oa Optimised Gravity Survey Design

An automated technique for optimized placement of gravity stations is presented that takes into account both the spatial distribution of pre-existing data and also variations in the form of the gravity surface. The new method involves calculation of a weighted normalized grid incorporating a point-distance function, a point-density function and information on horizontal gravity gradients determined from pre-existing data. The maximum in the normalized grid is taken as the optimum position for a new gravity station. The positions for multiple new stations can then be generated from successive maxima following iterative recalculation of the point-distance and point-density functions. Gravity grids generated from optimized data distributions require significantly less new data points to achieve the same relative accuracy when compared to regular, systematic infill patterns. Although other factors, such as difficult access, may in some cases limit the application of this technique, there are many circumstances where significant reductions in survey costs can be achieved by application of this new method.