A direct method for determining the altitude variation of the uranium stripping ratio in airborne gamma‐ray surveys

Abstract

In airborne gamma‐ray spectrometric surveys, it is essential to calculate the net counts in the thorium, uranium, and potassium channels for quantitative analysis. The net uranium, thorium, and potassium counts are given by [Formula: see text], (1a) [Formula: see text] (1b) and [Formula: see text], (1c) where [Formula: see text], [Formula: see text], and [Formula: see text] are the background corrected counts per second for uranium, thorium, and potassium channels, respectively; α and β are the Compton contributions of thorium gamma rays in the uranium and potassium windows, respectively; and γ is the contribution of uranium gamma rays in the potassium window. In some countries, such as the U.S., Canada, and India, it is common practice to compute the stripping ratios by taking measurements over a set of calibration pads with known and varying amounts of uranium, thorium, and potassium (Grasty and Darnley, 1971; Grasty, 1975; Lovborg, 1984). These factors are determined by keeping the detector system inside the survey aircraft over the calibration pads. The stripping coefficients do not have fixed values but vary with source‐detector distance. Because most airborne surveys are conducted at about 120 m above ground level, the stripping ratios measured over the pads should be corrected for variations with ground clearance. In practice, the ground clearance in airborne gamma‐ray surveys may vary from about 40 m to 200 m depending upon the topography of the area flown. It is, therefore, necessary to know the values of the stripping coefficients as a function of ground clearance at least within the range of investigations. If this is known, it is possible to apply proper corrections while converting all data to a uniform datum of 122 m.