Airborne electromagnetic, magnetic, and radiometric survey of the Mississippi Alluvial Plain, November 2018 - February 2019

Airborne electromagnetic (AEM), magnetic, and radiometric data were acquired November 2018 to February 2019 along 16,816 line-kilometers (line-km) over the Mississippi Alluvial Plain (MAP).  Data were acquired by CGG Canada Services, Ltd. with three different helicopter-borne sensors: the CGG Canada Services, Ltd. Resolve frequency-domain AEM instrument that is used to map subsurface geologic structure at depths up to 100 meters, depending on the subsurface resistivity; a Scintrex CS-3 cesium vapor magnetometer that detects changes in deep (hundreds of meters to kilometers) geologic structure based on variations in the magnetic properties of different formations; and a Radiation Solutions RS-500 spectrometer that detects the abundance of natural radioelements potassium, uranium, and thorium in the upper 20-30 cm that is used to determine differences in soil constituents. The survey was flown at a nominal sensor flight height of 30 m above terrain with 6- to 12-kilometer spaced east-west flight lines. The main survey block covers 13,641 line-km, including two north-south tie lines extending the length of the survey. Several rivers were surveyed along their center axes, covering 2,640 line-km (flight line numbers 8010000-8100001 nonsuccessive), and two separate inset grids were flown: (1) Crowley's Ridge in Arkansas with 1.5-km spaced east-west flight lines for a total of 406 line-km (flight line numbers 24025-24477 nonsuccessive) and (2) University of Memphis focus area in Tennessee with variable line spacing for a total of 129 line-km (flight line numbers 30010-30060 and 39010-39050 nonsuccessive).
This data release includes minimally processed (raw) AEM data as supplied by CGG Canada Services, Ltd. (https://www.sciencebase.gov/catalog/item/5d76bafae4b0c4f70d01ffa1), the fully processed (averaged and culled) sounding data (https://www.sciencebase.gov/catalog/item/5d76bac9e4b0c4f70d01ff9d), and laterally constrained inverted resistivity depth sections along all flight lines (https://www.sciencebase.gov/catalog/item/5d76ba5ce4b0c4f70d01ff94), as well as unprocessed and processed (diurnally corrected and draped to terrain) magnetic data (https://www.sciencebase.gov/catalog/item/5d76bafae4b0c4f70d01ffa1), and unprocessed and processed (following International Atomic Energy Agency Technical Report procedures) radiometric data (https://www.sciencebase.gov/catalog/item/5d76bafae4b0c4f70d01ffa1). Data acquisition and minimal processing were conducted by CGG Canada Services, Ltd. and described in detail in the contractor's report. Digital data from production flights are provided, and data fields are defined in the data dictionary. A total field magnetic anomaly grid and a ternary radiometric image are provided as well (https://www.sciencebase.gov/catalog/item/5d76baaae4b0c4f70d01ff9a).
REFERENCES
International Atomic Energy Agency, 1991, Airborne Gamma Ray Spectrometer Surveying, Technical Reports Series No. 323, IAEA, Vienna, https://inis.iaea.org/collection/NCLCollectionStore/_Public/22/072/22072114.pdf.
U.S. Geological Survey, The National Map, 2017, 3DEP products and services: The National Map, 3D Elevation Program Web page, accessed October 2018 at https://nationalmap.gov/3DEP/3dep_prodserv.html.

Tags: aeromagnetic-surveying, aeroradiometric-surveying, arkansas, bayou-bartholomew, bayou-meto, boeuf-river, cache-river, coldwater-river, crowleys-ridge, electromagnetic-surveying, electromagnetics, engineering-sciences, environment, geology-geophysics-and-geochemistry-science-center, geophysics, geoscientificinformation, geospatial-datasets, gggsc, groundwater, hydrogeology, illinois, languille-river, louisiana, magnetic-field, magnetics, mississippi, mississippi-alluvial-plain, mississippi-river, mississippi-river-valley-alluvial-aquifer, missouri, mrva, radiometrics, resistivity, saint-francis-river, tallahatchie-river, tennessee, usgs-5d76b872e4b0c4f70d01ff75, water-availability-and-use-science-program, water-resources, wausp, yazoo-river
Organization: Department of the Interior