The high-density electrical method is a primary method used in shallow geophysical prospecting. Due to the rapid industrial development that has taken place in recent years, the function and performance of high-density electrical instruments have been considerably improved in several aspects. However, most of the electrical instruments currently available on the market still exhibit some shortcomings, such as being bulky, heavy, limited in their data acquisition accuracy, and difficult to connect to the Internet for remote monitoring. To address these problems, this study developed a new multifunctional four-dimensional (4D) high-density electrical instrument based on remote wireless communication technology. The system is small and lightweight, includes an integrated transceiver, has high data acquisition accuracy, and is capable of remote wireless real-time control. In this study, the hardware circuit was designed. The Arm all-in-one (AIO) LJD-eWinV5-ST7 with a 154.4 cm × 87 cm, 800 × 480 high-brightness wide-temperature-range display is used as the host computer, which has the advantages of small size, low power consumption, and abundant hardware resources. Internet of things (IoT) technology is incorporated in the system, and a 4G module is employed to provide a real-time remote control and data acquisition monitoring system based on the cloud platform. Tests showed that this instrument is stable and convenient to use and can meet the requirements for use in field prospecting.

Electromagnetic exploration, characterized by its low cost, wide applicability, and high operational efficiency, finds extensive applications in fields such as oil and gas exploration, mineral prospecting, and engineering geology. Traditional controlled-source electromagnetic detection methods are typically confined to operating frequencies below 250 kHz, resulting in insufficient detection accuracy for applications such as shallow- and intermediate-depth exploration, thereby constraining their performance in high-resolution imaging. To address these challenges, we propose a controlled-source ultrasonic audio frequency electromagnetic receive system based on the internet of things (IoT). We investigate cascaded digital filtering and sampling techniques to extend the receiver's sampling rate range, thereby elevating the operating frequency of controlled-source electromagnetic acquisition from the conventional maximum of 250 kHz to 1 MHz. The receiver achieves a sampling rate of up to 2.5 MHz, comprising three magnetic field measurement channels and two electric field measurement channels. The instrument is compact, lightweight, and capable of real-time data storage locally and real-time data transmission to an upper computer. Additionally, IoT technology is introduced, leading to the design of a cloud-based real-time remote control and data acquisition scheme. Experimental results demonstrate the stability of the instrument, meeting the requirements of field exploration.

The high-precision magnetic survey system is crucial for ocean exploration. However, most existing systems face challenges such as high noise levels, low sensitivity, and inadequate magnetic compensation effects. To address these issues, we developed a high-precision magnetic survey system based on the manned submersible “Deep Sea Warrior” for deep-ocean magnetic exploration. This system incorporates a compact optically pumped cesium (Cs) magnetometer sensor to measure the total strength of the external magnetic field. Additionally, a magnetic compensation sensor is included at the front end to measure real-time attitude changes of the platform. The measured data are then transmitted to a magnetic signal processor, where an algorithm compensates for the platform’s magnetic interference. We also designed a deep pressure chamber to allow for a maximum working depth of 4500 m. Experiments conducted in both indoor and field environments verified the performance of the proposed magnetic survey system. The results showed that the system’s sensitivity is ≤0.5 nT, the noise level of the magnetometer sensor is ≤1 pT/√Hz at 1 Hz, and the sampling rate is 10 Hz. The proposed system has potential applications in ocean and geophysical exploration.

Expendable current profiler (XCP) is one of the most vital devices detecting ocean currents. Compared with other methods, the expendable feature makes trials with XCP much faster and more hidden, while the accuracy of XCP is considerably influenced by electromagnetic noise all around. Aiming at researching the influence and reducing the noise, this study carried out laboratory simulation experiments. The designed laboratory experiments mainly have a self-developed rotation gear, an XCP prototype, a plastic flume, and two copper plates as power. Firstly, these experiments analyzed the main sources of electromagnetic noise for XCP detection. Secondly, we built a noise simulation environment and conducted XCP detection experiments under different noise in the flume. The data obtained by XCP were transmitted to the computer to be stored and processed. The results show the internal noise impact on XCP is significantly less than the external. For an excitation power of 1 mV, the offset of theoretical and actual data brought by internal noise is 12 times smaller than external and can be corrected.

High-precision magnetometers play a crucial role in ocean exploration, geophysical prospecting, and military and security applications. Installing them on human-occupied vehicle (HOV) platforms can greatly enhance ocean exploration capabilities and efficiency. However, most existing magnetometers suffer from low sensitivity and excessively large size. This study presents a high-sensitivity, miniaturized magnetometer based on cesium optically pumped probes. The designed magnetometer utilizes a three-probe design to eliminate the detection dead zone of the cesium optically pumped probe and enable three-dimensional magnetic detection. The proposed magnetometer uses a flux gate probe to detect the three-axis magnetic field and ensure that the probe does not enter the dead zone. The three probes can automatically switch by measuring the geomagnetic elements and real-time attitude of the HOV platform. This article primarily introduces the cesium three-probe optically pump, flux gate sensor, and automatic switching scheme design of the above-mentioned magnetometer. Moreover, it is proven through testing that the core indicators, such as the accuracy and sensitivity of the cesium three-probe optically pumped and flux gate sensor, reach international standards. Finally, the effectiveness of the automatic switching scheme proposed in this study is demonstrated through drone-mounted experiments.

The Antarctic region holds significant scientific research value and potential resources. Currently, limited research exists on the use of seismic exploration methods for Antarctic subglacial lakes compared to their use on other continents. Moreover, few reports are available on systems capable of multi-channel seismic data acquisition, remote data quality monitoring, and high-speed real-time data recycling in the extremely low temperatures of Antarctica. In this study, we developed a Zynq-based seismic acquisition station for polar exploration. The system features a compact design, lightweight construction, high data collection accuracy, excellent cold resistance, low power consumption, and real-time control. The software and hardware design of the system are described here, and validity testing is presented. The main controller utilizes a Zynq series system-on-chip integrated with an FPGA (Field-Programmable Gate Array) and an ARM (Advanced RISC Machine), enabling functions such as local data storage on a secure digital card, Wi-Fi wireless human–machine interaction, and high-speed Ethernet data transmission. Furthermore, to enhance data acquisition accuracy under low-temperature conditions, a neural network was employed for the temperature drift correction of the analog-to-digital converter chip. The validity test results showed that the station operated stably, was easy to use, and met the high-standard requirements for polar exploration.