1. A seismic surveying arrangement, comprising:
a first array of seismic sources configured to provide imaging data about an underlying geological structure;
a second array of seismic sources configured to generate a set of waves that travel substantially within a near surface layer;
control means for actuating the first and second array of seismic sources substantially simultaneously; and
a receiver array for recording seismic data from the first array of seismic sources and the second array of seismic sources.
2. The seismic surveying arrangement of claim 1, wherein the frequency range of a set of waves generated by the first array of seismic sources does not overlap with the frequency range of the set of waves generated by the second array of seismic sources.
3. The seismic surveying arrangement of claim 1, wherein the control means is configured to actuate one of the first and second array of seismic sources a predetermined time after actuating the other of the first and second array of seismic sources.
4. The seismic surveying arrangement of claim 3, wherein the control means is configured to actuate the second array of seismic sources a predetermined time before actuating the first array of seismic sources.
5. The seismic surveying arrangement of claim 3, wherein the predetermined time is less than 1.0 second.
6. The seismic surveying arrangement of claim 1, wherein the first array of seismic sources and the second array of seismic sources are separated from the receiver array by substantially the same distance.
7. The seismic surveying arrangement of claim 1, wherein the second array of seismic sources is separated from the first array of seismic sources in a radial direction from the perspective of the receiver array.
8. The seismic surveying arrangement of claim 1, wherein the distance between the receiver array and the second array of seismic sources is less than the distance between the receiver array and the first array of seismic sources.
9. The seismic surveying arrangement of claim 1, wherein the second array of seismic sources comprises electromagnetic shear vibrators.
10. The seismic surveying arrangement of claim 1, wherein the second array of seismic sources are configured to provide statics data about the near surface layer.
11. The seismic surveying arrangement of claim 7, wherein the first array of seismic sources and the second array of seismic sources are separated from the receiver array by substantially the same distance.
12. A seismic surveying arrangement, comprising:
a first array of seismic sources configured to provide imaging data about an underlying geological structure;
a second array of seismic sources configured to generate a set of waves that travel substantially within a near surface layer;
control means for actuating the first and second array of seismic sources substantially simultaneously; and
a receiver array for recording seismic data from the first array of seismic sources and the second array of seismic sources, wherein the distance separating the second array of seismic sources from the first array of seismic sources is selected to provide a time delay between the arrival of a direct wave from the second array of seismic sources at the receiver array and the arrival of a direct wave from the first array of seismic sources at the receiver array.
13. The seismic surveying arrangement of claim 12, wherein the frequency range of the second array of seismic sources ranges from about 150 Hz to about 200 Hz.
The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.
1-24. (canceled)
25. A method for allocating an appointment time window to derive an optimal service schedule for a service provider, comprising the steps of:
generating a statistical service schedule estimate for a predetermined service time period, said statistical service schedule estimate comprising a set of statistically-derived service orders;
(a) receiving an actual service order to fulfill in said predetermined service time period;
(b) imposing a scheduled time on said actual service order to derive an optimal time window in which to fulfill said actual service order;
(c) comparing said actual service order to said set of statistically-derived service orders for determining a most closely related service order from said set of statistically-derived service orders;
(d) replacing said most closely related service order with said actual service order creating a modified service order set;
(e) generating a modified service schedule based on said modified service order set; and
(f) repeating steps (a) through (e) in response to the receipt of additional actual service orders for generating an optimal service schedule.
26. The method of claim 25, further comprising the step of:
(a) approving a time window associated with said most closely related service order with a customer prior to said step of replacing said most closely related service order with said actual service order;
(b) determining a next most closely related service order in an instance where said customer does not approve said time window associated with said most closely related service order wherein said next most closely related service order is now treated as said most closely related service order; and
repeating steps (a) and (b) until said customer approves said time window associated with said most closely related statistically-derived service order.
27. The method of claim 25, wherein said scheduled time of said actual service order is centered within said optimal time window.
28. The method of claim 25, wherein the daily schedule comprises a plurality of individual workforce member schedules.
29. The method of claim 28, wherein the correlation score is computed based on a plurality of variables wherein the variables comprise:
a service order skill level required to complete the service order; a workforce skill level denoting an ability level of the individual workforce members; and a geographic location denoting where the service order is to be performed.
30. The method of claim 28, wherein the step of creating a statistical estimate further comprises the steps of: creating a database comprising estimated service orders; updating the database with the first and subsequent actual service orders; and refining the statistical estimate based upon the updated database.
31. The method of claim 28, wherein the step of determining the estimated time window for service orders further comprises determining a plurality of potential estimated time windows and wherein a customer chooses a specific time window from the plurality of potential estimated time windows and wherein the chosen specific time window becomes fixed in the daily schedule.
32. The method of claim 31, wherein the daily schedule for a workforce can be recomputed while maintaining the chosen specific time windows as a fixed constraint in the daily schedule, and wherein the daily schedule can be optimized with respect to several variables comprising: a first skill level required to complete the service order; a second skill level denoting an ability level of the individual workforce members; and a geographic location denoting where the service order is to be performed; and a travel time and distance between the geographic location denoting where the service is to be performed.
33. The method of claim 29 wherein the correlation score is used to inform, influence or otherwise affect the price for which a service is offered.
34. The method of claim 31 wherein the choosing of a specific time window by the customer is influenced by additional price information related to each time window option.
35. The method of claim 25 wherein the service time period over which a group of service orders are allocated or distributed can be minutes, hours, days, weeks, months, years or any combination thereof, and the fulfillment time windows on said actual service orders can be hours, days, weeks, months, years or any combination thereof.
36. The method of claim 25 wherein the optimized schedule for each individual workforce member can include non-work tasks, generated or selected by the individual workforce member that are allocated together with the service orders.
37. The method of claim 31 wherein the individual workforce member can select from a plurality of potential estimated time windows for specific non-work tasks and wherein the individual workforce member chooses a specific time window from the plurality of potential estimated time windows and wherein the chosen specific time window becomes fixed in the daily schedule.
38. The method of claim 31 wherein an individual workforce member can objectively review a potential new task, generated by the worker or an external system or individual, in the context of the existing daily schedule, so that the individual worker can determine whether or not to include the potential new task in their current daily schedule.
39. The method of claim 25 where future personnel requirements and optimized work territories are determined by filling days to pre-defined capacity levels.