Super Map. eField's low-frequency sensor array built into a plane or drone, maps 3D geology with fast, deep accuracy.

A treasure hunter is on the prowl, seeking oil and minerals with a flying divining rod that he says can map the earth’s secrets with great accuracy 20,000 feet—and further—underground. The device detects, translates and maps reserves as they are lit up by ambient currents of energy generated by distant thunderstorms and solar wind coursing through the ionosphere. Ed Johnson, president of Yorba Linda, Calif.-based eField Exploration LLC, says the device is based on science just now finding use in ground-based surveys. "We are leading the charge," he says. "We are the first to work in the air."

Johnson offers eField’s services to oil companies for a cut—"say 1% to 5%"—of finds. He says eField has just finished a 3,100-mile validating survey over oil and gas fields in Texas and is starting new surveys in Colorado and Wyoming, but his customers ask not to be identified to preserve tactical advantage. "They are moving very aggressively," he says. "This can pinpoint where people can drill, and it will help put the infrastructure where it needs to be, exactly."

The system takes advantage of improvements in sensors, stabilizing controls, filters and processors. It is built into the wingtips, tail and nose of a small plane or a helicopter-towed drone, although the more stable plane is the platform of choice. Its sensitive equipment can work in lower frequencies than other airborne systems, Johnson says. That lets it map from higher, safer altitudes, at greater speed and with more accuracy, to significantly greater depths (20,000 ft and more, versus 3,000 ft or less) than other airborne electromagnetic mapping tools.

He says one big advantage of the system is that eField uses charges from naturally occurring "telluric currents" set up by storms and solar winds instead of generating and emitting pulses of electromagnetic energy so it can record reactions in the earth’s magnetic and electric fields. It works across a broad range of frequencies, including ones from 0.01 Hz to 3 Hz. The lower the frequency, the deeper the penetration. By correlating frequency to changes induced in electric fields surrounding oil and water deposits, for instance, the system can directly detect and map them in real time, 20,000 ft to even 30,000 ft under ground. Details can be found at www.efieldexploration.com.

(Photos & Graphics courtesy of eField Exploration)