AUV technology for seabed characterization and geohazards assessment

Campbell, Kerry J.; Kinnear, Stephen; Thame, Alick

doi:10.1190/tle34020170.1

Cited by 20 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 8 publications

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“…While advances are being made in data acquisition (Vardy et al . ; Soubaras and Dowle ; Campbell, Kinnear and Thame ), short‐offset reprocessing (Vanneste et al . ), and inverse modelling to determine geotechnical properties (Vardy ; Vardy et al .…”

Section: Marine Geohazards and Conventional Assessment Techniquesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Direct monitoring of active geohazards: emerging geophysical tools for deep‐water assessments

Clare

Vardy

Cartigny

et al. 2017

Near Surface Geophysics

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Seafloor networks of cables, pipelines, and other infrastructure underpin our daily lives, providing communication links, information, and energy supplies. Despite their global importance, these networks are vulnerable to damage by a number of natural seafloor hazards, including landslides, turbidity currents, fluid flow, and scour. Conventional geophysical techniques, such as high‐resolution reflection seismic and side‐scan sonar, are commonly employed in geohazard assessments. These conventional tools provide essential information for route planning and design; however, such surveys provide only indirect evidence of past processes and do not observe or measure the geohazard itself. As such, many numerical‐based impact models lack field‐scale calibration, and much uncertainty exists about the triggers, nature, and frequency of deep‐water geohazards. Recent advances in technology now enable a step change in their understanding through direct monitoring. We outline some emerging monitoring tools and how they can quantify key parameters for deep‐water geohazard assessment. Repeat seafloor surveys in dynamic areas show that solely relying on evidence from past deposits can lead to an under‐representation of the geohazard events. Acoustic Doppler current profiling provides new insights into the structure of turbidity currents, whereas instrumented mobile sensors record the nature of movement at the base of those flows for the first time. Existing and bespoke cabled networks enable high bandwidth, low power, and distributed measurements of parameters such as strain across large areas of seafloor. These techniques provide valuable new measurements that will improve geohazard assessments and should be deployed in a complementary manner alongside conventional geophysical tools.

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Section: Marine Geohazards and Conventional Assessment Techniquesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Direct monitoring of active geohazards: emerging geophysical tools for deep‐water assessments

Clare

Vardy

Cartigny

et al. 2017

Near Surface Geophysics

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“…To provide high‐resolution imagery of seabed morphology, shallow soil variations, and the presence of benthic communities and to ensure that archaeological artefacts were recognised and avoided, an AUV survey (George et al . ; Campbell, Kinnear and Thame ) was acquired over a 6 × 6 mile survey area (Figure ) to comply with local regulations (Bureau of Ocean Energy Management ).…”

Section: Autonomous Underwater Vehicle Seabed Surveysmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…to ensure that archaeological artefacts were recognised and avoided, an AUV survey (George et al 2002;Campbell, Kinnear and Thame 2015) was acquired over a 6 × 6 mile survey area ( Figure 1) to comply with local regulations (Bureau of Ocean Energy Management 2009).…”

Section: Introduction and Approachmentioning

confidence: 99%

Identifying and mitigating against potential seafloor and shallow drilling hazards at a complex Gulf of Mexico Deepwater site using HR3D seismic and AUV data

Kassarie

Mitchell

Albertin

et al. 2017

Near Surface Geophysics

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This paper presents an integrated and iterative approach to the identification and understanding of seafloor and shallow geohazards at a complex geologic setting in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico. The approach, focusing on geophysical data gathering and processing, allowed continuous improvement in the understanding of individual geohazard risks ahead of any eventual selection of wildcat drilling locations. The progressive development of increased image resolution has included the use of the following data types: exploration 3D, autonomous underwater vehicle seabed clearance, short‐offset 3D, a full‐waveform inversion velocity model, HR3D acquisition, HR3D, autonomous underwater vehicle high‐resolution sonar, and seabed photographic transects. Data have assisted in revealing the presence and the understanding of, numerous seafloor and sub‐seafloor geologic features that could potentially affect the choice of well location, well trajectory, and final drilling practices. Features that have been defined have included active benthic communities, widespread seafloor faulting, multi‐scale active seabed expulsion features, slope‐failure scarps, mass transport complexes, shallow gas, and various effects from the presence and transmission of shallow overpressure towards the seafloor. The final, integrated geologic model that is developed will allow selection of well surface locations and trajectories that meet local regulatory requirements for safe drilling and environmental protection, as well as the adoption of safe drilling practices to mitigate identified hazards.

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“…A hull-mounted geophysical survey was subsequently undertaken and the results used to design a more resolute AUV (autonomous underwater vehicle; see Campbell et al, 2015 for more details) route survey. Also as in Project A, the Project B operator had no subject matter experts in deepwater site investigation or shallow geohazard assessment on staff.…”

Section: Project Bmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Campbell et al (2015) provide a good overview of current AUV technology for seafloor mapping and geohazard assessment. The primary value of concept stage AUV surveys is to provide high-resolution seafloor and shallow sub-seafloor data early in a project, when the data can be used to support field layout and pipeline route concept evaluations.…”

Section: Auv Geophysical Datamentioning

confidence: 99%

Concept Stage Site Assessments, Deepwater Development Risks, and Long-Term Value Preservation: Why Getting it Right the First Time is More Important Than Ever

Haneberg

Campbell

Mackenzie

2016

Day 3 Thu, March 24, 2016

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Concept stage site assessments based on exploration 3D seismic data and other existing information are critical elements in the deepwater field development sequence. Such assessments help create value by defining site conditions and geohazards that may eventually constrain development, which in turn allows risks to be properly evaluated before significant development decisions are made. Several decades of deepwater development consulting experience, however, have shown that-despite their great valueconcept stage site assessments are often not undertaken because 1) decision makers do not know that the assessments should or could be performed, or 2) there is a misconception that money can be saved by skipping steps or executing steps out of sequence in order to fast-track a development. As shown by way of two examples, decisions not to perform concept stage site assessments-even in cases where the necessary data are already available and free of additional cost-can be expensive mistakes that result in project delays if surveys have to be repeated or field layouts changed. In other words, human decision makers become significant and-unlike those associated with geohazards-largely indefinable elements of risk if short-term savings accrued by doing it wrong the first time are prioritized while the potentially more significant costs of having to do it right the second time are marginalized.

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AUV technology for seabed characterization and geohazards assessment

Cited by 20 publications

References 8 publications

Direct monitoring of active geohazards: emerging geophysical tools for deep‐water assessments

Direct monitoring of active geohazards: emerging geophysical tools for deep‐water assessments

Identifying and mitigating against potential seafloor and shallow drilling hazards at a complex Gulf of Mexico Deepwater site using HR3D seismic and AUV data

Concept Stage Site Assessments, Deepwater Development Risks, and Long-Term Value Preservation: Why Getting it Right the First Time is More Important Than Ever

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