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U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

An automated locating and data logging system for geophysical surveys

Conference ·
OSTI ID:7154201

Oak Ridge National Laboratory has developed an Ultrasonic Ranging and Data System (USRADS) and interfaced the system with a Geonics EM31 terrain conductivity meter. USRADS keeps track of a surveyor's position by measuring the time-of-flight of ultrasonic pulses from an transducer carried by the surveyor in a backpack to stationary receivers arrayed over the survey area. We surveyed a 13-acre landfill at Idaho National Engineering Laboratory with three people, in three days, collecting over 25,000 EM31 quadrature and imphase readings. USRADS offers several advantages over conventional EM31 surveys: (1) time and money are saved because it does not require a civil survey to lay a grid before the geophysical survey begins, (2) data are directly recorded by a portable computer and are available for analysis in the field, and (3) refining or expanding the grid about an anomaly does not require civil surveying to add extra grid points. USRADS can also be used with a gamma scintillometer for radiation surveys. Currently, we are working to interface USRADS with a portable x-ray fluorescence spectrometer for detecting heavy metals in soil. 5 refs., 8 figs.

Research Organization:
Oak Ridge National Lab., TN (USA)
Sponsoring Organization:
EPA
DOE Contract Number:
AC05-84OR21400
OSTI ID:
7154201
Report Number(s):
CONF-9005149-1; ON: DE90008889
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English