Geophysical Survey Services – Significantly contributing to Environment

In today’s times, when everybody is talking about the rising level of pollution and global warming, there is something that is inherently contributing to our green environment. We can’t ignore the importance of infrastructure development that in turn promotes a nation’s development. While focusing on this infrastructure development, we often ignore the norms and necessary land surveys required before making a building.

Here comes the need of geophysical survey. This is sometimes also known as archaeological survey comprising of a customized type of land surveying conducted to accurately report the findings made in an archaeological site or to depict the relation of the site to the landscape. This geophysical survey is typically done at the demand from archaeologists or government agencies, and makes the use of GIS, GPS, aerial photography, and other related methods. Most of the times, these surveys are conducted as remotely as possible to make any disturbance to the archeological site.

While considered mainly at the time of excavation, one major use of archaeological land surveying comes before any of the area has been excavated. Geophysical survey methods can be used to find the sites prior to excavation. Earlier uses of the land can leave physical marks on the modern landscape, such as raised ridges where the walls of building once stood, however, can create maps which show them from an aerial vantage point depicting elevation changes, which can make such features clear. This map then can be turned into a grid which guides the archaeological excavation of the site.

The purpose of geophysical survey is to be as non-intrusive as much as possible. Contrary to many land surveys, it may not be possible for the surveyor to cover the entire landscape on foot because of the sensitive nature of the archaeological finds. The kind of survey undertaken on archaeological sites is often known as a 'geophysical survey,' and it may be conducted with LiDAR or other high-tech methods of surveying the area without setting foot on the actual terrain. In some situations, specialized equipment can map not only the above-ground artifacts (at the current stage of excavation) but also possible archaeological features buried underground. In the same way as above-ground surveys are constructed, the readings taken from the equipment become a dataset, which can then be rendered as a visible map of the area.

The result of an archaeological survey is a high-resolution image of the terrain. This display can take several forms depending on the intended purpose of the survey. It may be two-dimensional, recording the location of the site and surrounding terrain.