Monitoring the acoustic field of seismic survey pulses in the near-coastal zone

The paper describes monitoring of seismic survey parameters conducted during 4-D seismic surveying at the Pil’tun-Astokh hydrocarbon deposit on the northeastern shelf of Sakhalin Island at the boundary of the near-coastal Pil’tun gray whale feeding area. Acoustic measurements were performed in the frequency range of 2–15000 Hz using 12 autonomous underwater acoustic recorders, of which three were deployed at the 10-m isobath and nine were equipped with digital radiotelemetry channels and deployed at the 20-m isobath along a line extending 20 km. In real time, the shore-based radio receiver station received over the digital radiotelemetry channels acoustic data from nine observation points, measured in the frequency range of 2–2000 Hz. The influence of the hydrology and bathymetry on the seismic survey pulse propagation to the near-coastal zone is studied experimentally and theoretically.