Innovative SQUID technology for new raw materials - system evaluation in the model area Harz

As part of the DESMEX-II research project (033R130FN), semi-airborne investigations were performed together with the consortium partners in a model area in the Harz Mountains near Bad Grund from 23.08.2021 to 25.08.2021.

During the experiment currents are injected into the ground by means of high-power transmitters and resulting magnetic fields are detected in the air using an innovative platform towed by a helicopter.

Due to the conductivity of subsurface structures, the injected currents are converted into magnetic fields.
High resolution data of these fields allow an understanding about the geometries and conditions of the geological underground of the investigated area down to a depth of more than 1000 meters.
The successfully applied method has the advantage of working non-invasively and with a large area coverage of approx. 30 km² per two-hour measurement flight which is important for a sustainable, cost- and time-efficient investigation.

Innovative SQUID-based magnetometers with special readout are used, to enable a novel data quality with very high resolution due to large signal bandwidth and high slew rate.

The subsequently applied and specially developed methods and algorithms for data processing and inversion allow a new quality of three-dimensional modeling of the subsurface as a starting point for further geoscientific analyses and interpretations.

Supracon cooperated with the Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources (BGR), the WWU Münster , the Leibniz Institute for Applied Geophysics (LIAG) and the Leibniz Institute for Photonic Technologies (Leibniz-IPHT) within the scope of these investigations.