Micro Electro Mechanical Systems (MEMS) Accelerometers were brought into the seismic world almost twenty years ago. At the time, surely they were touted as the latest technological breakthrough, and promised as the impending industry seismic shift (no pun intended) to replace the analog sensors and revolutionize data acquisition as we knew it.
While the full digitalization of recording sensors has not yet occurred, the importance of MEMS in in certain geophysical situations has been established as highly valuable. Furthermore, the importance of 3 component MEMS (such as Sercel DSU-3) has become an extremely valuable tool in understanding complex geophysical environments.
Some of the benefits to using a Sercel DSU-3 type recording channel are recording better quality P-Waves, with no pick up noise and cross-talk, and a linear amplitude response from 0-800Hz. It is also backwards compatible with Sercel 408 and 428 acquisition systems with a lower power consumption than using a conventional FDU with analog sensors.
One of the arguments of the past against using digital sensors was the high cost involved in sourcing and deploying MEMS type sensors. While the cost of new MEMS acquisition systems has steadily come down due to manufacturing improvements, market condition, and the emergence of competitive systems, the cost per channel still remains above the cost of deploying a conventional digital acquisition system with analog sensors.
Luckily, now there exist some very exciting possibilities to deploy MEMS acquisition channels unlike any other time. Because of the new emergence of another (sorry for the term) seismic shift in technology with the growth of nodal and cable less recording systems, the economics of deploying a cabled MEMS system at a high density is suddenly economically viable.
For example, today, you could purchase 6,000 units of Sercel-DSU3 complete for a similar rate that it would cost to purchase 1,000 channels of a new cabled acquisition system with 12 per geophones. That has got to get some geophysicists very excited!
Please contact us if you would like to discuss the availability of Sercel DSU3 channels or if you have any other questions about MEMS sensors.