GeoMag II = Miniature, high resolution, Caesium Beam Magnetometer

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We are developing small unmanned aircraft (UA) for use throughout the world in scientific,commercial (oil and mineral exploration) and state (border patrol) applications.In our discussions with staff at oil and gas exploration and production companies such asShell, BP, Statoil and ENI, we have noticed a growing interest in the use of UA ingeomagnetic surveys. To measure the lateral gradient in the Earth's magnetic field, a precisionCaesium Beam Magnetometer (CBM) is mounted at the end of each wing tip on a UA. Tomeasure the gradient in all three axes, at least four of these expensive (£13,200 each) CBMsare necessary.According to Stephan Sander, the President of Sander Geophysics Ltd, a well-known airbornesurvey company, the cost of a geomagnetic survey is dictated primarily by the number of daysthe crew spends at the survey site and how many people are in the crew. If we were to use aswarm of UA in place of a single manned aircraft to perform a geomagnetic survey, thesurvey would be performed in a fraction of the time. The use of low cost, high performance,CBMs on each UA in a swarm would introduce a significant cost reduction.Recent work at the N.I.S.T. in the USA has resulted in the realisation of a small, 12 cc CBM.Work at universities has investigated the use of silicon MEMS technology and semiconductorlasers to achieve further reductions in size and electrical power dissipation. We aim tointroduce energy efficient processors and an Inertial Measurement Unit to enable us to apply aphysics based approach to the processing of the measured Larmor signal, to increase theaccuracy of the measurements made.We see an opportunity to develop, manufacture and deploy miniature CBMs on a swarm ofUA for use in cost-effective geomagnetic survey applications. We propose to investigate thenature of the global market, quantify the returns on investment and define the next steps toexploit this opportunity.