Modelling soil magnetism for defence, humanitarian and environmental purposes.

拟议研究的主要动机是杀伤人员地雷和未爆弹药对平民和防御行动的持续威胁。尽管有禁止使用地雷的国际协定，以及联合国和其他人道主义组织清除地雷的方案，但据估计，90个国家每年仍有15 000至20 000名受害者。据信，总共还有4500万至5000万枚地雷有待清除。虽然每年估计有10万枚地雷被发现和销毁，但按照目前的速度清除所有4500万至5000万枚地雷将需要450至500年的时间。探测地雷时的一个主要问题是，扫雷人员所说的“问题土壤”的出现。这些土壤具有特殊的磁性，主要与自然产生的铁的数量和类型有关。这些特性干扰了地雷探测器感知现代矿山中使用的极少量金属的能力。现在需要的是提前知道“问题土壤”可能出现在哪里的方法，以便更有效地组织排雷专业知识。不幸的是，到目前为止，还没有任何方法可以确定这些土壤可能存在的地方。因此，这项研究的目的是制作土壤磁性地图，以便能够在从炎热的沙漠到寒冷的冻土带的各种景观中识别“问题土壤”。这项研究将使用数学方程和统计方法来预测不同环境下的土壤磁性。预测的准确性将通过将它们与英格兰、威尔士和其他国家已经进行的土壤磁性测量进行比较来进行。这些方程将被修改，直到预测的土壤磁性与实际的土壤磁性之间有很好的匹配。一种成功的预测土壤磁性的方法也将对其他科学研究做出重要贡献，包括考古测绘、确定河流沉积物的来源、研究过去的全球气候，甚至理解细菌在地球和火星早期生命中的作用。

The primary motivation for the proposed research lies with the continuing threat of antipersonnel mines and unexploded ordnance to civilians and defence operations. Despite international agreements banning the use of land mines, and programmes by the United Nations and other humanitarian organizations to clear land mines, there are still an estimated 15,000-20,000 victims per year in 90 countries. It is believed that a total of 45-50 million mines remain to be cleared. While an estimated 100,000 mines are found and destroyed per year, clearing all 45-50 million mines at the current rate will take 450-500 years. A major problem when detecting land mines is the occurrence of, what de-mining people call, 'problem soils'. These are soils that have particular magnetic properties, mainly linked to the amount and type of naturally-occurring iron. These properties interfere with the land mine detectors' ability to sense the very small amounts of metal used in modern mines. What is needed now is the means to know in advance where the 'problem soils' are likely to occur so that de-mining expertise can be organised much more effectively. Unfortunately, up until now there has been no way of deciding with any certainty where these soils are likely to exist. The aim of this research is therefore to produce maps of soil magnetic properties so that 'problem soils' can be identified in landscapes ranging from the hot deserts to the cold tundra. The research will use mathematical equations and statistics to predict soil magnetic properties for different environments. The accuracy of the predictions will be undertaken by comparing them with soil magnetic measurements already made in England and Wales, and other countries. The equations will be modified until there is a good match between predicted and real soil magnetic properties. A successful means to predict soil magnetism will also make important contributions to other scientific studies, including archaeological mapping, determining the sources of sediment in rivers, working out past global climates, and even understanding the role of bacteria in early life on Earth and Mars.