Transient electromagnetic search engine for real-time imaging

Abstract

To image the resistivity distribution of the subsurface, transient electromagnetic (TEM) surveying has been established as an effective geophysical method. Conventionally, an inversion method is applied to resolve the model parameters from the available measurements. However, significant time and effort are involved in preparing and executing an inversion and this prohibits its use as a real-time decision-making tool to optimize surveying in the field. We have developed a search engine method to find approximate 1D resistivity model solutions for circular central-loop configuration TEM data in real time. The search engine method is a concept used for query searches from large databases on the Internet. By extension, approximate solutions to any input TEM data can be found rapidly by searching a preestablished database. This database includes a large number of forward simulation results that represent the possible model solutions. The database size is optimized by the survey depth of investigation and the sensitivity analysis of the model layers. The fast-search speed is achieved by using the multiple randomized [Formula: see text]-dimensional tree method. In addition to its high speed in finding solutions, the search engine method provides a solution space that quantifies the resolutions and uncertainties of the results. We apply the search engine method to find 1D model solutions at different data points and then interpolate them to a pseudo-2D resistivity model. We tested the method with synthetic and real data.