Geophysical Surveys

Geophysical survey is the systematic collection of geophysical data for spatial studies. Geophysical surveys use a great variety of sensing instruments, and data is collected from above or below the Earth's surface or from aerial or marine platforms.

Geophysical surveys have many applications in Earth science. Over the years Natural Resources Canada compiled data from various geophysical surveys that are used in industry as well as for academic research.

  • Aeromagnetic and Electromagnetic data
    Aeromagnetic Data: Compilation grids (200m and 1000m) of Canada: residual total magnetic field and first vertical derivative of the magnetic field. Point and grid data for 575+ individual surveys. Electromagnetic Data: Point and grid data for 150+ individual surveys.
  • Borehole Geophysical Data
    Borehole logs of various geophysical properties including natural gamma, spectral gamma-gamma, acoustic velocity, P & S wave velocity, electrical methods, inductive conductivity, three-component magnetics, magnetic susceptibility and temperature. Also corresponding images of logs and geology.
  • Canadian Marine Multibeam Bathymetric Images
    The Geological Survey of Canada has compiled various datasets of high resolution marine multibeam bathymetry, comprising survey data collected by Natural Resources Canada and other partners over the last 10 years.
  • Gravity data
    Compilation grids (2000 m) of Canada: Bouguer, Free-air, horizontal gradient, first vertical derivative, isostatic, and observed gravity data. Point data from the Canadian Gravity Database.
  • Radioactivity data
    Compilation grids (250 m) of Canada: Potassium (K), Uranium (eU), Thorium (eTh), Natural air absorbed dose rate, eU/K, eTh/K, and eU/eTh data from the NATGAM database. Point and grid data for 300+ individual surveys.
  • Seismic and magnetotelluric data
    Seismic and magnetotelluric data from various projects including Lithoprobe, the Frontier Geoscience Program, and the Laurentian Basin Seismic Survey, as well as the East Coast and Arctic Refraction Catalogues.