A method of and a system for remotely controlling an adjustable, electrodeless arc discharge acoustic pulse transducer for borehole and underwater operations using high-energy arc discharges to generate high power seismic and acoustic pulses capable of being easily and remotely adjusted in time duration and magnitude such that they can be customized to create waveforms of preferred shapes. The transducer has an insulating ceramic barrier which contains a biconical aperture separating two bodies of electrolyte through which the two zones of liquid make contact and electrically adjustable circuits for switching supplemental amounts of stored electrical energy into the arc discharge circuit at successively delayed time intervals to lengthen the arc discharge current pulse to create the desired waveform shape for detecting variations in the geological features of the formations being probed or for use in ocean acoustic or sonar applications.
Thomas E. Owen