Estimating noise for airborne electromagnetic data from repeat flight lines or inversion residuals

Clicks: 3
ID: 313912
2026
Article Quality & Performance Metrics
Overall Quality
Not rated
Combines reader engagement with the AI quality analysis. This article has not been analysed, so there is no overall score — reader engagement is measured and shown alongside.
AI Quality Assessment
Not analyzed
Readership in this journal
Star

Ranked #13 of 29 articles by views in RAS Techniques and Instruments

Most read Least read

Bar heights use a square-root scale.

Mint this article as an NFT
Not yet minted

Create a permanent, verifiable on-chain record of this article on the Scimatic Network. The NFT is held in your Journament account, and you can withdraw it to your own wallet at any time.

5 SUSD one-off · no wallet required
Abstract
Abstract Characterising the noise of an airborne electromagnetic (AEM) system is critical in correctly imaging the earth’s subsurface conductivity. Deterministic and probabilistic geophysical inversion algorithms require foreknowledge of the system noise to specify stopping criteria or a valid model likelihood. Repeat flight lines provide a way for geophysicists to calculate the statistical variability in AEM data acquired over the same ground, and therefore estimate the levels of noise to propagate into the inversion. The total noise can be separated into multiplicative and additive components. The multiplicative noise is derived by repeat lines at survey altitude. The method to calculate the multiplicative noise is scarcely documented and usual methods for height correcting acquired data require a linear trend removal. This study will outline the algorithm used to estimate multiplicative noise of an AEM system, and non-linearly correct for varying altitudes during repeat flights. Additionally, this paper details a methodology to Gaussianise the data noise and provide a statistically valid Gaussian data misfit or likelihood function. Significantly, we provide methods for estimating the off-diagonal elements in the data covariance matrix used within the misfit function, taking into account the time-channel data correlation that is usually neglected. While our methodology is general, our study of a rotary-wing system leads us to conclude that for regularised time-domain AEM imaging, a diagonal data covariance suffices – an important implication for rigorous yet practical AEM inversion.
Reference Key
openalex_W7160693349 Use this key to autocite in the manuscript while using SciMatic Manuscript Manager or Thesis Manager
Authors Tim Scarr, Anandaroop Ray, Ross C Brodie
Journal RAS Techniques and Instruments
Year 2026
DOI
10.1093/rasti/rzag035
URL
Keywords Keywords not found

Citations

No citations found. To add a citation, contact the admin at info@scimatic.org

No comments yet. Be the first to comment on this article.