DroneSOM - Mineral Exploration Mapping Tools Using Machine Learning and Drone Geophysics

Andreas Knobloch

Beak Consultants GmbH

Andreas studied Geology at Technical University Bergakademie Freiberg and South Dakota School of Mines and Technology from 1998 to 2004. He joined Beak Consultants GmbH in 2005 and has been a project manager in various mineral exploration projects, among others in Kosovo, Rwanda, Uganda, Namibia, DR Congo and Nigeria. Since 2007, his research is focusing on application of artificial intelligence for mineral predictive mapping. Currently, he is leading related work packages in the Horizon 2020 project "GoldenEye" and the Horizon Europe project "EIS – Exploration Information System." Since January 2023, he is Managing Director of Beak Consultants GmbH.

Ina Storch

Beak Consultants GmbH

Ina earned a Master's in Geophysics from TU Bergakademie Freiberg in 2010. Subsequently, she pursued a Ph.D. in Geophysics at the same institution from 2011 to 2021, focusing on controlled source deep seismic imaging at the North Chilean subduction zone, which she obtained in 2022. Currently, she contributes as a software developer and geoscientist at Beak Consultants GmbH, engaging in diverse commercial and research projects since 2021. As of 2023, Ina Storch leads the team behind the in-house developed advangeo® prediction software for 2D and 3D geospatial data.

Johanna Torppa

Geological Survey Finland (GTK)

Johanna, Ph.D., Senior Researcher, has educational and research background in physics and astronomy and more than ten years of experience in geoscientific research. During 2000-2019, she has worked in both astronomical and geoscience research projects in research institutes and business sector. Since 2019, she has been working at the Geological Survey of Finland as an expert in data analysis and multivariate data integration of different types of geoscientific data. Her aim is to develop new methods for data analysis and to make these methods available to the geoscience research community in form of easy-to-use software tools.

Bijal Chudasama

Geological Survey Finland (GTK)

Bijal is a Senior Scientist at the Geological Survey of Finland. She has educational background in geology (M.Sc., 2014), and in geoinformatics and applications of machine learning methods to different geological research domains (Ph.D., Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, India, 2019). Her main research area is exploration targeting of mineral deposits using GIS-based mineral prospectivity analysis that involves a complex workflow of mineral systems modelling, geoscientific data processing, spatial data analysis, pattern recognition and integration of regional-to-deposit-scale geophysical, geochemical, earth observation and geological datasets using statistical and machine learning methods. She is also involved in development of open-source tools for geoscience research and demonstrating the scientific applicability of new tools and methods in practical use case studies.

René Forsberg

DTU Space Denmark

René is a research scientist and Section Head at the Danish National Space Institute (DTU-Space). He has more than thirty years of experience at the National Survey and Cadastre of Denmark, as the State Geodesist responsible for physical geodesy and seismology. René is a member of the European Space Agency (ESA) Advisory Committee for Earth Observation (ACEO), Chairman of Danish National Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR), advisory board member of the International Service for the Geoid, a component of the International Association of Geodesy (IAG) and former Chairman of the International Gravity Field Service (IAG).

Ari Saartenoja

Radai Oy Finland

Ari has over 10 years of experience as a CEO of Radai Ltd, and over 20 years of experience in project management, customer service, technical development and team management. Ari is a founder of the company Radai Oy. He has been developing new innovative geophysical survey systems for drones since 2012. He graduated from the University of Oulu in 1998, and has a Major in Applied Mathematics.

Longying Xiao

Geological Survey Finland (GTK)

Longying is an expert in numerical modeling and inversion of electromagnetic data. She obtained her Ph.D. (2022) from Aarhus University, Denmark. During her doctoral study, she developed a 3D inversion algorithm of time-domain electromagnetic method (TEM) data, as well as time-lapse inversion. Longying joined GTK after graduation as a research scientist, currently working largely on developing 3D inversion methods for drone-based electromagnetic data.

Cedric Patzer

Geological Survey Finland (GTK)

Cedric's main research area focuses on computational aspects of electromagnetic (EM) methods in particular using active source (CS) methods. During his doctoral thesis at Freie Universität Berlin, Germany in collaboration with the GeoForschungsZentrum Potsdam, Germany (GFZ) he worked on time-lapse inversion methods with controlled source electromagnetics (CSEM). After receiving his Ph.D. in 2019, he continued his work in computational electromagnetics at GFZ Potsdam using controlled source magnetotelluric method. In 2021, he joined the Geologic Survey of Finland (GTK) further developing all aspects of the CSEM method.