Anomaly Confidence Tier
Definition
A risk-based classification of geophysical anomalies as high, medium, or low priority for excavation based on how closely each anomaly matches the expected geophysical signature for the target type and how many methods confirm it.
- Levels
- High, medium, low priority
- Based on
- Match to expected target signature and method agreement
- Used in
- Prioritising excavation targets from survey data
- Field
- Geophysical prospection for buried remains or objects
Common questions
Why use a tiered confidence system instead of excavating every anomaly?+
Ground search resources are limited, so ranking anomalies lets a team dig the strongest candidates first and gives a documented, defensible rationale for the excavation order if the methodology is later questioned.
What raises an anomaly from medium to high confidence?+
Agreement between independent methods, such as ground-penetrating radar and magnetometry both flagging the same location with signatures matching the target type, moves an anomaly up the confidence scale.
Related terms
- Cheetham 2005 Framework
- A published methodological framework (Cheetham, P. 2005, Forensic Geophysical Survey) that sets out survey standards, processing requirements, anomaly classification criteria, and report...
- De-Striping
- A processing operation that equalises the mean value across adjacent survey lines in magnetometry or resistivity data, removing banded artefacts caused by...
- Interpolation and Gridding
- The process of estimating values between measured points to create a continuous surface or image from discrete survey transects. Common algorithms include...
- Migration (GPR)
- A processing algorithm that collapses hyperbolic reflections back to their true point positions. Migration requires a velocity model; with the correct velocity...
- Zero-Time Correction
- A GPR processing step that aligns all traces to a consistent time-zero at the ground surface, removing the slight variation in the...