As a cableless seismic acquisition platform, INOVA’s Hawk autonomous nodal system allows companies to deploy equipment across challenging, rugged terrains. This technology supersedes cableless systems previously developed by ION, one of which won the exploration technology category of Hart Energy’s 2009 Meritorious Awards for Engineering Innovation.

The Hawk system allows service providers to reduce their HSE exposure with lightweight equipment that is convenient to carry and that can decrease environmental impact. “With a small footprint, INOVA’s cableless products are environmentally conscious, ideal for areas where developed infrastructure such as highways, roads, cities, farms or producing oil and gas fields are present or in areas where steep cliffs, foothills and mountains might pose a significant challenge for cable-based systems,” said Dennis Pavel, INOVA’s strategic director of acquisition products.

The system does not require radio infrastructure such as repeater towers and cross line radio connectivity and can be easily integrated for use with existing acquisition systems. The technology includes Bluetooth and Wi-Fi for local and long-range communication between the field crews and equipment, which can improve operations involving deployment, equipment status collection and field data harvesting with minimal power consumption. Constructed of aluminum alloy, Hawk’s housing protects the ground station electronics from the rough handling of seismic field crews while continuing to function in the harshest terrains.

By employing one of two field tool options—the Connex HarvestTool or Connex FieldTool—crews gain visibility into spread quality and seismic data via Wi-Fi or Bluetooth without retrieving stations from the field. Using these quality-control (QC) tools, crews can check the hardware status of the field stations, including their memory usage, battery voltage, GPS performance and sensor operations in addition to gaining insight into geophysical performance by monitoring ambient noise levels and collecting sample seismic data.

“A unique feature of the Hawk system is field station support for a variety of sensor options. Each field station unit can contain up to three analog channels supporting any combination of 1C or 3C geophones and a digital interface for INOVA’s MEMS family of 1C and 3C digital sensors. Separate field station units for use with analog and digital sensors are not required,” Pavel said.

When Tesla Exploration Ltd. was selected for the Willesden Green 3-D/3-C seismic acquisition project near Rocky Mountain House in Alberta, Canada, the company recommended the Hawk system to its client. The winter deployment covered 260 sq km (100 sq miles) and required a system that could offer robust recording reliability in frigid temperatures, rugged durability in cold field handling and flexibility for crew operations. In addition, a helicopter equipped with the Connex HarvestTool offered fly-by spread QC to verify that stations were recording properly and not being affected by weather or tampered with by people or animals.

“Even fully buried in snow, Hawk units maintained their GPS lock and continuously recorded high-quality data,” according to the case study. “The QC crew reported no issues with Wi-Fi technology performance in the snow-covered terrain, and the efficient operation quickly dispelled concerns about battery run time in the cold climate. Despite the cold temperatures, batteries performed according to specifications.

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