Touch down monitoring of an ocean bottom seismic node

1. A system for the deployment of seismic nodes on or near the seabed, comprising

a plurality of seismic nodes coupled to a cable and configured to be deployed into a body of water from the back deck of a surface vessel; and

at least one underwater vehicle, wherein the underwater vehicle comprises

a propulsion system configured to steer and propel the vehicle in a body of water;

an automatic tracking system configured to track the deployment position of each of the plurality of seismic nodes; and

a communications system configured to communicate at least one position of each of the plurality of seismic nodes with the surface vessel.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the underwater vehicle is an autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV).

3. The system of claim 1 , wherein the underwater vehicle is a remotely operated vehicle (ROV).

4. The system of claim 1 , wherein the communications system is a tethered communications system.

5. The system of claim 1 , wherein the communications system is an acoustic communications system.

6. The system of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of seismic nodes comprises a plurality of autonomous seismic nodes coupled to a deployment cable.

7. The system of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of seismic nodes comprises a plurality of sensors coupled to an ocean bottom cable.

8. The system of claim 1 , wherein the surface vessel is configured to modify the deployment of the plurality of seismic nodes based on communications received from the underwater vehicle.

9. The system of claim 1 , wherein the tracking system is configured to track the cable between each of the plurality of seismic nodes.

10. The system of claim 1 , wherein the tracking system is configured to identify the ID, position, depth, and height of each seismic node upon touchdown with the seabed.

11. The system of claim 1 , further comprising a second underwater vehicle, wherein the second underwater vehicle monitors the plurality of seismic nodes at a first depth in the sea and the first underwater vehicle monitors the plurality of seismic nodes on or near the seabed.

12. The system of claim 1 , wherein the underwater vehicle is configured to monitor the touchdown position of a plurality of seismic nodes on the seabed and communicate the touchdown position of each of the plurality of seismic nodes with the surface vessel at approximately the same time as touchdown.

13. The system of claim 1 , further comprising a second surface vessel, wherein the second surface vessel is configured to communicate with the underwater vehicle.

14. The system of claim 1 , further comprising a guidance system configured to guide the deployment cable from the surface vessel based upon node position data determined by the tracking system.

15. A subsea tracking system for the deployment of a plurality of seismic nodes on the seabed, comprising

a node tracking system, configured to automatically detect the position of each of the plurality of seismic nodes during deployment to the seabed;

a cable tracking system, configured to automatically detect a portion of a cable between each of the plurality of seismic nodes; and

a communications system, configured to transmit the position of the each of the plurality of nodes to a surface vessel.

16. The system of claim 15 , wherein the subsea tracking system is located on an AUV.

17. The system of claim 15 , wherein the subsea tracking system is located on an ROV.

18. The system of claim 15 , wherein the node tracking system is configured to confirm the touchdown position of each of the plurality of seismic nodes.

19. The system of claim 15 , wherein the node tracking system is configured to identify the ID, position, depth, and height of each seismic node upon touchdown with the seabed.

20. The system of claim 15 , wherein the node tracking system comprises a camera tracking system.

21. The system of claim 15 , wherein the node tracking system comprises a sonar tracking system.

22. A method for the deployment of a plurality of seismic nodes on or near the seabed, comprising

positioning an underwater vehicle proximate to the seabed;

deploying a plurality of seismic nodes from a surface vessel, wherein the nodes are coupled to a cable;

determining a node position of each of the plurality of seismic nodes by the underwater vehicle;

automatically tracking each of the plurality of seismic nodes by the underwater vehicle and monitoring a touchdown position of each of the plurality of seismic nodes by the underwater vehicle; and

communicating to the surface vessel the node position of one or more of the plurality of seismic nodes.

23. The method of claim 22 , wherein the node position comprises position coordinates, depth, and height of the node.

24. The method of claim 22 , further comprising determining a plurality of subsea positions of each of the plurality of seismic nodes and communicating to the surface vessel the node positions.

25. The method of claim 22 , further comprising determining a position of one or more of the plurality of nodes by automatically tracking a portion of the cable that is located between the nodes.

26. The method of claim 22 , further comprising modifying the deployment position of the cable from the surface vessel based on the touchdown positions of one or more of the plurality of seismic nodes.

27. The method of claim 22 , further comprising modifying the deployment position of the deployment cable from the surface vessel based on one or more predicted touchdown positions of the plurality of seismic nodes.

28. The method of claim 22 , further comprising modifying the deployment position of the cable from the surface vessel based on a difference between the actual touchdown position of a node and a predetermined seabed position of the node.