Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations (Unaudited) (USD $) In Thousands, except Per Share data	3 Months Ended		6 Months Ended
	Jun. 30, 2011	Jun. 30, 2010	Jun. 30, 2011	Jun. 30, 2010
Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations [Abstract]
Product revenues	$ 39,016	$ 39,433	$ 71,403	$ 79,675
Service revenues	49,516	35,953	107,681	84,430
Total net revenues	88,532	75,386	179,084	164,105
Cost of products	17,624	20,576	32,263	51,067
Cost of services	37,277	26,748	82,051	62,610
Gross profit	33,631	28,062	64,770	50,428
Operating expenses:
Research, development and engineering	5,906	5,217	11,745	14,216
Marketing and sales	7,838	5,649	14,880	13,555
General and administrative	11,087	11,212	23,274	27,650
Total operating expenses	24,831	22,078	49,899	55,421
Income (loss) from operations	8,800	5,984	14,871	(4,993)
Interest expense, net	(1,187)	(1,373)	(2,802)	(27,016)
Loss on disposition of land division				(38,115)
Fair value adjustment of warrant				12,788
Equity in losses of INOVA Geophysical	(4,173)	(179)	(5,033)	(179)
Other income (expense)	497	(799)	(2,502)	2,418
Income (loss) before income taxes	3,937	3,633	4,534	(55,097)
Income tax expense	1,085	2,174	1,232	14,334
Net income (loss)	2,852	1,459	3,302	(69,431)
Net income attributable to noncontrolling interest	44		69
Net income (loss) attributable to ION	2,896	1,459	3,371	(69,431)
Preferred stock dividends	338	385	676	1,260
Net income (loss) applicable to common shares	$ 2,558	$ 1,074	$ 2,695	$ (70,691)
Net income (loss) per share:
Basic	$ 0.02	$ 0.01	$ 0.02	$ (0.52)
Diluted	$ 0.02	$ 0.01	$ 0.02	$ (0.52)
Weighted average number of common shares outstanding:
Basic	155,096	151,441	154,385	135,962
Diluted	156,553	152,036	156,058	135,962