Unmmaned Airship Magnetic Survey System for Mineral Exploration

Aeromagnetic surveying is one of the most common airborne survey types conducted for mineral exploration. However, in the case of the exploration utilizing the manned aviation system, there is a risk of accidents and it costs a lot. For these reason, in recent years, interest in unmanned airborne magnetic exploration system has increased. In this research, we introduced the developed airship-based magnetic exploration system. In our system, in order to minimize the fluctuation of sensor during the flight, the magnetic sensor was fixed with three directions. We used the cesium magnetometer and recorded total magnetic intensity (TMI). An automatic flight system was programmed to fly along the desired survey path. To communicate with the ground monitoring system in real time, we added the RF router and LTE communication system. Using this system, we can check the recorded data and modify the flight path in real time. Additionally, to verify the reliability of the developed system, we compared the results of unmanned airship magnetic exploration system and aeromagnetic survey system obtained at the same site. In this comparison, we could successfully identify the iron mineral locations which was discovered through a preliminary investigation using both methods. Using the proposed unmanned airship-based magnetic exploration system, we can easily obtain more precise survey data than previous manned airborne magnetic exploration system. This system can be helpful for obtaining magnetic data in inaccessible area as well as in rugged terrain area where land-based exploration is difficult.