Magnetotellurics with SQUIDs

长期以来，绘制我们脚下地面的地质构造图的方法一直是地球科学家和工业界非常感兴趣的问题，对采矿、石油和天然气勘探、地下水开采、污染监测和其他活动具有明显的重要性。地球物理勘探技术是一种不用挖井就能测量地下的方法。地震探测——测量受控爆炸产生的声波反射——提供了一种强大但昂贵的一次性调查方法。像探地雷达这样的技术使我们能够用电磁信号以低得多的成本探测地面，但是它们能到达的深度受到探测信号的限制。大地电磁技术是利用地磁场的自然波动作为探测信号的一种技术。通过在地表多个地点对这些信号进行精确测量，我们可以探测到几公里深处。但由于这些信号非常微弱，它需要灵敏的磁传感器和复杂的噪声抑制。我们已经开发了这样一个系统，基于squid（超导量子干涉装置）的低温edm实验-一个粒子物理项目，旨在测量中子电偶极矩，从而研究宇宙物质-反物质不对称的起源。我们相信，我们开发的创新硬件和软件可以使squid成为MT中使用的现有传感器的合适替代品，从而提高可以达到的分辨率和深度。本项目旨在进一步研究这一想法。我们会结合电脑模拟和测量典型场址的磁噪音，以计算使用我们的系统可以达到的分辨率，以及现有技术的潜在改进。此外，我们将调查该技术的许多可能应用，以确定具体需求（分辨率、深度、工作环境）和潜在市场的规模。因此，我们的目标是确定哪些领域对这种仪器最有希望。然后我们将进一步开发我们的设计。目前，我们可以看到squid在大地电磁学中的许多可能应用，但潜在投资者想知道的问题我们还没有答案，例如：我们可以在不同深度绘制电导率图的分辨率的潜在改进是什么？该技术对磁噪声有多敏感？它能在嘈杂的工业环境中运行吗？这个项目将使我们能够回答这些问题。它将有助于确定最有前途的潜在市场，从而为这项技术的下一阶段商业化迈出一步。在该计划结束时，我们将获得技术数据，使ISIS创新公司能够保护相关知识产权，并向潜在的工业合作伙伴推广这一想法。

Methods to map the geological structure of the ground underneath our feet have long been of significant interest both to earth scientists, and to industry, with obvious importance to mining, oil and gas exploration, groundwater extraction, pollution monitoring and other activities.Geophysical exploration techniques are a way to survey underground, without the expense of digging boreholes. Seismic sounding - measuring reflections of acoustic waves from controlled explosions - offers a powerful, but expensive, way to carry out a one shot survey. Techniques such as ground penetrating radar allow us to probe the ground at far lower cost with an electromagnetic signal, but the depth to which they can reach is limited by this probe signal. Magnetotellurics (MT) is a technique which uses the natural fluctuations in the geomagnetic field as a probe signal. By taking precision measurements of these signals at multiple sites on the surface we can probe to depths of several kilometres. But as these signals are very weak, it requires sensitive magnetic sensors and sophisticated noise rejection.We have developed such a system, based on SQUIDs (Superconducting Quantum Interference Devices) for the cryoEDM experiment - a particle physics project aiming to measure the neutron electric dipole moment, and thus study the origin of the matter-antimatter asymmetry of the Universe. We believe the innovative hardware and software we have developed could make SQUIDs a suitable alternative to existing sensors used in MT, and thus improve the resolution and depth which can be reached.This project aims to investigate this idea further. We will carry out a combination of computer modelling and measurements of the magnetic noise at typical field sites, in order to calculate the resolution which could be reached using our system and the potential improvement on existing techniques. In addition we will investigate the many possible applications of this technology to determine the specific needs (resolution, depth, working environment), and the size of the potential market. Thus we aim to identify which areas are the most promising for this instrumentation. We will then develop our design further.At the present moment we can see many possible applications of SQUIDs in magnetotellurics, but we do not have answers to the questions that potential investors would like to know, such as: what is the potential improvement in resolution to which we can map the electrical conductivity at different depths? How susceptible is the technique to magnetic noise? Can it operate in a noisy industrial environment? This project will allow us to answer these questions. It will help identify the most promising potential market, and thus provide a step to the next stage in the commercialisation of this technology.At the end of this programme, we will have the technical data to allow ISIS Innovation to protect the relevant IP and promote this idea to potential industrial partners.