b'Environmental geophysicsEnvironmental geophysicsare now a number of systems that getis inverting large data sets (especially 3D both excellent lateral resolution (theinversion) on high-powered Linux boxes\x08 easy part) but good vertical resolutionMost of the inversions that we commonly as wellto 30 m depth\x08 A partialuse run only on Windows computers, history of towed land/water basedso he has been spending lots of time geophysics might go like: Srensenmodifying academic code so that it runs etal. (1995), Snyder etal. (2002), Allenwith fewer bugs\x08 He indicates that he is and Merrick (2003), Barrett etal. (2005),getting good results He then digressed plus a bunch that I have missed\x08 Whatto wondering about how inversions will has got me going in the last year orbe run in the futurewill we be going to so is the Aarhus University developedthe cloud-based Software-as-a-Service towed TEM system (tTEM) (Aukenmodel? Or just sending our big inversion Mike Hatchetal. 2018) that is starting to getjobs to a contractor/consultant who has Associate Editor foraround (Behroozmand etal. 2019); anda range of tools available? Or will we still Environmentalgeophysicsthe Loupe system, developed here inbe able to run (afford to own?) stand-michael.hatch@adelaide.edu.au Australia by Andrew Duncan and Gregalone versions of the products that we Street (Street etal. 2018)\x08 These systemsknow and like? I dont think that we will (like the mobile TEM system developedknow the answer to this for a few years Looking back and looking forward by Dave Allen a few years ago) are ableto come\x08Welcome readers to this issuesto collect data from near the surfaceDave Allen had some interesting column on geophysics applied to the(5 m) to depths 30 m (of courseinsights into the past year (more environment\x08 In this column I woulddependent on local noise conditionsdrought related than the COVID related like to look back on 2020 (and I almostand resistivity structure of the ground)\x08observations that I expected)\x08 In the promise not to mention COVID orThese systems are better than what Iagricultural area in which he mostly American politicswell see how I go),started experimenting with 15 years agoworks he found that early in the year he and review what I (and others) think arein that these systems are quite mobile,was very busy helping farmers find new some of the interesting things that haveand collect data that is high resolutiongroundwater sources\x08 It started to rain come out in shallow/environmentalboth vertically, as well as laterallyandin February and the farmers readjusted geophysics; and then make somego deep (deeper anyway)\x08 priorities so suddenly there was nearly predictions for 2021 and beyond\x08 To doI had an interesting conversation withno more groundwater work\x08 He is this I have polled a few of my contactsTim Munday on predictions for thehoping that his work will pick up now in the less deep geophysical world (andupcoming years\x08 Much of what he saidthe farmers have more cash\x08 He also one or two who cross over between thetied in with the towed theme that I gotnoted a contraction in work with larger two)\x08 In alphabetical order, I got inputinto above, but in fact goes further\x08 Heengineering companies that he blames from: David Allen, Kim Frankcombe,suggested that I have a look at someon COVID\x08Graham Heinson, Ian Moffat, Timof the developments in the precisionAnd one final news item that I think Munday and Greg Street\x08 I polled aagriculture space\x08 He specificallywill be of interest to many: Ian total of eight, these are the people whomentioned Geoprospectors (an AustrianMoffat, lead researcher of a team of got back to me - pretty good turnoutcompany: http://www\x08geoprospectors\x08 investigators from Flinders University, I thought\x08 I also thought that some ofcom/gb/products-services/agriculture/),the University of Adelaide and host these subjects are so interesting that Iwho produce a compact FDEM systemof others from around the world am likely to go more in-depth on them inthat bolts onto the front of an agriculturalhas just won a Large Infrastructure future columns\x08 tractor, collecting and processing FDEMEquipment and Facilities (LIEF) grant Based on my informal poll (as well asdata in very-close-to-real time\x08 A farmerfrom the Australian Research Council my own observations over the last year)can use the system to collect data over(ARC) to fund the establishment of a I would say that the biggest thing thata given field and then, at their leisure,National Facility for the 3D Imaging came out of the last year (or so), withintegrate that data set with otherof the Near Surface\x08 Ian says: Another the potential to keep giving in 2021data sets (think, for example, high resexciting development in 2020 was the is improvement in mobile, ground- radiometrics) to make sophisticatedfunding of a suite of new equipment based instrumentation, mostly in themaps of soil types, soil saturationfor high resolution near surface frequency-domain and time-domainpotential, etc\x08 to inform future planting,geophysics through the Australian electromagnetics (FDEM and TEM)irrigation, etc\x08 Even more interestingly,Research Council LIEF scheme\x08 This will space\x08 To me towed/continuous EM isthese systems are able to collect data inprovide Australian researchers with a little like that actor who makes thereal-time and these data may be used onaccess to next-generation geophysical sudden breakthrough, and then youthe tractor, to set, e\x08g\x08 tilling depths oninstruments including a Sensys MX V3 look back and theyve been aroundthe run\x08 gradiometer array with 16 sensors and forever\x08 Many of us have been towingKim Frankcombe sent me his thoughtsa Mal Mira HDR GPR array with 132 high-resolution TEM systems, terrainon what he thought were the trends of500 MHz channels, through the ANSIR conductivity meters and the like forthe last year and what is going to take upscheme via competitive application\x08 quite a while\x08 Whats cool is that therehis time next year\x08 For Kim the big thingThis integrated suite of equipment is FEBRUARY 2021 PREVIEW 26'