Geovista Sonde Operations Manual

Spectral Gamma Sonde

 Table Of Contents

Specifications .............................................................................................................................................................. 3
Sonde Dimensions ....................................................................................................................................................... 3
Communications Parameters .................................................................................................................................... 3
Principle Of Operation............................................................................................................................................... 3
Spectral Mode ............................................................................................................................................................. 4
Display and operation options include: .................................................................................................................... 5
Energy Calibration Procedure .................................................................................................................................. 7
Continuous Profiling Mode, with Raw Energy Windows ....................................................................................... 8
Continuous Profiling Mode, with KUT .................................................................................................................... 8
Static Profiling Mode, with KUT .............................................................................................................................. 8
Manual Revision ......................................................................................................................................................... 9

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 SPECTRAL GAMMA SONDE
Specifications

Recommended mnemonic SGAM

Sonde measurement parameters

Parameter Range Resolution Accuracy

Total CPS 1 Count NA
WIN1 to WIN5 NA 1 Count NA
WIN 10 ms

Sonde Dimensions

Sonde length 900 mm

Sonde diameter 60 mm
Sonde weight 6.3 Kg

Communications Parameters

Sonde Protocol Type GeoVista

Channel Description Depth Recommend Unit Nr of Time- Count

Offset ed bytes base er
Mnemonic channe based
l channe
l
Total GR count rate 15 cm TGAM CPS 2 No Yes
Sampling duration for 15 cm WIN mS 1 Yes No
each spectrum counts
GR count rate in Win 1 15 cm WIN1 CPS 2 No Yes
GR count rate in Win 2 15 cm WIN2 CPS 2 No Yes
GR count rate in Win 3 15 cm WIN3 CPS 2 No Yes
GR count rate in Win 4 15 cm WIN4 CPS 2 No Yes
GR count rate in Win 5 15 cm WIN5 CPS 2 No Yes
Detector Hi voltage 15 cm HV V 1 No No
Detector Temperature 15 cm TEMP ºC 1 No No

Principle Of Operation

This sonde uses a large 150 x 38 mm Sodium Iodide scintillation crystal coupled to a
photomultiplier to detect natural gamma radiation and display it as a 256 channel energy
spectrum to help distinguish the main radioisotopes at the source of the radiation (typically
232
Th, 238U and 40K). A large crystal is used because of low number of gammas detected in the
higher energy range.

A continuous log of Total Gamma counts and of counts within five energy band windows can
also be recorded. The range of energies detected by the sonde is from 100 KeV up to 2.8 MeV

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The sonde is pre-calibrated so that data from an internal temperature sensor in intimate contact
with the crystal can be used to automatically adjust the High Voltage supply to the detector to
compensate for any temperature induced changes in its gain.

Both log and spectrum data can be saved as ASCII files.

Logging

Logging can be effected either in spectral mode or in continuous profiling mode. Prior to
logging, the appropriate sonde stack must be selected as in the usual manner.

Spectral Mode

In this mode data is displayed in the form of a continuous spectrum including 5 energy windows.
The width (energy range) of each window is user selectable so that each window would span
over the spectrum section of interest.

To start logging, power up the sonde and open the Diagnostic window to check the correct
operation of the sonde. The diagnostic window would appear as shown below.

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Display and operation options include:

- Auto Temperature Stability On (Detector Hi Voltage automatic regulation). When this

selection box is ticked, the automatic Temperature Stability routine is enabled and manual
Hi Voltage adjustment is disabled. The Hi Voltage supply to the detector is automatically
adjusted according to its temperature.

- Log\Lin Spectrum - Spectral GR count rates display format (linear or a logarithmic scale).
Tick the selection box for a logarithmic display.

- Linear Auto Scale. Tick the selection box for automatic selection of spectrum vertical scale
when in linear scale display mode. If not ticked, the chosen maximum value (as displayed)
applies. Not applicable in logarithmic display mode.

- Filter Width - Spectrum smoothing. The number of selected represents the number of
channels used to average the displayed count rates. For a filter width of 5 for example, the
smoothed value of channel Cns = (Cn-2 + Cn-1 + Cn + Cn+1 + Cn+2 ) /5

- Window width. The width and position of each of the 5 energy windows can be adjusted
manually by double clicking on the spectrum and editing the values of each window limits.

The display is as above. Note that each window can be individually configured to accept the
window edges in either channel numbers (0-255) or in keV energy units. In the above example,
windows 2 and 4 have been selected as energy, while the other three windows are in channel
numbers.

- HV increase / decrease. Command to adjust the Hi Voltage supply are enabled when the
automatic temperature stability routine is disabled.

- Save as ASCII – Spectral data at each station can be saved as an ASCII file. When the
diagnostic screen is selected and there is an SGAM sonde in the stack, then the user will
have the option to select the name and location of the ASCII file as the diagnostic screen is

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 loaded. Selecting CANCEL will disallow saving of the data to the file. Pressing the “Save
As Ascii” checkbox will cause a file save.
A typical file would look as follows:

L1 GeoVista Spectral Gamma, Recorded On Thursday, Dec 22 2005 09:21

L2 Software Version 5.84
L3 Window 1 Start 10 End 36
L4 Window 2 Start 36 End 102
L5 Window 3 Start 102 End 125
L6 Window 4 Start 125 End 187
L7 Window 5 Start 187 End 249
L8 Depth= 63.05 Metres
L9 Sample Time (Seconds) 100.25
L10 Spectrum calibration(KeV) A(0) 85.18
L11 Spectrum calibration(KeV) A(1) 17.43889
L12 Spectrum calibration(KeV) A(2) -3.611111E-02
L13 Spectrum calibration(KeV) A(3) 0
L14 256 Windows
L15 0.0
L16 000.000
L17 23.000
:
:
L270 000.000
The line numbers, L1, L2 etc, do not appear in the file. They have been included here to allow
reference for the description as follows.

L1 A record of the time & date when recorded.

L2 The version of the GV Logger software that was used to make the record.
L3..L7 The start and end positions of the 5 spectral windows that have been set bu the
user. The values are in channel numbers. (See description of lines L10 to L13).
L8 The depth at which the record was taken. Note that the crystal measure point will
be shallower than this depth by the depth offset (150mm).
L9 The time period over which the record was acquired, in seconds.
L10..L13 Polynomial coefficients to convert channel numbers into energy in KeV. For
example channel number n has an energy;

Channel n = A0 + A1*n + A2*n^2 + A3*n^3 KeV

L14 The number of windows recorded
L15..L270 The counts recorded in each channel. These are gross counts, not counts per
second. To convert to CPS requires the use of the sample period in L9 above.

Further records recorded to the same file are the same structure and simply concatenated.

To accumulate the spectrum over a period of time, click the “Average Values” box. The time
period over which the spectrum is then accumulated is displayed in the spectrum plot window as
“Elapsed Time = 23.0 Seconds”, for example.

Moving the mouse in the spectrum plot window will change the cursor to a cross, and the
current channel number and equivalent energy for that channel (if “calibration” is clicked) will
be displayed as text. Also the count rate in the current channel will be displayed.

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Energy Calibration Procedure

The X axis of the spectrum display can be calibrated in KeV energy units. The procedure is
similar to the procedure when calibrating other sondes. To perform the calibration a set of
energy levels and corresponding numbers is required. This requires the use of radioactive
isotopes. A table of responses could be similar to Table 1;

Isotope Energy peak Channel Number

Cs137 661KeV 51
Co60 1173keV 96
Co60 1333keV 110
Thorium 2,600KeV 215

Table 1

To activate the calibration procedure, right click the mouse on the “SPEC KeV” channel name
and then enter the above values manually. Do not use the automatic data collection mode as for
other sondes. After manually entering the values, press calibrate and the display should be
similar to this;

Press “Save” & “Exit” to save the calibration.

Note that the numbers shown here will not be appropriate for every sonde, the specific values
need to be obtained for each sonde.

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Continuous Profiling Mode, with Raw Energy Windows

This is done as any other normal logging operation. It is recommended to log at slow speeds
(typically 3m/min) to improve log data.

A log of Total GR and GR within the five selected energy windows can be obtained. Note that
the window positions cannot be changed on replay.

Continuous Profiling Mode, with KUT

The Spectral Gamma Probe can be calibrated in a suitable facility, to obtain stripping
coefficients for Potassium (K), Uranium (U), and Thorium (Th). The coefficients are then
introduced in a User Function that can be applied either in real time, or playback. The name of
this user function is SGAMnnnn-KUT.usr where “nnnn” is the unique 4-digits sonde serial
number.

The output would then include three logs of quantitative concentrations in % for K, and in ppm
for Uranium and Thorium, and one log of Total Gross Gamma in cps or API units.

When supplied with a user function, a sonde calibration file will also be supplied. The position
of the windows is stored in this calibration file. It is essential that the user does not change these
window positions, as this will render the K,U & Th computed values useless. The software
does allow changing, but operational staff should be aware of the importance of using the
windows that were used for the calibration. These window positions are also included in the
calibration report.

Static Profiling Mode, with KUT

When the calibration coefficients are available to calculate the K, U & Th concentrations, then the static mode can
display in real time the computed results. This facility is available in the GeoVista Platform Logger version 6.43
and later.

The user needs to include these calibration coefficients in the sonde calibration file [Current Calibration] section as
shown here;

[Current Calibration]
Date & Time Of Calibration=25 October 2010 15:31:33
Type=Polynomial Order 2
K0=0.7442866
K1=-0.8720427
K2=1.195096

U0=0.02909355
U1=4.552879
U2=-14.89014

Th0=-0.08420944
Th1=-0.03966674
Th2=21.48158

Note that the format must be followed exactly or an error will occur.

When in the static mode, the diagnostic screen will appear as usual, but with a text box showing the three
computed concentrations overlaid (calibration needs to be set ON to appear). When the file is saved then these
values will be written into the Ascii file selected, as described earlier. The format of this file will be the same,
but with the addition of the concentration calculations. If an automatic process is being used to read these files,

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some modification will be required so as not to cause an error. Note that the software version used to create these
files is reported in the 2nd line of the file.

Manual Revision

To Version 2 January 2006. Added the new file format and the window positioning.
Version 3 Oct 2010. Added the K U Th calibration description

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