Skip to main content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Official websites use .gov
A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.

Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
A lock ( ) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

Skip to content

Airborne electromagnetic, magnetic, and radiometric survey of the Mississippi Alluvial Plain, Mississippi Embayment, and Gulf Coastal Plain, September 2021 - January 2022

Metadata Updated: November 12, 2025

Airborne electromagnetic (AEM), magnetic, and radiometric data were acquired September 2021 to January 2022 along 27,204 line-kilometers (line-km) over the Mississippi Alluvial Plain (MAP), Mississippi Embayment, and Gulf Coastal Plain. Data were acquired by Xcalibur Multiphysics (Canada), Ltd. with three different airborne sensors: the 30Hz TEMPEST time-domain AEM instrument that is used to map subsurface geologic structure at depths up to 300 meters (m) 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 centimeters that is used to determine differences in soil constituents. The survey was flown at a nominal sensor flight height of 120 m above terrain with 300 and 600 km (nominal) spaced east-west flight lines. The main survey block covers 24,654 line-km. The Chicot aquifer focus area was surveyed along 360 line-km (flight numbers 2900101-2900421 nonsuccessive). The Mississippi River and the Atchafalaya River were surveyed along their center axes, covering 742 line-km (flight line numbers 6004001-6004003 and 5002001-5002002). Two separate inset grids were flown: (1) University of Memphis (UMemphis) focus area lines with 500 m line spacing for a total of 1260 line-km (flight line numbers 1000301-1030001 nonsuccessive), and (2) Hot Springs focus area with 350 m line spacing for a total of 188 line-km (flight line numbers 2001001-2027001 nonsuccessive). 91-series lines are repeat test-lines flown periodically throughout the survey, with one repeat line established for each base station. 901- and 904-series lines are flown under standard survey conditions with the transmitter on and the receiver off to evaluate the noise contribution from the acquisition system pre- and post- flight, respectively. 902- and 905-series lines are ~60 second high-altitude datasets collected to evaluate the system out of ground-response pre- and post- flight, respectively. 903-series lines are 30-40 second 'swoop' datasets to confirm correct operation of the system during variable pitch manoeuvres. 906-series lines are flown under standard survey conditions with the transmitter off and the receiver on to evaluate the ambient noise in the system. AEM data were inverted using 1-D inversion to produce models of electrical resistivity along flight paths.

Access & Use Information

Public: This dataset is intended for public access and use. License: No license information was provided. If this work was prepared by an officer or employee of the United States government as part of that person's official duties it is considered a U.S. Government Work.

Downloads & Resources

Dates

Metadata Created Date September 13, 2025
Metadata Updated Date November 12, 2025

Metadata Source

Harvested from DOI USGS DCAT-US

Additional Metadata

Resource Type Dataset
Metadata Created Date September 13, 2025
Metadata Updated Date November 12, 2025
Publisher U.S. Geological Survey
Maintainer
Identifier http://datainventory.doi.gov/id/dataset/usgs-62ffc245d34e37cba73e1fa0
Data Last Modified 2023-08-30T00:00:00Z
Category geospatial
Public Access Level public
Bureau Code 010:12
Metadata Context https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema/catalog.jsonld
Metadata Catalog ID https://ddi.doi.gov/usgs-data.json
Schema Version https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema
Catalog Describedby https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema/catalog.json
Harvest Object Id 386b35ef-eb51-41d4-a478-db041687db7e
Harvest Source Id 2b80d118-ab3a-48ba-bd93-996bbacefac2
Harvest Source Title DOI USGS DCAT-US
Metadata Type geospatial
Old Spatial -92.9233, 30.7884, -88.5358, 37.8048
Source Datajson Identifier True
Source Hash fda7b763ca220427351094e46bc9c78c00fad8a1875b7e860054dfaa1073cce4
Source Schema Version 1.1
Spatial {"type": "Polygon", "coordinates": -92.9233, 30.7884, -92.9233, 37.8048, -88.5358, 37.8048, -88.5358, 30.7884, -92.9233, 30.7884}

Didn't find what you're looking for? Suggest a dataset here.