Estimation of uranium from multichannel spectra in airborne gamma ray spectrometry using 1.12 MeV and 1.76 MeV photopeaks of 214Bi — An application to Cuddapah Basin

Abstract

Present study examines the utility of gamma rays of energies 1.12 MeV and 1.76 MeV of uranium in estimation of uranium in airborne gamma ray spectrometric survey (AGRS) in comparison to the conventional 1.76 MeV alone used world wide. As a case study, the AGRS data of northern part of Cuddapah Basin is considered. Multi-channel processing is applied on this dataset to reduce the spectral noise and use of combined 1.12 MeV and 1.76 MeV has reduced the Poisson’s related statistical error. Uranium is estimated using above two energies individually and in combination, using multi-channel processing followed by standard corrections procedure. Result indicates that a combination of both energies has given best estimation due to a reduction in overall noise which helped in demarcating geological entities and litho-contacts. This indicates the efficacy of this technique which improved the radio-geochemistry of study area in understanding the radio-elemental variation.