Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations (Unaudited) (USD $) In Thousands, except Per Share data, unless otherwise specified	3 Months Ended		6 Months Ended
	Jun. 30, 2012	Jun. 30, 2011	Jun. 30, 2012	Jun. 30, 2011
Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations [Abstract]
Product revenues	$ 32,370	$ 39,016	$ 77,446	$ 71,403
Service revenues	72,844	49,516	139,478	107,681
Total net revenues	105,214	88,532	216,924	179,084
Cost of products	15,950	17,624	39,098	32,263
Cost of services	43,321	37,277	90,727	82,051
Gross profit	45,943	33,631	87,099	64,770
Operating expenses:
Research, development and engineering	10,306	5,906	18,032	11,745
Marketing and sales	8,654	7,838	16,071	14,880
General and administrative	14,011	11,087	28,381	23,274
Total operating expenses	32,971	24,831	62,484	49,899
Income from operations	12,972	8,800	24,615	14,871
Interest expense, net	(1,364)	(1,187)	(2,882)	(2,802)
Equity in earnings (losses) of INOVA Geophysical	3,777	(4,173)	6,245	(5,033)
Other income (expense)	895	497	209	(2,502)
Income before income taxes	16,280	3,937	28,187	4,534
Income tax expense	4,184	1,085	7,629	1,232
Net income	12,096	2,852	20,558	3,302
Net income attributable to noncontrolling interest	281	44	394	69
Net income attributable to ION	12,377	2,896	20,952	3,371
Preferred stock dividends	338	338	676	676
Net income applicable to common shares	$ 12,039	$ 2,558	$ 20,276	$ 2,695
Net income per share:
Basic	$ 0.08	$ 0.02	$ 0.13	$ 0.02
Diluted	$ 0.08	$ 0.02	$ 0.13	$ 0.02
Weighted average number of common shares outstanding:
Basic	155,631	155,096	155,587	154,385
Diluted	162,575	156,553	162,594	156,058