December 2013A growing topic of interest is methane emissions and their potential impact on climate change. According to the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF), nine presentations at the annual American Geophysical Union meeting feature insights from studies that are part of the EDF´s methane research series, where new methodologies and technologies are advancing the current knowledge surrounding the sources and rates of methane emissions from the US natural gas supply chain. Sander Geophysics has been involved in gathering airborne methane data for petroleum exploration and environmental monitoring for several years, using SGL's SGMethane system. Sander Geophysics is pleased to be part of EDF's ongoing methane research. At AGU Fall Meeting, scientists discuss innovations to better define U.S. methane emissions Environmental Defense Fund (www.edf.org), December 9, 2013 |
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December 2013SGL has departed Antarctica with the 2013 IceBridge campaign now successfully complete. As in previous years, Sander Geophysics provided an AIRGrav system and technical personnel to acquire gravity data for the multi-instrument IceBridge project. SGL's AIRGrav system once again performed flawlessly during this year's campaign in the world's most remote and challenging environment, with 100% availability during all flights. According to NASA, one high priority flight of this year's project involved collecting data over an area of thick ice in Eastern Antarctica between Dome C one of the highest points of Antarctic ice sheet and the Russian Antarctic base of Vostok. With a late start due to the US government shutdown, Antarctic data collection ended on November 28 when NASA's P-3 departed McMurdo one day early to escape bad weather. The P-3 left for Christchurch, New Zealand following the path of European Space Agency's CryoSat-2 satellite, collecting four hours of scientific data during the flight. One More Mission and Off the Ice NASA (www.nasa.gov), December 2, 2013 |
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November 2013SGL is back in Antarctica! SGL has once again supplied an AIRGrav system and technical staff to support NASA´s IceBridge mission in Antarctica. The 2013 endeavour is the first time that NASA´s P-3 aircraft will be based at the McMurdo Station, Antarctica: previously the aircraft has operated out of Punta Arenas, Chile. The McMurdo base allows data to be gathered in areas unreachable from Chile, says Michael Studinger, IceBridge project scientist. One priority is to fly over the Ross Sea where there are no airborne ice thickness measurements. SGL's AIRGrav system is the highest resolution airborne gravity system available, and has been used on numerous similar missions since 2008 in Antarctica, Chile and Greenland. NASA Begins First Antarctic Airborne Campaign from McMurdo Station NASA (www.nasa.gov), November 16, 2013 Facebook — NASA Operation IceBridge NASA (www.nasa.gov), November 2013 |
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November 2013AIRGrav data is now publicly available from a survey that Sander Geophysics flew over the Kauring airborne gravity test site in Western Australia. Commissioned by the Department of Primary Industries this survey was flown by SGL during February and March 2012. The Kauring test site provides a benchmark for the capabilities of airborne gravity systems, and this survey clearly demonstrates the resolution and accuracy that can be achieved with AIRGrav in a fixed-wing aircraft. Sander Geophysics currently has 12 AIRGrav systems operating worldwide in fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters. Kauring Airborne Gravity Test Site Australian Government, Geoscience Australia (www.ga.gov.au), November 2013 |
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October 2013A large airborne geophysical survey is currently being flown for the Ministry of Mines and Energy in Malawi. The aim is to acquire high quality data to achieve a better understanding of the possible resources below the surface. The Ministry also expects that the data will help the mining sector plan for future development. Airborne geophysical survey to broaden Malawi´s economic base Nyasa Times (www.nyasatimes.com), October 26, 2013 |
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July 2013Sander Geophysics is flying a very large (460,000 line kilometre) airborne gravity, magnetic and radiometric survey in Tanzania for the Geological Survey of Tanzania (GST). The GST is expecting the survey to contribute to a better understanding of the potential mineral resources in the country. Tanzania: Geological Survey Gives New Prospects for Gold Discovery allAfrica (www.allafrica.com), July 4, 2013 |
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April 2013Sander Geophysics (SGL) has just completed an airborne gravity and magnetic survey in Kenya over CAMAC Energy's onshore Lamu Basin Blocks L1B and L16. "I am pleased that we completed the acquisition of the airborne gravity and magnetic geophysical surveys in Kenya safely, on time, and under budget," said Senior Vice President of Exploration and Production Segun Omidele. Now that data acquisition is complete, SGL will commence the final data processing and interpretation to identify faults, basement structures and intra-sedimentary volcanic layers and/or intrusions. CAMAC will use SGL's interpretation to optimize the placement of their planned 2-D seismic lines. CAMAC Energy Inc. Announces Completion of Airborne Gravity and Magnetic Data Acquisition in Kenya PRNewswire (www.prnewswire.com), April 25, 2013 |
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February 2013CAMAC Energy Inc. announces it has an agreement with Sander Geophysics to fly an airborne gravity and magnetic geophysical survey in Kenya over Lamu Basin Blocks L1B and L16. The survey will encompass 12,197 square kilometres in Block L1B and 3,613 square kilometres in Block L16. The resulting data will aid in identifying faults, basement structures and intrusions optimizing CAMAC's placement of 2-D seismic lines and targeting areas of further interest. CAMAC Energy Inc. Announces Airborne Gravity and Magnetic Data Acquisition Contract in Kenya PRNewswire (www.prnewswire.com), February 25, 2013 |
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February 2013IceBridge's new website for the science community has been launched. According to NASA, Operation IceBridge's science goals include using glacier ice thickness, basal topography and other geophysical processes to increase the understanding of ice sheet flow. Another focus involves furthering technology to improve surface elevation measurements, thus enhancing sea ice thickness data. Sander Geophysics' gravimeter (AIRGrav) is one of the sophisticated instruments employed on the IceBridge project. NASA uses the gravity data from AIRGrav to distinguish between water (less dense) and rock (more dense) below the ice, which is crucial for studying the calving and melting of glaciers. NASA (www.nasa.gov), February 2013 |
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February 2013Further study is done to understand the significance of the M5.8 August 23, 2011 Louisa County, VA earthquake and the role of the regional geology. In this area there is limited bedrock exposure and the earthquake hypocenter was about 6 km below the surface. The USGS commissioned Sander Geophysics to fly a high resolution magnetic, radiometric and gravity (AIRGrav) survey. The greatly improved geophysical data provides scientists with the ability to further identify the relevant geological structures and develop some insight regarding the trend of the earthquake. Airborne geophysical surveys used to delineate geological features associated with the M5.8 August 23, 2011 earthquake in Louisa County, Virginia AGU Abstract, Geomagnetism and Paleomagnetism Section, 2012 Fall Meeting |
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January 2013Preliminary findings are revealed from an airborne gravity, magnetic and radiometric survey that Sander Geophysics flew for the USGS, over the August 23, 2011 Virginia earthquake zone (see SGL news July 2012 for information about the actual survey). In this article, a USGS scientist describes how she hopes this kind of survey can help to identify pre-existing weaknesses in the Earth's crust, explain the pattern of an earthquake through geologic structures, and outline areas that are more susceptible to aftershocks. Why the Virginia earthquake of 2011 traveled the way it did Science on NBCNEWS (nbcnews.com), December, 2012 |