A review of high-performance MEMS sensors for resource exploration and geophysical applications

Abstract

MEMS sensors have the advantages of small volume, lightweight, and low cost, therefore, have been widely used in the fields of consumer electronics, industry, health, defence, and aerospace. With their ever-improving performance, MEMS sensors have also started to be used in resource exploration and geophysical applications. However, the requirements of high-precision MEMS sensors for geophysical applications have not been specified in detail. Therefore, this paper systematically analyzes the requirements of high-performance MEMS sensors for prospecting and geophysical applications, including seismic surveillance, Earth tide, volcanic activity monitoring for natural disasters; seismic, gravity, and magnetic resource prospecting; drilling process monitoring and local gravity measurement for gravity aided navigation. Focusing on the above applications, this paper summarizes the state-of-the-art of research on high-performance MEMS sensors for resource exploration and geophysical applications. Several off-the-shelf MEMS sensors have been used for earthquake monitoring, seismic exploration and drilling process monitoring, and a range of MEMS research prototype sensors have successfully been employed for Earth tides measurement and are promising to be used for gravity exploration. MEMS magnetometers should have a lower noise floor to meet the demand for magnetic exploration. MEMS gravity gradiometers are still under early development and will not be deployable in short-term. High-performance MEMS sensors hold the advantages of low-cost, high integration, and capability of working in extreme environments; therefore, they are likely to gradually replace some conventional geophysical instruments in some application areas.