What is the Depth of Exploration for GEM-2?
This is a very complex question because the answer depends on many factors, particularly on ground conductivity, target volume, and ambient electromagnetic noise. Based on many analyses and field data, we estimate the GEM-2 should be able to see about 20-30 m in resistive areas (>1000ohm-m) and about 10-20 m in conductive areas (<100 ohm-m). This figure assumes an ambient noise level of 5 ppm. The noise level is generally high in urban areas and low in rural areas. For typical applications, we do not recommend the GEM-2 for depths deeper than 30 m. For more discussion on this subject, consult the Skin-depth Nomogram in GEM-2 Principle of Operation on our webpage. Depth of exploration for a given earth medium is determined by the operating frequency. Therefore, measuring the earth response at multiple frequencies is equivalent to measuring the earth response from multiple depths. Hence, such data can be used to image a 3-D distribution of subsurface objects. Results from several environ