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The software described in this manual is furnished under license and may only be
used or copied in accordance with the terms of the license.
Written by, Nancy Whitehead and Chris Musselman. Please send comments or
questions to info@geosoft.com
© 2010 Geosoft Inc. All rights reserved. Geosoft is a registered trademark and
Oasis montaj is a registered trademark of Geosoft Inc. Other brand and product
names mentioned herein are properties of their respective trademark owners. No
part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or
transmitted, in any form, or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying,
reading, or otherwise, without prior consent from Geosoft Inc.
The software described in this manual is furnished under license and may only be
used or copied in accordance with the terms of the license. OMx.t.2010.02
Geosoft Incorporated
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Suite 810, PO Box 131
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Canada
Tel: (416) 369-0111
Fax: (416) 369-9599
Database Statistics 5
Description of Terms 9
Current Database – Database Containing Survey
Data 9
Database Containing Ideal Line Path 9
Calculating Distances 10
Glossary 57
Index 59
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4
The best way to find information in this system is to use the Search tab to perform a full-
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Online Books help system contains complete Geosoft manuals and tutorials in Adobe
PDF format.
The list below provides contact information for Geosoft Technical Support around the
world.
The following three paragraphs describe the tasks provided by the Airborne Quality
Control. For a detailed summary of current airborne geophysical survey practices and
procedures, see Airborne Geophysical Surveys Overview on page 52.
The software enables airborne contractors to create a flight line plan tailored to the shape
and size of the survey area. Boundary maps of the survey area can be imported from an
AutoCAD DXF file or digitized as polygon files. The planning controls enable you to
specify the direction, starting reference point, and distance between flight lines for your
airborne survey area. The software plots both regular flight lines and tie lines. The flight
planning utility produces a database and a map of the flight lines that you can view, print
or export.
Database Statistics
The Airborne Quality Control extends the statistical reporting tools included in the basic
Oasis montaj system. The QC statistical tool enables you to generate and print a
statistical report for specific channels or an entire database. The statistical report provides
the number of dummies, minimum, maximum, mean and total distance flown for each
channel and for the whole database. The survey line distance tool displays the total
distance flown for a specific flight line.
The quality control tools included in Airborne Quality Control enable the user to
identify line sections that do not meet survey specifications. Examples include evaluating
the diurnal variation, altitude deviation, flight path deviation, and flight line separation of
each point along the flight lines to ensure they are within specification. Points that do not
meet specifications are identified by a coloured symbol using a colour that corresponds to
the type of error. These results are plotted to a map so that the user can visualize the
sections of the survey that must be re-flown.
6 Airborne Quality Control Menu
Flight planning
Important Note: Before you can work through this tutorial, you must have a working
knowledge of Oasis montaj or have worked through the Oasis
montaj Quick Start Tutorials.
This tutorial uses sample data provided on the Oasis montaj CD-ROM. This data is
installed in the C:\Program Files\Geosoft\Oasis montaj\data\airborneqc directory. A
description explaining the contents of each data file is provided in the readme.txt file in
the data directory. Before you begin the tutorial, copy the data files from the
“airborneqc” directory to a working directory such as D:\Tutorial\.
Airborne Quality Control Menu 7
In order to access the Airborne Quality Control menu in Oasis montaj, you must have
an open Project. An Oasis montaj "Project" encompasses every item in your working
directory; from the data files in your project (databases, maps, and grids), to the tools used
(including auxiliary tools such as histograms, scatter plots etc.), to the project setup
including the menus you have displayed and whether you are working on a map or profile
and the state in which you left it the last time you used it.
The project also controls your working directory. Projects are saved as (*.gpf) files. If you
open an existing project from a directory, the system assumes that all your project files are
located in the same directory. To streamline your work, as well as keep it organized, you
may wish to make sure that your project file is in the same directory as the other files you
want to use. We recommend that each project you work on have its own project (*.gpf)
file. If you use a number of applications or add-on tools in Oasis montaj that have
different menus, you can use the project to display only the menus you require.
The Project Explorer tool enables you to browse as well as open any project item. The
Project Explorer has two tab windows, the Data window that includes all data files
included in the project and the Tools window that organizes and maintains the project
tools. To access the Tools window click the Tools bar on the bottom of the Project
Explorer. To return to the Data window, click the Data bar on the top the Project
Explorer.
T O C REATE A N EW P ROJECT
Before you can start working with the Airborne Quality Control system, you have to
load the QC_Utility menu in your project. If you require more detailed information on
modifying menus, refer to the Oasis montaj Online Help System (Help|Help Topics).
1. On the GX menu, select Load Menu or click the Load Menu icon ( ) on the main
toolbar. The Load Menu dialog is displayed.
2. Select the “Airborne_Survey_QC.omn” file, and click [Open]. The QC_Utility menu
is displayed on the main menu bar.
You must have a database open and selected in your project to process data in the
Airborne Quality Control system. We will open the dataset qctest.gdb, for use in this
tutorial.
T O O PEN D ATABASE :
1. On the Data menu, select Open Database. The Open Database dialog is displayed.
2. Select the database file qctest.gdb from your project directory and click [Open].
Description of Terms
The active (currently selected) database is used to calculate flight line separation. The
active database must contain actual survey data.
The database containing the ideal line path is created during the Flight Planning stage. If
you used the Airborne Quality Control to create the proposed survey plan, you should
have such a database available. Otherwise, you need to prepare a XYZ file containing the
proposed survey plan data and then import the file into a new database.
Note that the selected lines in the survey database must have matching line numbers in the
ideal line path database. This means that the line types, line numbers and line versions
match. If a selected line(s) exists in the survey database but not in the ideal-line-path
database, an error message will notify you by displaying the line number.
However, the line number of re-flights is generally labelled using the number of the
original line plus 1. For example the first re-flight for line 11230 is labelled 11231, the
second re-flight is labelled 11232 and so on up to 9. The re-flight line numbers need not
exist in the ideal-line-path database. Re-flights 11231 and 11232 will be checked against
line 11230 in the ideal-line-path database.
Ideal lines are straight lines defined by two separate points. If either of these co-ordinates
contains a dummy value, an error will be displayed.
10 Airborne Quality Control Menu
You can use line edit tool to change the line numbers (type, number and version) in the
ideal line path database.
C ALCULATING D ISTANCES
When the specification of deviation over a specified distance is tested, the cumulative
distance along the actual survey locations is used instead of the distance along the ideal
line path.
Quick-Start™ Tutorial 11
Quick-Start™ Tutorial
To ensure this tutorial as realistic as possible, this tutorial is organized as a hypothetical
Airborne Magnetic Survey project. Sample data are included on the Oasis montaj CD-
ROM or are available for download from (http://www.geosoft.com/downloads/index.asp).
The following table outlines the specifications that must be met for this sample project:
The following files have been provided for the sample project:
File name Where do I use this
Boundary.map To create a boundary polygon file by digitizing a map.
Boundary.mdf To create a boundary map in Oasis montaj.
Survey_Boundary.dxf To create a boundary polygon file from a DXF file.
12 Quick-Start™ Tutorial
The first step of the Airborne Quality Control flight planning process is to create a file
that indicates the boundaries of the survey area. This boundary file is created from either a
polygon (*.ply) file, AutoCAD (*.dxf) file, or digitized from a Geosoft map file (*.map).
If you choose to digitize a polygon from a map file, the systems prompts you to open an
existing map file and digitize a polygon using the mouse. The map can include a grid or
geo-referenced image so that you can digitize a polygon from a map, air photo or satellite
image. If you choose to import a boundary map from a DXF file, the system displays an
import dialog.
1. On the QC_Utility menu, select Generate Flight Path Plan| Create Boundary File|
Digitize boundary. The Open map to process dialog is displayed.
2. Select the map Boundary.MAP and click the [Open] button. The Boundary.MAP is
opened in the background and the Create a polygon file dialog is displayed.
Quick-Start™ Tutorial 13
Note: If you do not have a map open to digitize from, the Open map dialog box is
displayed. In the Filename box, select Boundary.map.
5. Click the [OK] button to continue.
6. You are now ready to digitize the boundary. Trace the rectangle on the map
(representing the survey boundary) by clicking the left mouse button to define
polygon points. When you are finished, click the right mouse button and select Done
from the popup menu.
14 Quick-Start™ Tutorial
7. The QCDIGIT dialog will be displayed asking if you wish to add another polygon to
the boundary file. For our purposes we will click the [No] button.
8. The digitized co-ordinates will be saved as Bound.ply. This file can be viewed and/or
edited by selecting the Edit|Edit ASCII file menu option.
Quick-Start™ Tutorial 15
1. On the QC_Utility menu, select Generate Flight Path Plan| Create Boundary File
|Import AutoCAD DXF File. The Import AutoCAD DXF File dialog box is displayed.
2. Using the button, select the DXF file Survey_Boundary.dxf. We will accept the
remaining intelligent default parameters and click the [New Map] button. The Import
to new map dialog is displayed.
3. The Map name Survey_Boundary.map (taken from the name of the DXF file) will be
displayed; we will accept the default map name.
4. Using the Project data as dropdown list, select “Plan” to plot the data in a simple plan
view. Note: you can also select to plot the survey boundary data in a 3D View, E-W
Section or N-S Section, for more information on importing DXF 3D or Vertical
sections, click the button.
16 Quick-Start™ Tutorial
5. We will accept the default Map scale (2D views) and click the [Next>] button. The
DXF coordinate system dialog is displayed.
6. This dialog displays the coordinate system and units of the DXF file. If you want to
assign a coordinate system to the DXF, click the [Modify] button.
7. To continue click the [OK] button. The DXF file is plotted to a map
Survey_Boundary.map.
Once you have created a polygon boundary file, you are ready to create a survey map. A
sample boundary polygon file is provided for this tutorial, called qcbound.ply.
This procedure uses this boundary file to determine the limits of the survey when plotting
the survey lines. The settings in the dialog box below enable you to tailor the survey map
to your specifications. The settings include flight line and tie line spacing, numbering,
increment, and direction for flight lines and tie lines.
Quick-Start™ Tutorial 17
1. On the QC_Utility menu, select Generate Flight Path Plan| Create a survey plan. The
Set up a survey plan dialog is displayed.
2. Specify the parameters as shown above (for additional information about the input
parameters and output results, click the button) and click the [OK] button. The
Create a new database dialog is displayed.
4. Click the [Finish] button. The system displays the new database containing the
endpoints for each of the ideal survey flight lines.
18 Quick-Start™ Tutorial
5. Click the Save Database icon ( ) on the on the main toolbar or on the Data menu,
select Save database changes.
To display the survey plan on a current map, follow the procedure below. You can either
plot the survey to a current map or to a new map.
If you select to plot to a new map, the system runs a mapping wizard that walks you
through the process of creating and displaying maps. The mapping wizard is a collection
of linked dialog boxes that guide you through all the parameters required for creating any
type of map.
1. On the QC Utility menu, select Generate Flight Path| Plot plan. The Display the
survey plan dialog is displayed.
Quick-Start™ Tutorial 19
2. Using the New map? dropdown list, select “Create new map.” We can leave the
remaining parameters to the default values and click the [OK] button. The Data range
to a Map dialog is displayed.
3. Click the [Scan data] button to scan the database for X, Y and Distance unit
information. Click the [Next>] button. The Create a new map dialog is displayed.
4. Enter the name of the map you want to create as “Ideal_Flight_Plan.map” and then
using the Map template dropdown list, select “portrait letter.”
5. Click the [Scale] button to automatically scale the data to fit the map and then click
the [Finish] button to display the map.
20 Quick-Start™ Tutorial
When you create a survey plan, the system automatically creates a new database with the
distance information for each line in the database.
1. On the QC_Utility menu, select Generate Flight Path Plan| View/print summary of
plan. The survey plan information will be displayed in your default editor ((typically
Notepad or Wordpad).
Quick-Start™ Tutorial 21
1. If you want, you can export the survey plan database as a Geosoft XYZ file.
2. On the QC_Utility menu, select Generate Flight Path Plan| Export plan to XYZ file.
3. Enter a XYZ data file name and to specify export template parameters, click the
[Template] button.
4. Click the [OK] button to export the file to a Geosoft XYZ file.
22 Quick-Start™ Tutorial
Note: The current (active) database should be qcpath.gdb or the system displays
the survey statistics for the database supplied with the tutorial qctest.gdb.
3. Click [OK]. A text file containing statistical information is displayed. A sample
statistical report for a database is shown below:
Use the procedure below to calculate the total distance of the X and Y channels for all the
lines in the selected database.
3. Select the channels that contain the Existing X and Y channels X,Y.
4. Click the [OK] button. Using the coordinate channels you specified, the system
calculates the total survey distance for those channels. The dialog box below displays
the total distance for the sample dataset. Note that, the Distance units are defined
when a projection is applied to the data.
Read this
before you
begin
Tutorial 3
The procedures in Tutorial 3 use the database qctest.gdb. This database is provided as
part of the Airborne QC sample data set and contains sample data from a survey that has
been flown.
To open this database click the Open Database icon ( ) on the main toolbar, or on the
Data menu, select Open database. Select the qctest.gdb file and click the [Open] button.
Once the database is open, select (highlight) it to make it the currently selected database.
Altitude Deviation
To determine whether the aircraft altitudes are within specification, two separate
specifications are used:
1. At each reading location, the flight height must be less than the nominal flight height
plus the maximum deviation and more than the nominal flight height minus the
maximum deviation.
2. The flight height may be greater than the nominal height plus the allowed deviation or
less than the nominal height minus the allowed deviation for a distance less than the
specified distance.
Quick-Start™ Tutorial 25
The altitude deviation test provides two options for viewing results.
Option 1:
When the [OK] button is pressed, a flag channel, called Flag_Height, is created in the
database. This channel contains numbers from -3 to 3 inclusive indicating the result of the
quality control test on flight line height.
Indicators in Flag_Height Channel
0 Flight height passes both tests
+/-1 Flight height fails the 1st (Maximum deviation) test
+/-2 Flight height fails the 2nd test
+/-3 Flight height fails both tests
Positive values in the flag channel indicate that the actual flight height is higher than the
nominal. Negative values indicate that the actual flight height is less than the nominal.
Option 2:
When the [OK] button is pressed, a map is created automatically. This map displays the
data values of the survey that did not meet with the project specifications.
1. You can apply one or both of the following specifications tests. To disable a test, leave
the field for that test empty. For the tutorial dataset the specifications for the flight
height test are as follows:
2. The nominal flight height for this example project is 200 m. At each reading location,
the flight height must be less than the 350 m and more than 50 m. Therefore the test
flags data that is less than 50 m and more than 350 m.
3. The flight height may be greater than the 300 m or less than 100 m for a distance less
than 3000 m.
TO TEST IF F LIGHT A LTITUDE IS WITHIN S PECIFICATIONS :
Before you begin this procedure, make sure qctest.gdb is the currently selected database.
1. On the QC_Utility menu, select Altitude deviation. The Quality control on flight
height dialog is displayed.
26 Quick-Start™ Tutorial
2. Using the Radar-altimeter channel dropdown list, select “radar.” In the Nominal flying
height box, specify “200” and in the 1) Maximum deviation box, specify “150.”
3. In the 2) Height deviation greater than specify “100” and for a distance less than,
specify “3000.”
4. Using the New map? Dropdown list, select “Create a new map.”
5. Click the [OK] button. The Data range to a Map dialog is displayed.
6. Click the [Scan data] button to scan the database for Minimum and Maximum X and Y
coordinate information.
7. Click the [Next>] button. The Create a New Map dialog is displayed:
Quick-Start™ Tutorial 27
8. Enter the map name to be created as “Altitude_Deviation.map” and using the Map
template dropdown list, select “portrait letter.”
9. Click the [Scale] button to automatically scale the data to fit the map. Click the
[Finish] button to automatically display the map. The system flags any data points
that failed to meet specifications.
10. The system prompts you to select a location for the map legend. Click the [OK]
button to continue. Move the mouse to the location on the map where the legend
should appear and press the left mouse button.
Tip: To create a base map, on the QC_Utility menu, select Draw base map. Refer
to the Draw a Base Map section of this manual.
This figure demonstrates the dynamic link between the database and a zoomed portion of
the map Altitude_Deviation.map. In this case, the link shows a flagged data value.
28 Quick-Start™ Tutorial
Note: The following QC tests follow a similar progression of dialog boxes outlined
in the Altitude Deviation test. References to above section will made
throughout the remaining document.
To determine whether the aircraft flight line path is within specification, two separate
specifications are used:
1. At each reading location, the deviation of the flight lines from the ideal flight path
must be less than the Maximum deviation specified. For example, if a maximum
deviation of 50 metres is specified, any reading along a flight line that is more than 50
metres from the ideal flight line is rejected.
2. The flight line path may deviate from the ideal path by a specified amount over a
specified distance. This amount is called the Allowed deviation.
You can apply one or both of these specification tests. To disable a test, leave the field
empty.
The flight line path test provides two options for viewing results.
Option 1:
When you click the [OK] button a flag channel called Flag_Path in created in the current
database. This channel contains numbers from -3 to 3 that indicate the result of the quality
control test on flight line path.
0 Flight path is acceptable. The flight path passes the test(s) applied
+/-1 Flight path fails the Maximum deviation test
+/-2 Flight path fails the test on the Allowed deviation over a given distance
+/-3 Flight path fails both tests
Positive and negative values indicate the different direction the actual survey deviates
from the ideal flight line path.
Option 2:
When you click the [OK] button a map is created automatically in the current project.
This map displays the data values of the survey that did not meet with the project
specifications.
Quick-Start™ Tutorial 29
You can apply one or both of the following specification tests. To disable a test, leave the
field for that test empty. For the sample dataset the specifications for flight line path test
are as follows:
1. The Maximum deviation specified for this example project is 150 m. Therefore any
reading along a flight line that is more than 150 metres from the ideal flight line is
rejected (flagged).
2. The flight line path may deviate from the ideal path by 75 metres over a 3000 metre
range. Therefore, a section of line will be flagged if the flight path deviates from the
ideal path by 75 metres for more than a 3000 metre section of flight path.
T O T EST IF F LIGHT L INE P ATH I S W ITHIN S PECIFICATION :
1. On the QC_Utility menu, select Flight path deviation. The Quality Control on Path
dialog is displayed.
2. Using the button, select the Database containing ideal flight path as qcpath.gdb.
3. In the Maximum deviation box, specify “150” and in the Allowed deviation specify
“75” and for the over a distance of specify “3000.” Using the New map? dropdown
list, select “Create a new map.”
4. Click the [OK] button. The Data range to a Map dialog is displayed.
30 Quick-Start™ Tutorial
5. Click the [Scan data] button to scan the database for Minimum and Maximum X, Y
coordinate information.
6. Click the [Next>] button. The Create a New Map dialog is displayed.
7. Enter the new Map name as “Flight_Path_Deviation.map” and click the [Scale]
button to automatically scale the data to fit the map.
8. Click the [Finish] button to automatically display the map. The system flags any data
points that failed to meet specifications.
9. The system prompts you to select a location for the map legend. Click the [OK]
button to continue. Move the mouse to the location on the map where the legend
should appear and press the left mouse button.
Tip: To create a base map, select the QC_Utility menu, select Draw base
map…menu option from the Oasis montaj menubar. Refer to the Draw a
Base Map section of this manual.
The Flight_path_deviation.map should look similar to the following:
Quick-Start™ Tutorial 31
This figure demonstrates the dynamic link between the database, profile and map. In this
case, the link shows a flagged data value.
Flight line separation is the horizontal distance between flight lines. Two types of
measurements are used to determine if the line separation distance is within survey
specifications.
1. The first is a maximum separation distance between lines that cannot be exceeded.
2. The second test checks whether the distance between adjacent flight lines (less than
the maximum separation distance) is not exceeded for more than a specified distance
along the flight line.
You can apply one or both of these specification tests. To disable a test, leave the field for
that test empty.
The flight line separation test provides two options for viewing results.
Option 1:
Two channels called Flag_SepL and Flag_SepR are created by this test. These channels
contain numbers from 0 to 3 inclusive to indicate the result of the quality control test on
flight line separation.
32 Quick-Start™ Tutorial
Note: That a line may be in compliance with respect to a line on one side of it, but
not in respect the nearest line on the other side.
Indicators in Flag_Height Channel
0 Flight line separation is acceptable
1 Flight line separation fails the Maximum Separation test
2 Flight line separation fails the test on the Allowed Separation over a given distance
3 Flight line separation fails both tests
Option 2:
When the [OK] button is pressed, a map is created automatically. This map displays the
data values of the survey that did not meet with the project specifications.
You can apply one or both of these tests. To disable a test, leave the field for that test
empty. For the sample dataset the specifications for flight line separation test are as
follows:
• The maximum separation is 500 metres.
• The second test checks whether the distance is 450 metres away from the flight
line (less than the maximum separation distance) that cannot be exceeded for
more than 3000 metres along the flight line.
T O T EST IF F LIGHT L INE S EPARATION I S W ITHIN S PECIFICATION :
1. On the QC_Utility menu, select the Flight line separation menu. The Quality Control
on line separation dialog is displayed.
2. Using the Line Selection dropdown list, select “Survey Lines.” Specify the remaining
parameters as shown in the dialog above (Nominal separation as “400,” Maximum
separation as “500,” Line separation as greater than “450” for a distance less than
“3000”).
Quick-Start™ Tutorial 33
3. Using the dropdown list, select Recalculate distances? as “Yes” and New map? as
“Create a new map.”
4. Click the [OK] button. The Data range to map dialog is displayed.
5. Click the [Scan data] button to scan the database for X and Y coordinate information
and then click the [Next>] button. The Create a new map dialog is displayed.
7. Click the [Scale] button to automatically scale the data to fit the map. Click the
[Finish] button and the Locate legend dialog will be displayed.
8. The dialog asks you to locate the lower left corner of the legend. Click the [OK]
button and the cursor will change to a crosshair. Select a location on the map where
the legend should appear and click the left mouse button.
9. The data points that fail to meet specifications are flagged and displayed on the map
along with the flight lines and legend.
Tip: To create a base map, on the QC_Utility menu, select the Draw base map
menu option from the Oasis montaj menubar. Refer to the Draw a Base
Map section of this manual.
The Flight_line_separation.map should look similar to the following:
34 Quick-Start™ Tutorial
Sample Separation
Sample separation is the distance between reading data values along a flight line. This
distance is determined by the speed of the aircraft. The closer the points are together, the
more points on the line and the greater the survey resolution.
The sample separation test provides two options for viewing results.
Option 1:
The Flag_Density channel is created by this test. This channel contains numbers from 0
and 1 inclusive to indicate the result of the quality control test on flight sample separation.
Quick-Start™ Tutorial 35
Option 2:
When the [OK] button is pressed, a map is automatically created. This map displays the
data values of the survey that did not meet with the project specifications.
For the sample dataset the specifications for the sample separation test are as follows:
• The maximum sample (data value reading) separation is 15 metres.
T O T EST IF F LIGHT S AMPLE S EPARATION I S W ITHIN S PECIFICATION :
1. On the QC_Utility menu, select Sample separation. The Quality control on sample
separation dialog is displayed.
2. In the Maximum sample separation box, specify “15” and then using the New map?
dropdown list, select “Create new map.”
3. Click the [OK] button. The Data range to map dialog is displayed.
4. Click the [Scan data] button to scan the database for X and Y coordinate information.
5. Click the [Next>] button. The Create a new map dialog is displayed.
36 Quick-Start™ Tutorial
6. In the Map name box, specify the name of the map to be created as
“Sample_separation.map.”
7. Click the [Scale] button to automatically scale the data to fit the map. Click the
[Finish] button and the Locate legend dialog will be displayed.
8. The dialog asks you to locate the lower left corner of the legend. Click the [OK]
button and the cursor will change to a crosshair. Select a location on the map where
the legend should appear and click the left mouse button.
9. The data points that fail to meet specifications are flagged and displayed on the map
along with the flight lines and legend.
Tip: To create a base map, select the QC_Utility menu, select Draw base map
menu option from the Oasis montaj menubar. Refer to the Draw a Base Map
section of this manual.
The Sample_separation.map should look similar to the following:
Quick-Start™ Tutorial 37
Diurnal Variation
The diurnal variation quality control test enables you to identify and remove points and
lines in the database that exceed the background magnetic diurnal variation by a
predetermined amount.
This test checks magnetic diurnal variations against a moving straight line. The length of
this line represents a period (chord) of time specified in minutes. The length of this line is
defined as the average number of data points in the time period specified. This average is
calculated independently for each line of data. The time period specified is most often
equal to the length of time required for an aircraft to fly between a pair of adjacent tie
lines.
The diurnal variation test provides three options for viewing results.
38 Quick-Start™ Tutorial
Option 1:
The Flag_Diurnal channel will be created. This channel contains values of 0 and 1
inclusive to indicate the result of the quality control test on flight sample separation.
Indicators in Flag_Diurnal Channel
0 Diurnal Variation is acceptable
1 Diurnal Variation fails
Option 2:
The Diurnal_Dev channel will be create. This channel contains the maximum diurnal
deviation at each point. This can be compared directly with the Flag_diurnal channel, as
all values greater than the input maximum will have a flag value set to 1.0.
Option 3:
When the [OK] button is pressed, a map is automatically created. This map displays the
data values of the survey that did not meet with the project specifications.
For the sample dataset the specifications for the diurnal variation test are as follows:
• At each reading location, the diurnal deviation must not exceed 5 nT in less than a
2-minute chord (period) of time.
T O T EST IF F LIGHT D IURNAL V ARIATION I S W ITHIN S PECIFICATION :
1. On the QC_Utility menu, select Diurnal drift. The Quality Control on diurnal
variations dialog is displayed.
2. Using the dropdown lists, select the Diurnal Channel as “diurnal” and Time channel
as “time.”
3. Specify the Diurnal deviation (nT) greater than as “5” and for a chord of time ( in
minutes) less than as “2.” Then, using the New map? dropdown list, select “Create
new map.”
4. Click the [OK] button. The Data range to a Map dialog is displayed.
Quick-Start™ Tutorial 39
5. Click the [Scan data] button to scan the database for X and Y coordinate information.
Click the [Next>] button. The Create a New Map dialog is displayed.
7. Click the [Scale] button to automatically scale the data to fit the map. Click the
[Finish] button and the Locate legend dialog will be displayed.
8. The dialog asks you to locate the lower left corner of the legend. Click the [OK]
button and the cursor will change to a crosshair. Select a location on the map where
the legend should appear (bottom left) and click the left mouse button.
9. The data points that fail to meet specifications are flagged and displayed on the map
along with the flight lines and legend. The Flag_Diurnal and Diurnal_Dev channels
are also created and displayed in your current project database.
Note: Your Diurnal_variation.map should look similar to the following map.
40 Quick-Start™ Tutorial
Tip: To create a base map, on the QC_Utility menu, select Draw base map (refer to
the Draw a Base Map section of this manual, page 48).
Magnetic Noise
The magnetic noise test checks for readings with a magnetic noise (due to a background
source such as aircraft noise) above a specified level. The system uses a 4th-difference
tolerance to check all the readings for noise in the active database. Fourth differences are
useful because any noise is exaggerated.
The magnetic noise test provides two options for viewing results.
Option 1:
Readings with too much noise are marked with flag numbers in a channel called
Flag_Noise. This channel contains values of +/- 0 and 1 inclusive to indicate the result of
the quality control test on flight sample separation.
Quick-Start™ Tutorial 41
Option 2:
When the [OK] button is pressed, a map is created automatically. This map displays the
data values of the survey that did not meet with the project specifications.
For the sample dataset the specifications for the magnetic noise test are as follows:
• The maximum 4th difference tolerance is 5 and must not be exceeded.
T O T EST IF F LIGHT M AGNETIC N OISE I S W ITHIN S PECIFICATION :
1. On the QC_Utility menu, select Mag noise. The Quality Control on magnetic noise
dialog is displayed.
th
2. Using the Mag channel dropdown list, select “Magnetics.” In the 4 -difference
tolerance box, specify “5.” Using the dropdown lists, select the Normalize differences
box as “Yes” and New map? as “Create new map.”
3. Click the [OK] button. The Data range to map dialog is displayed.
42 Quick-Start™ Tutorial
4. Click the [Scan data] button to scan the database for X and Y coordinate information.
5. Click the [Next>] button. The Create a new map dialog is displayed.
7. Click the [Scale] button to automatically scale the data to fit the map. Click the
[Finish] button and the Locate legend dialog will be displayed.
8. The dialog asks you to locate the lower left corner of the legend. Click the [OK]
button and the cursor will change to a crosshair. Select a location on the map where
the legend should appear and click the left mouse button.
9. The data points that fail to meet specifications are flagged and displayed on the map
along with the flight lines and legend.
Tip: To create a base map, on the QC_Utility menu, select the Draw base
map…menu option from the Oasis montaj menubar. Refer to the Draw a
Base Map section of this manual.
The Magnetic_noise.map should look similar to the following:
Quick-Start™ Tutorial 43
Note: The sample data provided is fairly clean, a few data values fail this test and
are not within specification.
The Flight/Tie Intersection Differences test is used to carry out quality control on data
values measured at the intersection of flight and tie lines. This test first determines the
intersection points between flight lines (e.g. L40060) and tie lines (e.g. T100) in a
database. The difference between the data values recorded in the input channel at the
intersection points are written to a new channel in the database: "IntDiff", at the rows
whose fiducial is the closest to the actual intersection.
This test then creates a “Flag_Int” channel. This channel contains a value of 1.0 anywhere
the difference in the intersection value is outside the user specified value. All other points,
both intersection and non-intersection, are given a value of 0.0.
To determine whether the flight/tie intersection differences test is within specification, the
following parameter is used:
• Specify the maximum amount that the intersetions points may differ before they
are flagged.
The flight/tie intersection differences test provides three options for viewing results.
44 Quick-Start™ Tutorial
Option 1:
The intersection points are determined between flight lines and tie lines and the difference
between the data values recorded in the input channel at the intersection points are written
to a new channel in the database: "IntDiff", at the rows whose fiducial is the closest to the
actual intersection.
Option 2:
Results that are greater than the maximum specified difference are flagged in a channel
called “Flag_Int”. This channel contains a value of 1.0 anywhere the difference in the
intersection value is outside the specification. All other points, both intersection and non-
intersection, are given a value of 0.0.
Option 3:
When the [OK] button is pressed, a map is created automatically. This map displays the
intersection locations where the differences did not meet with the project specifications.
For the sample dataset the specifications for the flight/tie intersection differences test are
as follows:
• A maximum difference of 10, between the data channel values at the intersection
points, should not be exceeded.
T O T EST IF F LIGHT / TIE INTERSECTION DIFFEREENCE I S W ITHIN S PECIFICATION :
2. Using the Data channel dropdown list, select “radar” to perform a QC test on the
altitude data.
3. In the Maximum difference box, specify “10” and using the New map? dropdown list,
select “Create new map.” Click the [OK] button and the Data range to map dialog is
displayed.
Quick-Start™ Tutorial 45
4. Click the [Scan data] button to scan the database for X and Y coordinate information
and then click the [Next>] button. The Create a new map dialog is displayed.
5. In the Map name box, specify the name of the new map as
“Flight_tie_intersection.map.”
6. Click the [Scale] button to automatically scale the data to fit the map. Click the
[Finish] button and the Locate legend dialog will be displayed.
7. The dialog asks you to locate the lower left corner of the legend. Click the [OK]
button and the cursor will change to a crosshair. Select a location on the map where
the legend should appear and click the left mouse button.
8. The data points that fail to meet specifications are flagged and displayed on the map
along with the flight lines and legend. Your map should look similar to the zoomed
map below.
46 Quick-Start™ Tutorial
Depending on your requirements, you may want to create composite maps consisting of
one or more test parameters. The following example, we show a map with both flight line
separation and flight deviation. Resulting maps can be printed by clicking on the map and
then on the File menu, selecting the Print menu option.
1. On the QC_Utility menu, select Plot QC results. The Display QC results in a map
dialog is displayed.
2. Using the dropdown lists, select New map? as “Create new map” and QC result (flag)
channel to plot as “Flag_Path.”
3. In the Line thickness (mm) box, specify “0.2” and then select the Colour as “red” and
specify the Offset (mm) as “0.5.”
4. Click the [OK] button. The Data range to a Map dialog is displayed.
5. Click the [Scan data] button to scan the database for X and Y coordinate information.
6. Click the [Next>] button. The Create a New Map dialog is displayed.
Quick-Start™ Tutorial 47
8. Click the [Scale] button to automatically scale the data to fit the map. Click the
[Finish] button and the Locate legend dialog will be displayed.
9. The dialog asks you to locate the lower left corner of the legend. Click the [OK]
button and the cursor will change to a crosshair. Select a location on the map where
the legend should appear and click the left mouse button.
10. The data points that fail to meet specifications are flagged and displayed on the map
along with the flight lines and legend.
Tip: To create a base map, on the QC_Utility menu, select the Draw base map
menu option from the Oasis montaj menubar. Refer to the “Draw a Base
Map” section of this manual.
11. To plot the results of more than one QC test repeat steps 1 through 6 altering the
parameters. The following dialog box displays an example of the second QC test,
Altitude Deviation, parameters:
48 Quick-Start™ Tutorial
Note: The “New map?” field has been changed to current map, to ensure the next
test results are placed on the same map. All the parameters have been changed
to ensure that the test flags display clearly.
With the Flag_Path and the Flag_Height quality control results plotted, the map
Flight_deviations.map should look similar to the following:
A base map can be created at any time for any or all the maps created in the planning and
test section of the Airborne Quality Control menu.
D RAWING A B ASE M AP :
1. Select (highlight) the map to which you want to add the base map.
2. On the QC_Utility menu, select Draw base map. The Basemap layout dialog is
displayed.
Quick-Start™ Tutorial 49
3. Select the parameters as shown above and click the [Next>] button. In the Full map
style base map dialog box, specify the settings shown below:
4. Click the [Next>] button. In the Map title block dialog box, specify the settings shown
below:
50 Quick-Start™ Tutorial
5. Click the [Finish] button. The system draws a base map on the selected map.
The Draw Base map procedure can be used throughout the Flight Planning and Quality
Control Tests to create a complete professional map.
Quick-Start™ Tutorial 51
Tip: All the elements on your map (data, legends, scale bar, north arrow, etc) are
stored as different groups. You can edit, move, hide or mask groups on a map
using the Map View/Group manager tool ( ). For information on how to
use this tool, please refer to the Tutorial 5: Map Editing and CAD Tools in
the Oasis montaj Quick Start Tutorials
52 Airborne Geophysical Survey Overview
Introduction
Over the last fifty years a wide variety of geophysical techniques have been developed to
assist in hydrocarbon and minerals exploration. Ground based surveys are primarily used
for small scale exploration or as a follow up on a target identified from an airborne
survey. The most common airborne survey techniques are Total Magnetic Intensity
surveys, and Radiometric surveys.
Detailed surveys have line spacings between 100 and 400 metres and are usually flown at
40 – 80 metres nominal terrain clearance. Reasons for conducting a detailed survey
include:
• Direct prospecting for magnetically responsive mineral deposits such as iron ores,
kimberlites, or ultramafic hosted mineral deposits.
• Indirect prospecting, in combination with other methods or alone to:
- Discriminate between metallic and non-metallic conductors.
- Assist in interpreting body geometry and depth.
- Determine the geologic environment of the source.
- Map the structural geological features in more detail.
Ultra Detailed surveys have a line spacing less than 100 metres and are flown at low
level, typically 15 -40 metres. These are primarily flown to increase the detail level for
high definition mapping and interpretation.
Survey Planning
The traverse line direction of a survey is dependant on two main factors, the geological
strike of the main target, and the magnetic inclination in the survey area (also referred to
as the magnetic latitude).
If the survey area is known to contain a pronounced geological strike direction then it may
be advantageous to orient the traverse line direction perpendicular to the geological strike
direction. As many of the most useful magnetic responses arise from linear features like
dikes and or faults, orienting the traverse lines at right angles to these features will result
in the most number of responses associated with these features, and the maximum sample
resolution to define them. If the geological strike is more randomly distributed, then
either a north south or east west traverse line directions may be better suited. This will be
dependant on the inclination of the earth’s field at the survey location.
The line spacing will initially be determined by the size of the target body. It should be
selected to minimize aliasing, which occurs when the wavelength of the anomaly (k) is
less than twice the sample spacing (dx). This is illustrated in the diagram below, where it
can not be determined which profile is represented by the sample data points.
54 Airborne Geophysical Survey Overview
Kn = 2 Dx
Any anomaly with a "true" wavelength less than Kn will not be identified, and will have
the effect of distorting the data that posses wavelengths longer than the Nyquist.
Ideally the survey height should be between the line spacing and 2/3 of the line spacing,
however, budgetary considerations may require larger line spacing. In this case, the
amount of detail required in the survey will have to be balanced against the size of the
total area to be covered.
Tie lines are flown to assist levelling of the survey data. In small surveys, at least three tie
lines should be flown at right angles to the traverse line direction. In larger surveys, tie
lines should be spaced at intervals of five to ten times the traverse line spacing.
Survey Procedure
The final deliverable products of an airborne geophysical survey are usually as follows:
• Located data, in an easily readable format such as ASCII point data along with a
description of the data format.
• Gridded data in an industry standard format such as Geosoft grids, ER Mapper grids.
Typical grids would include Total Magnetic Intensity (TMI), 1st vertical derivative of
Airborne Geophysical Survey Overview 55
TMI, Digital Elevation Model, Radiometric total count, potassium, thorium and
uranium channels, and radiometric ternary image.
• Maps at a predetermined scale e.g. 1:250,000, 1:20,000 of sun shaded or illuminated
colour and greyscale grids.
• Operational report summarizing survey location and specifications, equipment used,
processing techniques and parameters and a survey log indicating productive days
and any equipment changes made during the course of the survey.
The selection of survey parameters, such as line spacing, line direction, survey height,
acceptable noise levels (both systematic and geological) should be determined with the
required accuracy of the final products as a guide. These parameters should be clearly
detailed in the Contract Specifications.
When evaluating competitive bids for airborne surveying the following general categories
should be considered and each proposal graded under these points.
1. Quality of the proposal (i.e. Technical merit and Company Experience).
2. Safety of the proposed survey (i.e. Risk evaluation and minimization procedures).
3. Delivery dates and total survey price.
Glossary
array channels Special channels in columns of the spreadsheet that contain multiple channels
of data. Array channels are represented graphically by a curve in the
spreadsheet. See also channels, sub-array channels.
column In the Oasis montaj spreadsheet, a vertical line of cells that contain data.
desktop Background area in the Oasis montaj project. You can open and display a
virtually unlimited number of Spreadsheet, Profile and Map windows in this
area.
fiducials Points accepted as fixed bases of reference. Marks indicating the order in
which each reading or sample reading was taken.
Geosoft Database (GDB) A proprietary binary database architecture that stores spatial data in a format
that enables rapid access, processing and analysis of high volume data (tested
up to 10 gigabytes).
Graphical User Interface Interactive software environment where functions are performed by selecting
graphic objects.
grid Collection of points along rows and columns that define a two-dimensional
rectangular area on some plan, usually a ground plan.
Grids or Grid file Files containing location (X and Y) and data (Z) values. Values are typically
interpolated to create a regular and smoothly sampled representation of the
locations and data.
groups A set of graphics elements that make up a graphic component of the map. For
example, a line path plot, a contour plot or a profile plot would all be separate
graphics groups within the Data View.
GX or Geosoft eXecutable Programmed process (identified by the *.GX file extension) used to process
data in Oasis montaj.
Images or Image file Files containing location (X and Y) and color values. The values are not
interpolated. Standard PC file types created using imaging or electronic photo-
editing techniques.
Main window Primary tool used to create and maintain databases, display data and process
data. Oasis montaj is a Graphical User Interface (GUI) system that provides
all functionality required to process and display virtually any type of Earth
Science data.
58 Glossary
Map (*.MAP) Geosoft-developed file that integrates all graphics elements (lines, polygons
and text) and layers (base maps, data, grids, plots and images) constructed in
Oasis montaj.
map description file (*.MDF) File used when making a standard map that has a sheet size and margins inside
which there is a map area with a specified origin and scale. Usually, MDF files
are created with the MAPSET GX. MDF files may also be created manually
by editing an ASCII file with extension .MDF.
menu (*.OMN) Graphical list of commands or functions that a user may choose from.
Oasis montaj Oasis montaj is the core software platform that provides all functionality
required to manage, manipulate, visualize and map spatially located Earth
Science data.
Project (*.GPF) Binary file that defines a desktop environment. It is essentially an “electronic
briefcase” that helps organise data and the activities related to a data
processing project.
random XYZ data Located XYZ data that cannot be grouped naturally into separate lines. For
example, regional gravity surveys or geochemical surveys are commonly
considered random data because the locations appear somewhat random in
nature.
row In the Oasis montaj spreadsheet, a horizontal line of cells that contain data.
View Stored snapshot of the screen settings, current line, displayed channels and
displayed profiles in Oasis montaj.
Index 59
Index
test, 28
airborne survey
technical specifications, 10 ideal line path, 8
tolerances, 10 ideal line path database, 8
altitude deviation, 23 ideal lines
test, 24 definition, 8
viewing test results, 24 editing, 9
base map magnetic noise, 39
drawing, 47 test, 40, 43
boundary polygon file mapping
creating, 11 multiple tests, 45
results, 45
calculating maps
altitude deviation, 23 digitizing, 11
distances, 9 multiple results
diurnal variation, 36 plotting, 45
flight line separation, 30
flight path deviation, 27 planning
magnetic noise, 39 flight path, 4
sample separation, 33 flight paths, 11
statistics, 21 PLY file
total survey line distance, 22 creating. See polygon file
creating polygon file
project, 6 creating, 11
survey map, 15 digitizing, 11
current database, 8 printing
results, 45
database project
statistics, 4 creating, 6
survey, 8
databases QC. See quality control
opening, 7 quality control
deviation performing tests, 23
over specified distance, 9 tools, 4
digitizing quality control menu
map, 11 components, 5
polygon file, 11 qulaity control
distances altitude deviation, 23
calculating, 9 diurnal variation, 36
diurnal variation, 36 flight line separation, 30
test, 37 flight path deviation, 27
draw base map, 47 magnetic noise, 39
sample separation, 33
exporting
survey plan, 20 reports
statistical, 4
flight line separation, 30 results
test, 31 mapping, 45
flight path plotting, 45
planning, 4, 11
flight path deviation, 27 sample data
60 Index