Symposium on the Application of Geophysics to Engineering and Environmental Problems 2026 in Pittsburgh (USA).
Recent advances in airborne passive electromagnetic methods have enabled the development of drone-borne systems for subsurface exploration, combining the advantages of natural-field EM measurements with the flexibility of UAV deployment. MobileMTd, a broadband total-field AFMAG system designed for drone operations, measures naturally varying magnetic-field signals over a wide frequency range to image subsurface resistivity from near-surface depths to beyond one kilometer. The system integrates a drone-towed three-component magnetic sensor with a remote base station recording orthogonal electric-field variations, allowing joint processing to produce rotationally invariant admittance data and ensuring reliable performance without strict attitude control. Compared with helicopter- or ground-based EM systems, MobileMTd offers lower-speed acquisition for denser spatial sampling, reduced motion noise, improved access to difficult terrain, and the ability to operate during evening periods of stronger natural EM activity. Field results show that the system effectively resolves shallow and deep resistivity structures, correlates well with geology, and complements heliborne MobileMT, ground EM, and time-domain EM surveys. These capabilities make MobileMTd a flexible, efficient, and low-impact solution that helps bridge the gap between shallow UAV geophysics and deep-penetrating airborne EM systems in modern subsurface exploration workflows.
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