The Feasibility of the Airborne Fluxgate Magnetometer as an Exploration Tool – Results from Three Dimensional Numerical Modelling

INTRODUCTION The earliest geophysical exploration strategies relied on measurements of variations in the Earth's magnetic field. Even today, magnetic methods are the most commonly used geophysical exploration techniques because magnetic observations can be made relatively easily and cheaply. Although compasses are the most common type of mechanical device used to measure the horizontal attitude of the magnetic field, other devices have been developed to measure various components of the magnetic field. Magnetometers are instruments, usually operating non-mechanically, that are capable of measuring the strength of the magnetic field. Various types of magnetometers are available; for example, torsion magnetometers, proton precession magnetometers, alkali-vapour magnetometers and fluxgate magnetometers.