A single apparent resistivity expression for long‐offset transient electromagnetics

Geophysics ◽  
1986 ◽  
Vol 51 (6) ◽  
pp. 1291-1297 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yang Sheng

Early‐time and late‐time apparent resistivity approximations have been widely used for interpretation of long‐offset transient electromagnetic (LOTEM) measurements because it is difficult to find a single apparent resistivity over the whole time range. From a physical point of view, Dr. C. H. Stoyer defined an apparent resistivity for the whole time range. However, there are two problems which hinder its use: one is that there is no explicit formula to calculate the apparent resistivity, and the other is that the apparent resistivity has no single solution. A careful study of the two problems shows that a numerical method can be used to calculate a single apparent resistivity. A formula for the maximum receiver voltage over a uniform earth, when compared with the receiver voltage for a layered earth, leads to the conclusion that, in some cases, a layered earth can produce a larger voltage than any uniform earth can produce. Therefore, our apparent resistivity definition cannot be applied to those cases. In some other cases, the two possible solutions from our definition do not merge, so that neither of them is meaningful for the whole time range.

Geophysics ◽  
1986 ◽  
Vol 51 (7) ◽  
pp. 1462-1471 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brian R. Spies ◽  
Dwight E. Eggers

Problems and misunderstandings arise with the concept of apparent resistivity when the analogy between an apparent resistivity computed from geophysical observations and the true resistivity structure of the subsurface is drawn too tightly. Several definitions of apparent resistivity are available for use in electromagnetic methods; however, those most commonly used do not always exhibit the best behavior. Many of the features of the apparent resistivity curve which have been interpreted as physically significant with one definition disappear when alternative definitions are used. It is misleading to compare the detection or resolution capabilities of different field systems or configurations solely on the basis of the apparent resistivity curve. For the in‐loop transient electromagnetic (TEM) method, apparent resistivity computed from the magnetic field response displays much better behavior than that computed from the induced voltage response. A comparison of “exact” and “asymptotic” formulas for the TEM method reveals that automated schemes for distinguishing early‐time and late‐time branches are at best tenuous, and those schemes are doomed to failure for a certain class of resistivity structures (e.g., the loop size is large compared to the layer thickness). For the magnetotelluric (MT) method, apparent resistivity curves defined from the real part of the impedance exhibit much better behavior than curves based on the conventional definition that uses the magnitude of the impedance. Results of using this new definition have characteristics similar to apparent resistivity obtained from time‐domain processing.


Geophysics ◽  
1992 ◽  
Vol 57 (9) ◽  
pp. 1116-1126 ◽  
Author(s):  
James E. Hanneson

An algorithm for computing the transient electromagnetic (TEM) response of a dipping plate in a conductive half‐space has been developed. For a stationary [Formula: see text] current loop source, calculated profiles simulate the response of the University of Toronto electromagnetic system (UTEM) over a plate in a 1000 Ω ⋅ m half‐space. The objective is to add to knowledge of the galvanic process (causing poloidal plate currents) and the local induction process (causing toroidal currents) by studying host and plate currents with respect to surface profiles. Both processes can occur during TEM surveys. Plates are all [Formula: see text] thick with various depths, dips, and conductances. Calculated host and plate currents provide quantitative examples of several effects. For sufficiently conductive plates, the late time currents are toroidal as for a free‐space host. At earlier times, or at all times for poorly conducting plates, the plate currents are poloidal, and the transitions to toroidal currents, if they occur, are gradual. At very late times, poloidal currents again dominate any toroidal currents but this effect is rarely observed. Stripped, point‐normalized profiles, which reflect secondary fields caused by the anomalous plate currents, illustrate effects such as early time blanking (caused by noninstantaneous diffusion of fields into the target), mid‐time anomaly enhancement (caused by galvanic currents), and late time plate‐in‐free‐space asymptotic behavior.


2021 ◽  
Vol 62 (12) ◽  
pp. 1440-1448
Author(s):  
N.O. Kozhevnikov ◽  
E.Yu. Antonov

Abstract —Inductively induced electric polarization (IIP) is one of the aftereffects inherent in the geologic materials and affecting results of the transient electromagnetic method. Its effect on the inductive transient response manifests itself as a nonmonotonic EMF decay, including the polarity reversal. The dependence of IIP on many conditions makes it difficult to study the basic regularities in its manifestation. One of the ways to address this problem is to present the simulation results as a normalized transient response. From the most general point of view, the intensity and time range of the IIP manifestation are controlled by the competition between induction and induced polarization phenomena. Induced polarization manifests itself differently, depending on the transmitter used for the excitation of the ground response. Therefore, when studying polarizable ground, the results of the conventional IP method and those of the TEM method do not always correlate.


Geophysics ◽  
1981 ◽  
Vol 46 (1) ◽  
pp. 53-64 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. P. Raiche ◽  
B. R. Spies

A set of apparent conductivity master curves has been calculated for the coincident loop transient electromagnetic (TEM) method used over a two‐layer earth. Conductivity contrasts range from 0.001 to 1000. Loop radius/layer depth ratios range from 0.01 to 100. The time range is sufficient to see the entire shape of the curves from the early to the late time asymptotes. These curves allow the determination of the parameters of a two‐layer earth for accurate data over a sufficient time range. Examples using the curves to interpret multilayered earths are given. The curves are also used to show the limitations placed on interpretation by existing TEM equipment.


Geophysics ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 82 (4) ◽  
pp. E211-E220 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrei Swidinsky ◽  
Chester J. Weiss

Coincident loop transient induction wireline logging is examined as the borehole analog of the well-known land and airborne time-domain electromagnetic (EM) method. The concept of whole-space late-time apparent resistivity is modified from the half-space version commonly used in land and airborne geophysics and applied to the coincident loop voltages produced from various formation, borehole, and invasion models. Given typical tool diameters, off-time measurements with such an instrument must be made on the order of nanoseconds to microseconds — much more rapidly than for surface methods. Departure curves of the apparent resistivity for thin beds, calculated using an algorithm developed to model the transient response of a loop in a multilayered earth, indicate that the depth of investigation scales with the bed thickness. Modeled resistivity logs are comparable in accuracy and resolution with standard frequency-domain focused induction logs. However, if measurement times are longer than a few microseconds, the thicknesses of conductors can be overestimated, whereas resistors are underestimated. Thin-bed resolution characteristics are explained by visualizing snapshots of the EM fields in the formation, where a conductor traps the electric field while two current maxima are produced in the shoulder beds surrounding a resistor. Radial profiling is studied using a concentric cylinder earth model. Results found that true formation resistivity can be determined in the presence of either oil- or water-based mud, although in the latter case, measurements must be taken several orders of magnitude later in time. The ability to determine true formation resistivity is governed by the degree that the EM field heals after being distorted by borehole fluid and invasion, a process visualized and particularly evident in the case of conductive water-based mud.


2018 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 15-32
Author(s):  
Muhammad Younis Khan ◽  
Guo-qiang Xue ◽  
Wei-ying Chen ◽  
Hua-sen Zhong

Long-offset transient electromagnetic (LOTEM) has received great attention in mineral, hydrocarbon and hydrogeological investigations for the last several years. Conventionally, TEM soundings have been presented as apparent resistivity curves as function of time. With development of sophisticated computational algorithms, it became possible to extract more realistic geoelectric information by applying inversion programs to 1-D and 3-D problems. Here, we analyze LOTEM data by carrying out analysis in time, frequency and pseudo-seismic domain supported by borehole information. At first, H, K, A & Q type geoelectric models are processed using a proven inversion program (1-D Occam inversion). Second, time-to-frequency transformation is conducted from TEM ρ a ( f) curves for the same models based on all-time apparent resistivity curves. Third, 1-D Bostick's algorithm was applied to the transformed resistivity. Finally, EM diffusion field is transformed into propagating wave field and constructed pseudo-seismic section. The transformed seismic-like wave indicates that some reflection and refraction phenomena appear when the EM wave field interacts with a geoelectric interface at different depth intervals due to contrast in resistivity. In all three cases, synthetic tests showed that conductive anomaly in resistive host environment can be retrieved more clearly than resistive target. A case study illustrates the successful application of proposed approach in recovering a water-filled mined-out area in a coal field located in Ye county, Henan province, China. The results support the introduction of pseudo-seismic imaging technology in long-offset version of TEM which can also be an useful aid if integrated with seismic reflection technique to explore possibilities for high resolution EM imaging in future. [Figure: see text]


Geophysics ◽  
1992 ◽  
Vol 57 (6) ◽  
pp. 774-780 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Poddar ◽  
Walter L. Anderson

A hard rock area underlain by granitic/gneissic or basaltic rocks often has an A‐type three‐layer geoelectric section in which resistivity increases with depth. The middle layer of moderate resistivity caused by fracturing/fissuring that lies between the surface‐weathered layer and the substratum of unfractured rock is not a good target for a direct current (DC) resistivity sounding since it is generally suppressed in the observations. Moreover, its definition requires expanding the electrode spacing to a length several times the depth of the target layer, and this may be a drawback if the target layer is either laterally variable or limited in its horizontal extent. We first studied the transient electric field of a horizontal electric dipole (HED) source excited by a step turn‐off current for a 1-D model of an A‐type geoelectric section. The results of this theoretical study are presented as graphs of normalized apparent resistivity versus a time‐related dimensionless parameter. Irrespective of the separation between the transmitter and receiver dipoles, these transient sounding curves become similar to the corresponding Schlumberger sounding curves at late time. Hence the transient electric field measurement offers the possibility of sounding at a fixed transmitter‐receiver spacing that may be shorter than the target depth. Also, at early times, for a certain ratio of the dipole separation to the target depth, there is a dramatic increase in the resolution of the response. Thus, it is possible to resolve suppressed layers of an A‐type section in this type of sounding. A study of the effects of transmitter ramp time and receiver bandwidth on the transient apparent resistivity curves shows that a very fast current shut‐off and wideband measurement are required to realize all the possibilities suggested by this modeling. Some 3-D transient electromagnetic (TEM) modeling was also done to simulate (1) a lateral variation in the resistivity of the middle layer of an A‐type section and (2) a weak zone of limited horizontal extent in the substratum of a two‐layer section. We observed that the 3-D inclusion has less effect at late time but is more pronounced at early time. In view of the above results, we conclude that the transient E‐field sounding with a grounded wire source can be used in place of a conventional DC resistivity sounding to overcome the problem of poor resolution due to the suppression of the intermediate layer in a geoelectric section where the resistivity increases with depth. As such, it has a potential application in groundwater as well as geotechnical surveys, because together with the overlying weathered layer, the fractured rock constitutes the aquifer in hard rocks.


2019 ◽  
Vol 24 (3) ◽  
pp. 351-359
Author(s):  
Junjie Xue ◽  
Jiulong Cheng ◽  
Guoqiang Xue ◽  
Hai Li ◽  
Dongyang Hou ◽  
...  

The diffusive electromagnetic field can be transformed into the wave domain by means of mathematical conversion. The transformed field can then be interpreted with the tools in seismic data processing so that the identification to the underground targets can be effectively improved. However, the conversion is typically an ill-posed problem that needs to be solved using regularization tools. Based on the conventional regularization with smooth constraints in the L2 norm, the inversion result is of low resolution, while that obtained using truncated singular value decomposition (TSVD) methods is typically accurate, but has poor stability. To obtain a stable and accurate transformed electromagnetic field value, this study proposed to combine conventional regularization tools and singular value decomposition algorithms by incorporating a set of weighting coefficients. The proposed method is validated on both synthetic and observed data. The results from the proposed method are more accurate at the early time, and at the late time are more stable compared with the other methods. Furthermore, the example of field data shows that the proposed method could potentially further improve the interpretation accuracy of future mining explorations.


Geophysics ◽  
1986 ◽  
Vol 51 (4) ◽  
pp. 957-963 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. Buselli ◽  
K. G. McCracken ◽  
M. Thorburn

Transient electromagnetic (TEM) measurements have been made with SIROTEM on four separate surveys over the Teutonic Bore orebody (Western Australia), both before mining operations began and subsequently during different stages of stripping overburden from the mineral deposit. In the late stage of the transient decay the target response was relatively free of the overburden and host‐rock response. Beyond ∼ 6 ms, the maximum anomalous response was a factor of 8 to 10 greater than the combined overburden and host‐rock response. Analog modeling with a copper plate in free space shows that the TEM response of the target consists of a single peak at early delay times, while at delay times beyond ∼ 4.2 ms, the response becomes a double‐peak anomaly with a low directly over the top of the plate. Mathematical modeling of the TEM response with a free‐space infinitely thin plate produces profile characteristics similar to those obtained by analog modeling beyond a delay time of ∼ 4.2 ms. Inversion of premining survey profiles in the delay time range 7.0 to 13.2 ms gives values of 82 m for target depth d, and 86 degrees for dip angle θ. These agree well with the values d = 86 m and θ = 82 degrees derived from drilling data. A target conductance value in the range 250 to 320 S is obtained from the TEM data, indicating that the massive sulfide target is highly conductive. Responses calculated for surveys made during overburden stripping are lower than corresponding field values at early delay times because of the absence of overburden response in the model measurements. At delay times beyond 8.5 ms, the model values are consistent with the field values. These results indicate that for a case similar to the Teutonic Bore orebody, where the maximum anomalous late‐time response is a factor of 8 to 10 times greater than the background response, important target parameters may be derived from free‐space models.


Geophysics ◽  
2001 ◽  
Vol 66 (4) ◽  
pp. 1090-1096 ◽  
Author(s):  
Z. Zhang ◽  
J. Xiao

Large‐loop electromagnetic (EM) systems that measure transient EM (TEM) data on the surface or in boreholes have shown increased application in exploration geophysics. Accurate interpretation of borehole TEM data is necessary to discover deep hidden targets that cannot be detected with surface systems. However, the inversion of borehole TEM data has not been fully addressed. In this paper, we study the propagation of the TEM field from a large‐loop EM borehole system inside a layered earth and develop a new inversion algorithm to reconstruct layered conductivity structures from large‐loop TEM data measured with both surface and borehole configurations. The magnetic field and sensitivities are first computed in the frequency domain and are then transformed into the time domain where the inversion is performed. The surface data have a higher S/N ratio at early time channels, while the borehole data have a higher S/N ratio at late time channels. Consequently, the surface data can be inverted to better resolve shallow structures, and the borehole data can be used to better detect deep structures. The merits of joint inversions of borehole and surface data are explored. We test our inversion algorithm using numeric examples.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document