Australian Ocean Bottom Seismograph Fleet Data for Marine Seismic Surveys

A fleet of Australian ocean bottom seismographs (OBSs) with broadband frequency range, available at only five or six institutions globally. The multi-purpose devices record passive-source seismic data like earthquakes and ambient noise, as well as active-source data from airgun arrays, while also monitoring survey noise and whale calls. Data collected during commercial seismic surveys in Australian waters can image the velocity distribution of the crust and upper mantle.

Use Cases

• Imaging crust and upper mantle velocity distribution based on analysis of reflected and refracted seismic phases.
• Monitoring seismic survey noise and whale calls for environmental impact assessment based on the OBSs' multi-purpose capability.
• Analyzing S-waves in addition to conventional P-waves based on the three-component recording capability of the instruments.
• Obtaining regional-scale geological information as a by-product of commercial seismic surveys based on the described methodology.

Strengths

• Instruments have a broadband frequency range and are globally rare, available at only five or six institutions.
• Devices are multi-purpose, capable of recording both passive-source (earthquakes, noise) and active-source (airgun) data simultaneously.
• Data collection includes three-component recording, enabling analysis of both P-waves and S-waves.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Description metadata is limited; actual data quality requires manual inspection after download.

Provenance

Source

Australian Ocean Data Network

Collection Method

Data collected by ocean bottom seismographs during commercial seismic surveys.

Time Range

Abstract presented at the 2017 APPEA Conference; specific data collection dates are unknown.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-06-27 19:05:32.873479; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Australian waters.