Effect of bird maneuver on frequency‐domain helicopter EM response

Abstract

Bird maneuver, the rotation of the coil‐carrying instrument pod used for frequency‐domain helicopter electromagnetic surveys, changes the nominal geometric relationship between the bird‐coil system and the ground. These changes affect electromagnetic coupling and can introduce errors in helicopter electromagnetic (HEM) data. We analyze these effects for a layered half‐space for three coil configurations: vertical coaxial, vertical coplanar, and horizontal coplanar. Maneuver effect is shown to have two components: one that is purely geometric and another that is inductive in nature. The geometric component is significantly larger. A correction procedure is developed using an iterative approach that uses standard HEM inversion routines. The maneuver effect correction reduces inversion misfit error and produces laterally smoother cross sections than obtained from uncorrected data.