A compact, low-impact seismic source reshapes monitoring of offshore CO2 storage
Journal
International Journal of Greenhouse Gas Control
Journal Volume
153
Start Page
104644
ISSN
1750-5836
Date Issued
2026-06
Author(s)
Tsuji, Takeshi
Imam, Tarek
Ahmad, Ahmad
Sakamoto, Kazutoshi
Kioka, Arata
Tsuru, Tetsuro
Hutapea, Fernando
Ueki, Masaharu
Guan, Zhuo-Kang
Lin, Chun-Hung
Abstract
We developed a low-cost, environmentally friendly seismic source for monitoring nearshore CO₂ storage sites where the operation of conventional large seismic vessels is impractical. The compact speaker-type source (<100 kg) is ∼100 times lighter than conventional airgun seismic sources, while still providing sufficient energy to monitor deep CO₂ reservoirs through stacking of highly repeatable signals. Field experiments demonstrate that stacking approximately 10 shots produces signal amplitudes exceeding those of a conventional small airgun source. Furthermore, at a planned CO2 storage site, the CO2 storage reservoir was successfully imaged to depths greater than 2 km in reflection seismic profiles, demonstrating the feasibility of monitoring injected CO2. The source can be deployed from small vessels, including autonomous surface vessels, and minimizes risk to marine life due to its low acoustic pressure. In addition, we confirm its compatibility with distributed acoustic sensing (DAS), enabling continuous, high spatiotemporal resolution monitoring. This seismic source has the potential to transform monitoring schemes for offshore CO2 storage sites and provides a realistic pathway toward automated, low-cost, and scalable monitoring.
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Type
journal article