Gravity survey of the Pantanal Wetland: Data acquisition and processing

Abstract

A gravity survey was conducted between 1988 and 1993, mostly during the dry season (july to october) in the Pantanal Wetland and surrounding highlands, aiming to obtain a first regional gravity coverage. The Pantanal Wetland is an important geomorphological unit extending from -54° to -59.°, east-west and from 14° to 23°, north-south, in SW Brazil. The topography ranges from 80 m to 200 m above sea level within the plain. A total of 3,662 gravity stations were collected. Because of the difficulty in accessing the flood plain, apart from conventional ground survey, fluvial and air routes were used in the field data acquisition. The data acquisition procedure is described in detail and a discussion on the final gravity anomaly accuracy is presented. From the total number of stations, 7 stations belong to the Fundamental Brazilian Gravity Network, 1,886 gravity stations were obtained on bench marks, 1,505 stations were set up together with barometric levelling or the altitude was estimated from topographic maps in places with smooth topography (horizontal gradient < 0.5 m/km), 237 stations were collected along the main rivers and 33 stations using aircraft.