Magaid: Pc-Based Target Characterization Software For Use With Total Field Magnetometer Survey Data

MagAID is a PC software application designed for use in interpreting the results of magnetic<br>surveys conducted for environmental cleanup and unexploded ordnance (UXO) clearance operations.<br>It employs a Windows-based graphical user interface, and accepts gridded and contoured data from<br>commercial mapping software. MagAID allows users to work with a contoured survey map,<br>interactively using the cursor to select magnetic anomalies visible in the survey map. Once an<br>anomaly has been selected, MagAID invokes a dipole-based Maximum Likelihood Estimation<br>algorithm to automatically determine the location (x, y, depth) and apparent size of the object<br>which caused the anomaly. This paper describes the target characterization procedure used in<br>MagAID and presents results of tests of the algorithm and the software’s performance using data<br>from controlled magnetic surveys at test sites containing buried inert ordnance and metal drums.<br>Typical estimation accuracies are of order fifteen to twenty percent in size and depth for compact<br>objects.