UTIG's approach to managing polar aerogeophysical data in the field: philosophy and examples from fixed wing and helicopter surveys, 27 pages, 2022.

This report documents UTIG’s approach to managing aerogeophysical data in the field. This approach to fieldwork has taken shape in the course of over 20+ years of polar campaigns based out of over 10 Antarctic stations. Aerogeophysical survey is not simply about the act of making measurements and observations. A key component of conducting surveys is managing data as it is collected and providing feedback for quality control. We want to document that institutional knowledge for the benefit of researchers who are continuing in this work as well as for the users of our data.

While this document focuses on data management in the field, we start by providing the context for a typical aerogeophysical campaign and describe how the work is broken up amongst teams. We then discuss the philosophy behind field data processing, with a focus on what the goals are for preliminary processing and how it differs from the final products. With that motivation, we describe how the Base Operations team typically meets those goals, along with case studies of how we have applied this approach when based at a variety of stations and field camps, with the differing logistical challenges imposed by each.

Companion documents focusing on instrumentation and airborne operations are forthcoming.