Seismo Lab Seminar

It is often understated how useful airborne geophysical methods are for a wide variety of economic and research goals, from resource exploration and geological mapping to infrastructure development. All over the world, airborne geophysics is used by private and public organizations to gain an understanding of the subsurface geological setting of an area in order to meet these goals, ranging from small scale (10's of km2) to regional scales (1,000's of km2). Airborne geophysical work is widespread across a variety of fields and industries. The principal geophysical methods, the physical properties they measure, their applications, and how to design a survey will be discussed. The techniques covered include (1) magnetic survey for magnetic susceptibility (magnetic sensor); (2) gamma-ray spectrometry for radioelement concentrations; (3) gravity for rock density; and (4) electromagnetics (both frequency- and time-domain) for geological conductivity. This discussion will present how to relate geology to geophysics in the context of these specific instruments and how to use them to increase the chances of making targets detectable while considering instrument weaknesses and strengths. The discussion on survey design will detail how to factor in survey area characteristics and select line direction, line spacing, and survey altitude.