Picture of Geophysical data from 2023 surveys
17 January 2024

SGU’s airborne geophysical data from 2023 surveys are now available

Geophysical data from airborne surveys performed during the summer of 2023 are now available for order. The surveys included parts of Kalmar, Jönköping, Östergötland and Gävleborg county and focused on areas of mineralogical interest.

Airborne geophysical data collected during the field season of 2023 are now available. Two survey areas were flown, covering just short of 45 000 line-kilometers. One survey area concerned mainly Kalmar county, but also included parts of Jönköping and Östergötland county. The other survey area was located in Gävleborg county. Both survey areas are shown in the maps below.

Initially, only data for the parts of the survey areas that cover the mainland are available for order. Data covering coastal areas and the Baltic Sea will become available at a later date.

Data from SGU’s airborne surveys include information on

  • variation of Earth’s natural magnetic field across the surface
  • ground concentrations of the naturally occurring radioactive elements potassium, uranium, and thorium
  • electrical conductivity of the sub-surface.

Airborne surveys can cover large areas in a relatively short time, including areas that are difficult or impossible to access from the ground. Depending on the method of measurement, airborne geophysical data can show soil and bedrock properties from the surface down to depths of several kilometres. The collected information is important data for use in bedrock mapping, mineral prospecting and community planning, amongst others.

The surveys are a part of the nationwide surveys conducted by SGU since the 1960s. In later years, SGU’s airborne surveys have focused on areas of mineralogical interest rather than completely new areas, in order to supplement previous surveys with directionally independent electromagnetic data.

Contact SGU customer services (kundservice@sgu.se) to order data. Data are not yet available in SGU’s online map viewers but will be added during the year.

Last reviewed 2024-01-17