His most famous work was the development of the INPUT airborne electromagnetic system, which has been credited in the discovery of tens of billions of dollars' worth of ore deposits.
Before beginning his university studies, Barringer served with the British Army in World War II.
[1] The Society of Exploration Geophysicists said INPUT was "a meritorious technical achievement which has been instrumental in the discovery of many base metal deposits in a number of countries around the world."
Ten years later, Barringer moved to Denver, Colorado and brought the company's headquarters with him.
Barringer made numerous technical contributions to the mining industry, including a laser-induced fluorescence-based system used primarily in oil and gas exploration (FLUOROSCAN), correlation spectrometer used to measure atmospheric dispersions of various gases (COSPEC), an infrared remote sensor for atmospheric gases which has been used by NASA to measure the worldwide atmospheric distribution of carbon dioxide (GASPEC), two airborne conductivity mapping systems using very low frequency fields (E-phase and radiophase) and several particulate analyzers (COTRAN, SURTRACE, LASERTRACE and AIRTRACE).