AFGHANISTAN AIRBORNE GEOPHYSICAL AND REMOTE SENSING SURVEY

Acting upon the request of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan Ministry of Mines and Industries, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and the Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) conducted an airborne geophysical and remote sensing survey of Afghanistan during the summer of 2006. Data collected by this survey will provide basic information for mineral, energy, natural hazards, and water resource exploration studies, which are important for the economic development of Afghanistan. Approximately 70 people were involved with conducting the airborne survey in Afghanistan including personnel from the USGS, NRL, Afghanistan Geological Survey, Afghanistan Head Office for Geodesy and Cartography, twenty-eight military personnel from the NRL Scientific Development Squadron ONE (VXS-1), and two geomatic technicians from the Canadian Forces Mapping and Charting Establishment. A research-modified Lockheed NP-3D “Orion” aircraft served as the survey instrument platform. The geophysical instrumentation employed in this survey included a tail-mounted Cesium-vapor magnetometer, dual marine gravimeters modified for airborne use, a true-color medium-format photogrammetric digital camera,a 228-band hyperspectral imaging camera, and an L-Band polarimetric imaging Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR). Three-hundred flight hours were required to collect 113,000 line km of magnetic data, 73,000 line km of gravity data, 300,000 sq. km of stereo true-color imagery, and 110,000 line km of radar data. Additionally, four months of four independent GPS and total-field magnetic base station data were collected. The USGS has released the processed magnetic and gravity data on the USGS website. The NRL has released the orthometric corrected true-color imagery on the NRL website. These data sets are currently being integrated into the USGS and other programs in Afghanistan in support of the U.S. Agency for International Development-funded Afghanistan Reconstruction Project.