Field Experiments With The Tensor Magnetic Gradiometer System At Yuma Proving Ground, Arizona

Abstract

During March, 2003, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) conducted tests of the tensor magnetic<br>gradiometer system (TMGS) at the Strategic Environmental Research and Development Program’s<br>(SERDP) Unexploded Ordnance (UXO) Standardized Test Site at the Yuma Proving Ground, Arizona.<br>The objective of these tests was to assess the potential of this system for UXO applications and to help us<br>formulate design parameters for an improved tensor magnetic gradiometer system designed specifically<br>for UXO. Although the TMGS was not designed with UXO applications in mind, it detected the majority<br>of the buried targets in the Calibration Area at YPG. Its performance rivaled that of the cesium vapor<br>companion system, and it showed true tensor gradiometric performance over a selected target.<br>We have concluded that a modified tensor magnetic gradiometer system with a planar sensor<br>array and a higher sample rate could improve the detection performance we attained at YPG. Furthermore,<br>such a system would furnish the diverse temporal, spatial and vector component data that should<br>optimize the potential for UXO target discrimination and identification.