The method for estimating the drift over time of a physical operating parameter of a clock for dating seismic data samples associated with a seismic data collection node involves measuring (10) at least one quantity associated with the clock, at predetermined instants or during predetermined time periods, and applying (12), to this quantity, a predetermined non-linear law of variation of this quantity that depends on the values collected during the measurement step (10), so as to obtain an estimation of the drift over time of the physical operating parameter.