New Magnetic Survey System
Innovatum has announced availability of a new magnetic survey system for a wide variety of applications Ð the SEARCHER system. This is a new towed array tool providing highly detailed magnetic mapping, both on land and in marine environments. It consists of an array of magnetic sensors mounted on a frame, which may be towed over land or on the seabed or mounted on other underwater vehicles. A wide tracking swath allows a vessel to tow the array along a linear target such as a pipe or cable. High-speed data acquisition means the speed limitations of previous towed arrays are eliminated, giving a large increase in productivity. SEARCHER uses an array of sensitive magnetic gradiometers that measure magnetic field gradient in the vertical (Z) plane. The array can be up to twelve sensors wide which, with 60cm sensor spacing, gives a survey swath of 6.6 metres. The real-time data acquired is monitored by a 'waterfall' display that allows an immediate assessment of features of interest and simple tracking of linear features such as pipeline and cables. Array configuration, update rate and sensitivity may be selected online. Positional data may be accepted from almost any survey positioning system. Data is continuously logged for post-processing and report generation.