oa Recent Trends of Exploration Geophysics and Improvements in Data Acquisition Technology

Market needs for exploration geophysics are analyzed. Market movements from expert market to non-expert market, from upstream of a project to downstream of it, as well as the unchanging importance of technical differentiation are suggested. The trends of exploration geophysics influenced by recent general technical advancements are reviewed. Advance electronics, software and information technology have enabled the acquisition and interpretation of large datasets. The general public is expecting more with exploration geophysics, and is impatient with uncertainty. To effectively improve exploration geophysics, geophysical methodology including a way to optimize the performance and cost is discussed. To efficiently achieve a quality result, tips to improve the quality of datasets and quality of analysis are also discussed. These reviews and studies are summarized into the development goals of geophysical instruments. Finally, some recent instrument developments conducted by colleagues of the author are introduced. It seems exploration geophysics has a large potential of expanding its application and resulting market. Systematic development based on logical methodology can guide the efficient development of new geophysical instruments.