Drone-borne magnetic measurements in India

Abstract

The Drone-borne magnetic measurements for the first time in India are recorded near Yacharam mafic dolerite dyke using light weight potassium magnetic sensor towed as under slung by an indigenously developed Drone. The dyke cuts across Hyderabad Nagarjuna Sagar road (on NH-65) 51Km from Hyderabad, Telangana State and 200 m North of Yacharam town. An area of 1 Km X 0.6 Km has been selected at test site with a profile (N-S) length of 900 m and line spacing of 50 m. The data has been acquired at 5 samples/ second along 12 profile lines with a drone speed of 5m/second and 35m above the ground surface. The magnetic anomaly map generated based on the UAV-Magnetometer data clearly identifies the geological feature of existence of Dolerite dyke intrusion in granitic-gneissic terrain. The measurement repeatability of the system has been tested by repeated acquisition along two lines and good correlation is found in two data sets. The present study has successfully demonstrated the capability of Drone-Magnetic survey, which is cost effective, faster and reliable.