Advanced magnetic survey system and method for detailed magnetic field mapping near the sea bottom using an autonomous underwater vehicle

Abstract

Marine magnetic field surveys conducted near the sea bottom are useful in producing images of the oceanic crust in order to ascertain its volcanic eruption history, active hydrothermal systems, and hydrothermal deposit evolution. An autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) can carry out self-controlled survey operations while maintaining a stable vehicle attitude at low altitudes above the seafloor. As a result of these benefits, AUVs have attracted attention for various missions. The total magnetic field intensity is generally used for subsurface magnetization images. Recently, vector magnetic anomaly analysis has been considered to be extremely effective for high-accuracy estimation of subsurface magnetization structures. However, correcting for the anomalous magnetic field produced by the vehicle body is one of the difficulties that hinders vector magnetic anomaly analysis. Therefore, we developed a magnetometer system designed for the AUV URASHIMA with a renewed navigation data distribution system. Experimental observation was carried out around a submarine mud volcano with a small magnetic anomaly off Tanegashima Island. The results show that correction for the magnetic field of the vehicle because of the attitude, especially for changes in pitch, is essential for near-bottom magnetic surveys using AUVs. Based on these results, we proposed a suitable data acquisition method to remove the pitching effects of the vehicle for figure-eight turns. Next, practical observation was carried out in the hydrothermal area, and the proposed correction method for magnetic data reduced the pitch variation effect. These results indicate that the correction for the magnetic field of the vehicle based using attitude data, especially for pitching variations, is required in order to obtain high-quality magnetic anomaly data using AUVs. However, a short-period variation of approximately 10 nT caused by abrupt pitch changes remains.