Drone swarm-based seismic surveying for oil exploration and landmine detection

A system for detecting an underground object based on seismic surveying includes a seismic wave generator configured to transmit seismic shock waves from an Earth surface into a subsurface region, and a laser Doppler vibrometer (LDV) configured to emit a plurality of LDV beams toward a plurality of drones. Each drone carries an optical beam steering unit operable to redirect the LDV beams toward the Earth surface. The LDV is further configured to detect LDV beams reflected from the Earth surface, the reflected beams modulated by surface vibrations induced by the seismic shock waves, and to generate a seismic dataset. A processing unit is configured to process the seismic dataset to identify underground objects based on seismic reflections. The system enables non-contact, high-resolution, and wide-area seismic surveying for detection of natural and artificial subsurface features including landmines, trenches, and hydrocarbon reservoirs.