic signal over the same transmission cable used to transmit the seismic data, and using the seismic source signal to resolve the "two possible positions" ambiguity when determining seismic sensor positions in 3D seismic applications.
Numerous alternative embodiments for the equipment and method described above will now be obvious to those of ordinary skill in the art. Instead of using the resistor/capacitor peg components described above, bar code reader equipment could be used to remotely identify the survey peg. Each peg could be tagged with its own bar code: for example a bar code sticker could be glued onto the peg. PNODE 28 could similarly be equipped with a bar code reader. This method ensures an excellent coding scheme for the peg detector. The tag is low cost and can be water resistant. During lay-out of the acquisition hardware, a proper link between the bar code reader and bar code tag must be established (taking the place of the direct electrical connection used in the embodiment described above).
A further alternative to the described resister/capacitor components are inductive analog transducers. For simple applications with a steel wire survey peg, the detection can be based on the magnetic properties of the wire. The sensor could be a transformer with an air gap: the metal of peg would closes the air gap. The measurement can be either the change of impedance of the primary bobbin, or the RMS signal of the secondary. The measurement could be performed at a single frequency. For this type of measurement, the electronics would typically be located in PNODE 28. The sensor can be small (typically only a few centimeter per side) and can be connected directly to the PNODE 28 or the MAT 30. This type of system generally detects only the attachment to a peg wire and peg coding is not typically possible unless tuning or resonant circuits are molded onto the peg wire.
Electronic tags could also be used instead of the resister/capacitor peg components. These electronic tags are small electronic devices that containing a memory and have been developed for component tagging. Some of these device are ROM while others are EEPROM. These devices are typically water proof, small and low cost. In their most simple forms, a two wire connection could be used to connect the component to the PNODE. In more advanced forms, wireless digital communications can be established between a master control computer and the device, allowing to access information in the memory. An advantage to this type of wireless communication is that it eliminates the need for the sensor lay-out crew to physically connect the device to the other components of the seismic data acquisition system. These devices are typically equipped with an integrated mini antenna. Power inside the device to activate the internal electronics is typically generated by rectification of antenna received signals. Due to mode of power generation and telemetry system, the distance between the controller and the device is typically limited to a short distance (typically between 10 and 100 centimeters).
In a land seismic application, these devices could be installed on the survey peg. PNODE 28 could be equipped with the adequate electronics and antenna to control the wireless communication to the device and to obtain the peg reference value. Furthermore, the telemetry distance limitation insures that PNODE 28 is laid at a short distance from the survey peg: this allows to insure that the acoustic positioning reference is at the proper place. This digital tag will transmit its identification wireless under request from PNODE 28 via a wireless communication link. This communication could typically be achieved over 25 centimeters. The tag is a small device (having a typical diameter of 3 mm and length of 30 mm) and includes electronics for the following functions: power, memory access, telemetry control and antenna. Using this type of component, the electronic tag value is first transmitted over a wireless communication link before being transmitted to the recording truck over the seismic data cable.
If the tag contains a read/write memory, the position information can also be directly downloaded to the peg by the survey crew. The seismic data acquisition system can then directly read the position information from the survey peg electronics, thereby eliminating any need for generating a survey look-up table containing lists of peg values and peg locations. The measured position information can be obtained through the use of land-based surveying equipment or satellite-based global positioning (GPS) equipment.
In a similar manner satellite-based global positioning system (GPS) equipment can similarly be integrated directly into the inventive method and apparatus. Using this embodiment, the survey peg electronic tag 34 can consist of a GPS receiver containing a memory allowing the absolute position of survey peg 14 to be directly read by the recording truck 20.
Other types of deployment modes will also now be obvious to those of ordinary skill in the art. Instead of using separate survey peg electronic tags 34, PNODE 28 could incorporate a similar identifier value and could be left at the desired station location 12 by the survey crew. In this alternative embodiment, PNODE 28 would be the location identifier used to associate a particular data acquisition channel with the measured position coordinates of the device.
The present invention includes any novel feature or novel combination of features disclosed herein, either explicitly or implicitly.
means for determining the distance between said seismic sensor and said positioning device using an airborne acoustic transmission between said positioning device and said seismic sensor.
2. An apparatus as claimed in claim 1, in which said airborne acoustic transmission is produced by a speaker at said positioning device and received by a microphone at said seismic sensor.
3. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein said airborne acoustic transmission received by said microphone at said seismic sensor is converted from analog to digital format using an analog to digital converter that is also used to convert seismic signals received by said seismic sensor from analog to digital format.
4. The apparatus of claim 2 wherein said airborne acoustic transmission received by said microphone at said seismic sensor is transmitted using a cable that is also used to transmit seismic data received by said seismic sensor.
5. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said airborne acoustic transmission is a spread spectrum acoustic signal.
6. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said airborne acoustic transmission is a pulse frequency sweep, or digitally encoded sweep acoustic signal.
7. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said airborne acoustic transmission is generated by signal generation circuitry that is also used to test said seismic sensor.
8. The apparatus of claim 1, further including a temperature sensor for measuring the temperature of the air near said seismic sensor or said positioning device.
9. The apparatus of claim 1, further including a survey flag and wherein said positioning device is placed near said survey flag.
10. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said positioning device is a first positioning device and further including a second positioning device and means for determining the distance between said second positioning device and said seismic sensor using an airborne acoustic transmission between said second positioning device and said seismic sensor.
11. The apparatus of claim 10, farther including means for determining the distance between said first positioning device and said second positioning device.
12. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein said means for determining the distance between said first positioning device and said second positioning device uses an airborne acoustic transmission between said first positioning device and said second positioning device.
13. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein said first positioning device and said second positioning device are connected by a cable.
14. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein said second positioning device is placed at a predetermined azimuthal orientation with respect to said fit positioning device.
15. The apparatus of claim 10, further including means for confirming that said second positioning device has been placed at a predetermined azimuthal orientation with respect to said first positioning device.
16. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein a seismic source signal is used to resolve the line symmetry ambiguity when determining the position of said seismic sensor with respect to said first positioning device and said second positioning device.
17. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said seismic sensor is a first seismic sensor and further including additional seismic sensors and means for determining the distance between said additional seismic sensors and said positioning device using airborne acoustic transmission between said positioning device and said additional seismic sensors.
18. The apparatus of claim 17, further including means for calculating a group center of gravity for said first seismic sensor and said additional seismic sensors.
19. The apparatus of claim 17, further including means for determining whether said first seismic sensor and said additional seismic sensors have been laid out in a prescribed order.
20. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said seismic sensor and said positioning device are located at a first seismic station and further including an additional positioning device located at a second seismic station and means for determining the distance between a device located at said first seismic station and a device located at said second seismic station.
determining the distance between said seismic sensor and said positioning device using an airborne acoustic transmission between said positioning device and said seismic sensor.
22. The method of claim 21, wherein said airborne acoustic transmission is produced by a speaker at said positioning device and received by a microphone at said seismic sensor.
23. The method of claim 22, wherein said airborne acoustic transmission received by said microphone at said seismic sensor is converted from analog to digital format using an analog to digital converter that is also used to convert seismic signals received by said seismic sensor from analog to digital format.
24. The method of claim 22, wherein said airborne acoustic transmission received by said microphone at said seismic sensor is transmitted using a cable that is also used to transmit seismic data received by said seismic sensor.
25. The method of claim 21, wherein said airborne acoustic transmission is a spread spectrum acoustic signal.
26. The method of claim 22, wherein said airborne acoustic transmission is a pulse, frequency sweep, or digitally encoded sweep acoustic signal.
27. The method of claim 21, wherein said airborne acoustic transmission is generated by sisal generation circuitry that is also used to test said seismic sensor.
28. The method of claim 21, further including the step of measuring the temperature of the air near said seismic sensor or said positioning device.
29. The method of claim 21, wherein said positioning device is placed near a survey flag.
30. The method of claim 21, wherein said positioning device is a first positioning device and further including the step of determining the distance between a second positioning device and said seismic sensor using an airborne acoustic transmission between said second positioning device and said seismic sensor.
31. The method of claim 30, further including the step of determining the distance between said first positioning device and said second positioning device.
32. The method of claim 31, wherein said step of determining the distance between said first positioning device and said second positioning device uses an airborne acoustic transmission between said first positioning device and said second positioning device.
33. The method of claim 30, wherein said first positioning device and said second positioning device are connected by a cable.
34. The method of claim 30, wherein said second positioning device is placed at a predetermined azimuthal orientation with respect to said first positioning device.
35. The method of claim 30, further including the step of confirming that said second positioning device has been placed at a predetermined azimuthal orientation with respect to said first positioning device.
36. The method of claim 30, wherein a seismic source signal is used to determine to resolve the line symmetry ambiguity when determining the position of said seismic sensor with respect to said fast positioning device and said second positioning device.
37. The method of claim 21, wherein said seismic sensor is a first seismic sensor and further including additional seismic sensors and the step of determining the distance between said additional seismic sensors and said positioning device using airborne acoustic transmissions between said positioning device and said additional seismic sensors.
38. The method of claim 37, further including the step of calculating a group center of gravity for said first seismic sensor and said additional seismic sensors.
39. The method of claim 37, further including the step of determining whether said first seismic sensor and said additional seismic sensors have been laid out in a prescribed order.
40. The method of claim 21, wherein said seismic sensor and said positioning device are located at a first seismic station and further including an additional positioning device located at a second seismic station and the step of determining the distance between a device located at said first seismic station and a device located at said second seismic station.
41. The method of claim 21, further including the steps of recording seismic data acquired by said seismic sensor and assigning sensor position coordinates to said seismic data based on said distance between said seismic sensor and said positioning device.
42. The method of claim 21, further including the step of calculating a deviation between actual seismic sensor position coordinates and planned seismic sensor position coordinates.
43. The method of claim 42, further including the step of compensating for said deviation between said actual seismic sensor position coordinates and said planned seismic sensor position coordinates.
44. The method of claim 43, wherein said compensation step includes mathematically moving a group center of gravity from an actual position to a planned position.
45. The method of claim 44, wherein said compensation step includes bypassing a digital ground roll removal process.


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Numbers > Help and advice > Your guide to Ecotricity's 2030 vision
Your guide to Ecotricity's 2030 vision
By Energy Company Numbers on March 16, 2016 in Help and advice
Ecotricity's vision for 2030 is ambitious, and it needs to be. Fossil fuels, which contribute to the national release of carbon emissions, make up 60% of the energy that is fed into our National Grid. 33% comes from nuclear fuel and just 0.7% from renewable energy production. If the country is to reduce our carbon emissions at anything like the rate we need to by 2030, things need to change, and fast. Ecotricity – as the world's first Green Energy supplier, are in a position to lead the way. They have outlined five policy initiatives that would make that target achievable.
Create a Minister for Carbon
The first Ecotricity vision is for the creation of a new ministerial role – a Minister for Carbon, who would have the power to set enforceable carbon limits across every sector in the economy. This would not only push awareness and visibility of the carbon emission issue up the political agenda, but would ensure compliance.
Related: Who are Ecotricity?
Without a dedicated government steer, the emissions issue will not be solved.
80% Green Energy by 2030
By ensuring that Britain is producing 80% of its energy from renewable, green sources by 2030, renewable energy producers will save the economy an estimated £11.7bn in fossil fuel costs. There will be savings across the board, with £1.25bn realised in health and environmental benefits. Quite simply, a cleaner environment means a healthier population.
80% green energy production is ambitious, but achievable, if government shows a willingness to invest in renewables now.
'Quantitative Greening'
The renewables energy industry needs a hand up if they are to compete with the huge investment available to fossil fuel suppliers. A massive expansion of green energy production needs massive investment, and 'Quantitative Greening' will go some way towards ameliorating costs.
End Fossil Fuel Subsidies
Ecotricity propose an end to government subsidies being paid to fossil fuel energy suppliers by 2025, saving the economy millions in public money.
Support for Electric Transport
Electric transport infrastructure and manufacturing needs more government backing. The Treasury can help move Britain towards a greener future by scrapping VAT on electric cars, thus helping to ensure that by 2030, every new car is electric. With new industry players like Google and Apple investing heavily in electric car technology, this is likely to be a growth area and the aim achievable.
Economic Sense
The proposed 2030 finishing line of 80% green energy in Britain will be a stretch, but Ecotricity has set out sound economic principles behind their proposal. They have commissioned an independent consultancy, Cambridge Econometrics, who have modelled the economic impact of a Green Britain, which supports renewable energy, electric cars and a subsequent reduction in emissions. Their economic projection foresees a GDP increase of up to £5bn if the country adopts electric cars, and savings of almost £8bn on our annual oil import bill.
Not only does greening our energy production make sound environmental sense, but it also makes financial sense. With Ecotricity leading the way with electric car infrastructure and Green Mills, there is no reason why this vision cannot be rolled out across the country, with a view to hitting the 80% target.
What is calorific value?
How to Reduce Your Energy Bills in 2016/17
ScottishPower Meter Readings and Bill Payment Options
Do businesses pay less for energy than domestic customers?
Who are Ecotricity?

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


"ΠΡΑΞΗΜΑ" is indexed in database "Ulrich's Periodicals Directory"
The "ΠΡΑΞΗMΑ. Journal of Visual Semiotics" is a periodical issue, intended for the discussion of theoretical problems of modern visual semiotics, the sphere of which includes the questions of studying the visual aspects of organization and functioning of culture as a communicative environment.
Visual semiotics is understood as a one of the new dynamic human sciences, and as an multidisciplinary field, in which methods and achievements of the "traditional", "classic" branch of the humanities interact: philosophy, cultural studies, sociology, political science, art history, religious studies, aesthetics, ethics, history, linguistics, ethnography etc.
The dominant view of the research on the theme is determined by the accentuation of communicative aspects of visual semiotics. It will give an opportunity to put into focus the relationship of visual phenomena and systems of visual phenomena with the cultural and anthropological practice. In this (pragmatic) perspective, any visual sema can and should be interpreted as praxema: sign presenting and generating certain pragmatic installations, norms and effects. Thus, the subject of visual semiotics is understood as a sphere of cultural and anthropological praxis, as a space of mutual understanding and interaction through optical expressed existentially important meanings.
This list is not completed and may be extended at the expense by attention to additional areas of visual semiotic research. The languages of this journal are Russian, English and French. For publication in the journal Editoral Board accepts papers written in the following genres: scientific article; translation of scientific article; essay; interviews; review; bibliographic review; report on the scientific event. All sent materials are reviewed.
The founder of this scientific journal is Tomsk State Pedagogical University (Russia, Tomsk).
The journal "ΠΡΑΞΗΜΑ" is included in the Scopus database.
Dear readers and authors, the journal "ΠΡΑΞΗΜΑ" is included in the Scopus database since 2018.


It's a classic story really, boy meets girl, boy and girl fall in love, boy and girl get married and dream of a future with a big family and lots of kids! But girl has issues and they find out that she may never be able to have a baby. So they pray and cry and pray and cry….and years go by. Finally one day their prayers are answered and they are able to adopt a beautiful teenie tiny 3 lb brown baby girl!! They are enchanted with her and parenthood and grateful to God for their special miracle baby! Then 2 years later they feel beyond blessed to adopt another beautiful precious baby girl with the glossiest black ringlets! They are overflowing with gratitude and wonder at the little family the Lord has given them! They are content, they are in debt, but their babies are worth it of course!! Then a few more years go by and they remember how much they dreamt of a big family and a dinner table full of little ones to cherish, & boy and girl hear about a wonderful foundation called Sacred Selections! Could it be true? Can such a thing exist? They are already so blessed with 2, would anyone consider them for more children? Girl nervously calls Dana, and with one phone call she feels she has made a lifelong connection with a sister who lives far far away!
One day the girl received a call–a baby boy is due to be born soon, but there are complications….girl calls boy, boy says God means for us to have this child, He will help us and we will not hesitate. The little baby boy is born in a NICU 3000 miles away….he has Down Syndrome and his esophagus is not attached to his stomach. He is fragile, he will need surgery(ies), he will need a feeding tube. For 5 months boy and girl fly 3000 miles to hold their baby boy and watch him struggle to thrive, but thrive he does and at 5 months old with the love, prayers and support of the dear sister and Sacred Selections they joyfully get their baby boy transported home!! Months go by and life is busy for the boy and girl. Baby boy is doing very well and they again hear the Lord reminding them of their dream for a big family! But how can they expect more? Once again dear sister calls and Sacred Selections lends their support once again! Unbeleivable, Amazing, Grateful beyond words that people will help this humble boy and girl in their quest to raise a big family in the nurture and admonition of the LORD. So with just over 2 weeks notice, boy and girl welcome another baby boy into their arms to love and to cherish and to raise up to know God and glorify Him! This baby boy was the first born close to them, so they got to hold this precious son at only 1 hour old, put into their arms by his sweet birthmother herself. Such an incredible moment and memory for the boy and girl!!
Without the blessings of the Lord and the generosity of people who donate to Sacred Selections, this boy and girl would never have been able to have the dinner table full of little ones that they always dreamed of! Thank you to each and every one of you! And we remember you every night in our prayers when we kiss our little ones soft heads and watch with wonder as they grow and learn everyday!


The importance of self-compassion and kindness can't be overstated when it comes to changing habitual reactions and responses. I've been able to change food habits because self-compassion changed my relationship to myself and eventually to food and eating; it changed the relationship from an adversarial one to one that combines affectionate curiosity and lovingkindness.
Self-loathing and self-hatred are big components of addictive eating behaviors, and I imagine of all addictive behavior. I spent years focused on the behavior, on changing it, stopping it and blamed myself bitterly every time I didn't change. Self-compassion is about forgiveness and acceptance, and I see the fruit of bringing mindful attention to myself in a gentle, loving way is a change in habitual thoughts and actions.
It's important to remember there are no goals in meditation. It took me a long time to get out of the mind set of meditating for something, meditating because I wanted something. There are no goals but there are consequences. When you are kind, gentle and affectionate with yourself it truly changes everything–and it's always in your power to do so. Every moment offers an opportunity to start again.
This entry was posted in Lovingkindness, Mindfulness and tagged compassion, forgiveness, kindness. Bookmark the permalink.


Last week, the kids and I packed up the car and took a trip 45 miles east to visit the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum in Chanhassen. First we stopped in Waconia. What a beautiful little town! I sort of have a dream of living there now. The downtown sits up on a hill overlooking the gorgeous lake. And the lake actually looked clear when we got a close-up look!
But we got to see some stuff. Here would be a nice little place for a game of uber lawn bowling. . .
The highlight of the trip (for Andrew and I anyway) was the Uff da Palace. The artist (Patrick Dougherty) sculpts these amazing structures out of willow.
Now here's a great concept for a dining room table!
These 2 were born a week apart. It's fun to watch them grow together. Andrew looks so much taller because Maya is sitting back further on the bench. In reality he's only about an inch taller.
In conclusion. . . The arboretum is nice but not on a hot day! Too much walking involved and a lot of it isn't shaded. I think the perfect time to visit here would be a day in the 70's. I will probably go back sometime in the Fall- it's probably gorgeous then! They are actually open year round. I think they allow cross-country skiing in the winter which would be fun- it's hilly there so you'd get some exercise, that's for sure!
This entry was written by Kristine Leuze, posted on May 31, 2010 at 10:42 am, filed under Etc, Family, Garden, Kid Activities and tagged Minneosta Ladcape Arboretum, Things to do in Chanhassen, University of Minnesota Arboretum. Bookmark the permalink. Follow any comments here with the RSS feed for this post. Both comments and trackbacks are currently closed.


HERSHEY, Pa. -- The Board of Trustees Committee on Finance, Business and Capital Planning today (March 19) recommended the approval of final plans and authorization of funds for a water treatment plant and distribution upgrades at University Park.
-- The development of the campus physical plant has placed increasing demands on the storage capacity of the system.
-- The concurrent growth of the University and the greater State College area has also placed the University's potable water wells at an unacceptably high risk of surface water contamination from increased amounts of storm water runoff.
-- Nearby groundwater pollution from past industrial accidents and poor waste management practices remain a chemical contamination threat.
-- The campus water supply is unusually hard, causing issues for researchers, increased maintenance on heating equipment from scaling and adverse effects to the Living Filter spray fields.
-- While the State College Borough Water Authority's system has several interconnections to Penn State's system for emergency purposes, they are unable to serve as a full backup supplier.
University Park operates an interconnected system consisting of four water tanks constructed between 1937 and 1992. In 1937 the difference between the capacity of the system when full and the lowest level to maintain sufficient water pressure represented a significant storage capacity.
Today a much higher level of water is required in the tanks at all times to maintain sufficient water pressure. The increase in pressure demand is due to increased building heights, the higher water pressure requirements of low-flow, high-efficiency plumbing fixtures and backflow protection required by the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP). This ultimately leaves storage space for only 375,000 gallons, which is less than what is required to meet the University's fire suppression needs and regulatory requirements.
A comprehensive study of the costs and benefits of multiple options has led to a balanced plan that includes a new water treatment plant and water distribution system upgrades. The plan will allow the University to meet regulatory requirements, operational demands and insurance carrier fire protection water storage standards. The new water treatment plant will be located near the intersection of Big Hollow Road and Service Road on the north side of campus.
The water treatment plant will consist of two levels. Water needing to be treated will enter the building on the lower level, while the main level will house microfiltration for bacterial and protozoan removal treatment, nanofiltration for softening and removal of future contaminants of concern and granular activated-carbon treatment facilities for removal of chemical contamination.
Concurrently, a number of changes will be made to the distribution system. Tank 1, behind the Nittany Lion Inn, will be decommissioned and repurposed for future use as non-potable water storage in a reuse water system. Tanks 3 and 4, behind Penn State's Office of Physical Plant and the golf course, respectively, will be raised to increase the water pressure and significantly increase the effective storage of the entire system. Tank 2, west of the Stuckeman Building, will be replaced with a higher tank. Finally, a ground storage tank with a capacity of 750,000 gallons will be added to the system. These changes will increase the effective storage to 3.3 million gallons.
The total project budget for the Water Treatment Plant and Distribution Upgrades is $62 million, with the majority of funding coming from the Commonwealth.


Christopher Lochhead's new book, "Play Bigger", is an absolute game changer. If you have a product, service, message or business, and you want to be number one in the category where you serve, you need to stop what you are doing and listen to this show and reorient around the counsel. As I am, and we at Ziglar are! More important than the quality of what you offer and even your brand, is understanding the category your business is in, and designing around it. You'll need to listen in to fully understand, but it will excite you like nothing else. This is a new movement folks. Find Christopher at www.legendsandlosers.com which is the name of his incredible podcast. And thanks to Freshbooks and Paypal for supporting this episode!


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History of Vaccines Launches Sites in Arabic, Hindi, and Urdu
Award-winning HistoryofVaccines.org, a project of The College of Physicians of Philadelphia, builds upon its success to reach new global audiences, filling a need for global vaccine history education.
Spit Spreads Death: Let's start here! Researching an interactive artwork
Artist Matt Adams is one of the founders of UK-based contemporary artists' group Blast Theory. He is collaborating with the Mütter Museum, along with historical curator Jane E. Boyd, and art curator Trevor Smith, to create a centerpiece for the Mütter's forthcoming major exhibition Spit Spreads Death. Here he explains his artistic approach to creating an interactive piece for a medical history museum.
Spit Spreads Death: The expression of cultural DNA: art, history, and storytelling
Last week, Curator of the Present Tense of the Peabody Essex Museum and Arts Curator for the Pew Center for Arts and Heritage Discovery Grant Trevor Smith shared his insight into the development of Spit Spreads Death, an exhibit coming to the Mütter in 2018.
Spit Spreads Death: Using contemporary art to interpret a century-old epidemic
Trevor Smith, curator of the present tense at the Peabody Essex Museum, has partnered with the Mütter Museum to help develop our upcoming exhibit, Spit Spreads Death. We've asked him to share what brought him to working on this project and how the exhibit team came to choose artist collective Blast Theory to interpret the epidemic for a modern audience.
Now Accepting Applications for Teen Summer Programs
We offer a variety of successful science-oriented programs especially for Philadelphia teens from low-income families, communities affected by violence, and youth who identify as LGBTQ.
Applications are due April 28, 2017.


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Q: PHP date not parsed probably I have an array of date strings like this in php.
28.09.18 13:42
28.09.18 14:12
28.09.18 21:18
28.09.18 21:23
28.09.18 21:28
10.04.19 23:36

My goal is to change the format to something like Y-m-d H:i:s. So I try this code.
foreach($dates as $date) {
    echo date('Y-m-d', strtotime($date)).PHP_EOL;
}

The output looks like this:
2018-09-28
2018-09-28
2018-09-28
2018-09-28
2018-09-28
1970-01-01

As you can see the last date is wrong. Why it's not parsed probably? Is there any solution for this?

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
Home > News > featured news > McNeilus Redesigns Parts Brands to Better Serve All Fleets' Replacement Parts Needs
McNeilus Redesigns Parts Brands to Better Serve All Fleets' Replacement Parts Needs
McNeilus | January 15, 2022
McNeilus Truck and Manufacturing, Inc., a subsidiary of Oshkosh Corporation, is reorganizing its replacement parts business to provide customers with two unique alternatives for acquiring the parts they need when they need them — regardless of the brand or model of their fleets.
Street Smart PartsTM and McNeilus® Genuine Components offer high-quality parts, vehicle lifetime support, and online ordering 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The distinction is that Street Smart Parts provides replacement parts for all makes and models of concrete mixers and garbage collection trucks. In contrast, McNeilus Genuine Parts offers replacement parts for McNeilus-manufactured vehicles alone.
McNeilus' objective is to keep client fleets operational. These component brands accomplish that purpose, mainly when supply chain concerns may cause customers to choose repair over replacement.
"Our customers need a partner that can help them keep their business running—without the middleman or the runaround—and they have that in McNeilus,"
- Matt McLeish, Vice President of Sales and Marketing-McNeilus Refuse Collection Vehicles.
And they're getting full lifecycle support, not just for the McNeilus trucks in their fleet but for their entire fleet, with our two replacement parts brands,added Peter Gallette, Vice President of Sales and Marketing-McNeilus Mixer Platform.
Street Smart Components
McNeilus has reintroduced the Street Smart Parts brand as a dedicated source for competitor replacement parts created and tested to match or exceed OEM specifications. The brand now has a fresh logo and a broader selection of replacement components for all makes and models of vehicles. When combined with McNeilus Genuine Parts, clients benefit from a one-stop-shop dedicated to offering high-quality replacement parts that meet the requirements of any fleet, regardless of its composition.
Genuine McNeilus Components
McNeilus assists customers in minimizing vehicle downtime and maximizing the performance of their fleets. McNeilus Genuine Parts will meet your expectations for every McNeilus model. These OEM components were developed exclusively for McNeilus products by engineers dedicated to the concrete and trash-collecting sectors. In addition, all of our products are supported by the power of our parent business, Oshkosh Corporation, which possesses unmatched competence in the design and manufacture of severe-duty vehicles for the most challenging situations.
10 REASONS WHY YOU NEED ERP-BASED PLM
In today's manufacturing companies, CAD, PLM and ERP solutions are traditionally implemented as stand-alone solutions, which each has its own data structure, interface and capabilities to fulfill Engineering, Operations and Manufacturing requirements respectively. However, with the rise of Industry 4.0, for manufacturers to stay competitive they must be able to implement solutions that interconnect information and processes not only across the internal enterprise and departments but external partners and suppliers as well.
More featured news
Ouster and Cyngyn partner to Deliver Lidar-Powered Autonomy Technology
Ouster | January 04, 2023
Ouster Inc, a preeminent supplier of top-grade digital lidar sensors has entered into a strategic partnership with autonomous driving solutions provider, Cyngn. In 2023, Ouster's new REV7 digital lidar sensors will be added to the Cyngn DriveMod platform to provide autonomous solutions for current and upcoming material-handling vehicles. At CES 2023, Ouster will showcase Cyngn's DriveMod platform, equipped with a REV7 sensor on a Columbia Stockchaser cargo vehicle Ouster and Cyngn are teaming up to provide innovative autonomous solutions to help industrial organizations tackle common challenges, such as labor shortages, costly safety incidents, and increased consumer demand for e-commerce. Their self-driving solutions allow vehicle fleets to operate with little to no human intervention. Ouster and Cyngn can help pave the way for a more efficient, safer, and cost-effective future. Cyngyn stated that its DriveMod was developed to enable faster and more cost-effective deployments of industrial autonomy solutions, thus addressing scalability and adoption issues that can impede companies wishing to benefit from increased automation. In addition, DriveMod simplifies what could otherwise be a complicated installation process and necessitates high-performance sensor technology, such as Ouster lidar sensors, to maximize the vehicle's self-driving capabilities. DriveMod is a comprehensive autonomy integration package that transforms industrial vehicles into fully autonomous ones through the integration of lidar sensors, hardware components, and AI software. This is available for installation in new cars during production or retrofitted into existing vehicles. About Ouster Ouster'shigh-resolution digital lidar sensors for the automotive, industrial, smart infrastructure, and robotics industries are contributing to a safer and more sustainable future. Ouster's sensors provide a good price-to-performance ratio, the flexibility to cover hundreds of use cases, and unprecedented autonomy across multiple industries. With a global staff and high-volume production, Ouster serves over 50 countries and over 700 customers. With offices in the Americas, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and the Middle East, Ouster is headquartered in San Francisco, California.
Helios Technologies to Acquire Schultes Precision Manufacturing
Helios Technologies, Inc. | January 19, 2023
Helios Technologies, Inc., a global technology leader in the hydraulics and electronics markets, has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Schultes Precision Manufacturing, Inc. Schultes, a precision machined components and assemblies manufacturer for customers with extremely tight tolerances, excellent quality, and exceptional value-added manufacturing process requirements. Schultes consistently delivers manufacturing quality, reliability, and responsiveness crucial to its customers' success and is currently serving the communication, hydraulic, aerospace, food services, medical devices, and dental industries. Schultes acquisition will help Helios move into new end markets with complementary manufacturing expertise and favorable secular tailwinds. It will also open new avenues into communication, food services, communication, as well as the life sciences sector, including those for medical devices and dental applications. As a strategic partner, Schultes, gives Helios more depth in manufacturing processes which can be used to expand its "in the region for the region" strategy. In 2022, Schultes had roughly $30 million in revenue, and currently operates from its newly expanded 110,000 square foot facility based on seven acres with roughly 20,000 square feet of additional space for future growth. In addition, Schultes provides rapid growth applications to its customers, from prototype to full-rate production. Josef Matosevic, Helios' President and Chief Executive Officer, said, "Schultes is an excellent bolt-on flywheel acquisition to add to our Hydraulics segment. It brings process technology and know-how that advances our ability to serve our customers with a broader product and solutions portfolio." He further added, "It also expands and diversifies our markets and continues to optimize our manufacturing and operating footprint. Schultes is yet another strong standalone business with a healthy margin profile that fits perfectly into our Hydraulics business. This transaction is another milestone that further validates that we are making great progress against our augmented strategy and long-term goals." (Source – Businesswire) Helios expects the acquisition to be completed in the first quarter of 2023, subjected to customary closing conditions. The terms were not disclosed. About Helios Technologies, Inc. Helios Technologies is a leading motion control and electronic controls technology provider for a wide range of end markets, such as agriculture, construction, energy, material handling, recreational vehicles, maritime, and health and wellness. It develops and manufactures innovative products and solutions, including customized electronic control systems, hydraulic cartridge valves and quick-release couplings. Helios' products are sold to customers in over 90 countries worldwide. The company's growth plan is to be the leading provider of premier products and solutions in niche areas through innovative product creation and acquisition.
CESMII, Amatrol Introduce Smart Manufacturing Learning System
Amatrol | November 16, 2022
To satisfy the growing demand for hands-on learning in Smart Manufacturing and Industry 4.0 technologies, CESMII, the Smart Manufacturing Institute, has partnered with Amatrol to offer the Smart Manufacturing Learning System (990-SM10). This self-contained workstation combines hardware, industrial software, and in-depth exercises to educate learners at all levels of expertise in smart manufacturing methodologies. Additional partners contributing to this important initiative include the OPC Foundation, Microsoft, Rockwell Automation, and Phoenix Contact. "Today's manufacturing professionals need hands-on training and exercises for implementing the latest data capture and cloud analytics solutions to digitally enable small- and medium-size manufacturers to make decisions in real-time, This system accelerates the hands-on learning curve for professionals, regardless of their skills and background, teaching them to envision, develop, and sustain practical solutions using real-world, best-in-class methodologies." -Conrad Leiva Vice President of Ecosystem & Workforce Development, CESMII. The Smart Manufacturing Learning System (SMLS) is designed to create an ideal, portable, standardized training environment for equipping all types of manufacturing stakeholders with the practical, hands-on skills they need to begin or advance their smart manufacturing journey. It is designed to facilitate training for low-cost, entry-level smart manufacturing practitioners, as well as the most advanced, modern OT/IT design and implementation architectures and approaches. "Amatrol is excited to now offer a workstation that focuses on Smart Manufacturing and Industry 4.0 capabilities, Partnering with CESMII is an important step in training the next generation Smart Factory and Automation technicians." -Paul Perkins President, Amatrol. The SMLS™ doesn't just stop with the hardware itself. As part of CESMII's workforce development initiatives, the workstations will be accompanied by optional training curriculum geared to connect the link between smart manufacturing and better business practices, delivering the training through the lens of relevant manufacturing experiences. This is an important element of CESMII's education and training strategy, which, in partnership with SME will enable holistic, broad-based education for students and manufacturers of all sizes and types. Among other roles, this SMLS is aimed at the 'citizen technologist' who may not have prior knowledge of automation or IT systems, said CESMII CEO, John Dyck. This will enable us, together with our partners at the National MEP Network to equip the thousands of small and mid-sized manufacturing practitioners across the country, inspiring them to engage in an affordable and sustainable smart manufacturing journey. About CESMII: CESMII – the Smart Manufacturing Institute – is a public/private partnership committed to transforming the U.S. manufacturing market. Its mission is to enhance U.S. manufacturing productivity, global competitiveness, and reinvestment by increasing energy productivity, improving economic performance and raising workforce capacity. About Amatrol: Amatrol creates innovative, interactive technical learning solutions for industry and education to equip technicians and operators with the skills they need to adapt and thrive in a rapidly changing workplace. Our passion has led us to the forefront of the Technical Education market in both hands-on, skill-building educational labs and highly detailed and expansive curriculum. Our technical learning systems are utilized by many types of organizations, including community colleges, industry training centers, high schools, universities, apprenticeship training centers, and vocational training and education centers.