Processed airborne magnetic and radiometric grids, Shellmound, Mississippi, March 2018

Airborne electromagnetic (AEM), magnetic, and radiometric data were acquired in late February to early March 2018 along 2,364 line-kilometers in the Shellmound, Mississippi study area. Data were acquired by CGG Canada Services, Ltd. with three different helicopter-borne sensors: the CGG Canada Services, Ltd. RESOLVE frequency-domain AEM instrument that is used to map subsurface geologic structure at depths up to 100 meters, depending on the subsurface resistivity; a Scintrex CS-3 cesium vapor magnetometer that detects changes in deep (hundreds of meters to kilometers) geologic structure based on variations in the magnetic properties of different formations; and a Radiation Solutions RS-500 spectrometer that detects the abundance of natural radioelements potassium, uranium, and thorium in the upper 20-30 cm that is used to determine differences in soil type. The survey was flown at an average sensor flight height of 30 m above terrain to form block-style coverage with 250 to 1,000-meter spaced east-west flight lines. A total field magnetic anomaly Grid eXchange File (.gxf) grid and a ternary radiometric geotiff image derived from the flight line data are provided (https://www.sciencebase.gov/catalog/item/5cd0ad9de4b09b8c0b79a53f). Additional details are provided in the processing steps.
An important driver for this survey is a managed aquifer recharge pilot project developed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture Agricultural Research Service investigating the use of bank filtration along the Tallahatchie River as a source for recharge in areas of significant groundwater decline by direct injection into the Mississippi River Valley Alluvial Aquifer (MRVA). Understanding the structure of the aquifer, including both shallow and deep confining units, is important for the success of this pilot engineering study and will be even more important for potential future large-scale engineering projects and groundwater model development efforts.

Data and Resources

Field Value
accessLevel public
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identifier USGS:5cd0ad9de4b09b8c0b79a53f
metadata_type geospatial
modified 20200929
old-spatial -90.5525, 33.5060, -90.1681, 33.7846
publisher U.S. Geological Survey
publisher_hierarchy Department of the Interior > U.S. Geological Survey
resource-type Dataset
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source_hash 6f6a1b090f479f5225cc229b75c36ef22c720552
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spatial {"type": "Polygon", "coordinates": [[[-90.5525, 33.5060], [-90.5525, 33.7846], [ -90.1681, 33.7846], [ -90.1681, 33.5060], [-90.5525, 33.5060]]]}
theme {geospatial}
Groups
  • AmeriGEOSS
  • National Provider
  • North America
Tags
  • aeromagnetic-surveying
  • aeroradiometric-surveying
  • amerigeo
  • amerigeoss
  • ckan
  • electromagnetic-surveying
  • electromagnetics
  • engineering-sciences
  • environment
  • geo
  • geology-geophysics-and-geochemistry-science-center
  • geophysics
  • geoscientificinformation
  • geospatial-datasets
  • geoss
  • gggsc
  • greenwood
  • groundwater
  • hydrogeology
  • leflore-county
  • magnetic-anomaly-maps
  • magnetic-field
  • magnetics
  • mississippi
  • mississippi-alluvial-plain
  • mississippi-river-valley-alluvial-aquifer
  • mrva
  • national
  • north-america
  • radiometrics
  • resistivity
  • shellmound
  • sunflower-county
  • tallahatchie-river
  • united-states
  • usgs-5cd0ad9de4b09b8c0b79a53f
  • water-resources
isopen False
license_id notspecified
license_title License not specified
maintainer Bethany L. Burton
maintainer_email blburton@usgs.gov
metadata_created 2025-11-19T19:42:10.172069
metadata_modified 2025-11-19T19:42:10.172076
notes Airborne electromagnetic (AEM), magnetic, and radiometric data were acquired in late February to early March 2018 along 2,364 line-kilometers in the Shellmound, Mississippi study area. Data were acquired by CGG Canada Services, Ltd. with three different helicopter-borne sensors: the CGG Canada Services, Ltd. RESOLVE frequency-domain AEM instrument that is used to map subsurface geologic structure at depths up to 100 meters, depending on the subsurface resistivity; a Scintrex CS-3 cesium vapor magnetometer that detects changes in deep (hundreds of meters to kilometers) geologic structure based on variations in the magnetic properties of different formations; and a Radiation Solutions RS-500 spectrometer that detects the abundance of natural radioelements potassium, uranium, and thorium in the upper 20-30 cm that is used to determine differences in soil type. The survey was flown at an average sensor flight height of 30 m above terrain to form block-style coverage with 250 to 1,000-meter spaced east-west flight lines. A total field magnetic anomaly Grid eXchange File (.gxf) grid and a ternary radiometric geotiff image derived from the flight line data are provided (https://www.sciencebase.gov/catalog/item/5cd0ad9de4b09b8c0b79a53f). Additional details are provided in the processing steps. An important driver for this survey is a managed aquifer recharge pilot project developed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture Agricultural Research Service investigating the use of bank filtration along the Tallahatchie River as a source for recharge in areas of significant groundwater decline by direct injection into the Mississippi River Valley Alluvial Aquifer (MRVA). Understanding the structure of the aquifer, including both shallow and deep confining units, is important for the success of this pilot engineering study and will be even more important for potential future large-scale engineering projects and groundwater model development efforts.
num_resources 2
num_tags 37
title Processed airborne magnetic and radiometric grids, Shellmound, Mississippi, March 2018