A modeling study of augmenting coarse-grid 3D controlled-source electromagnetics with data from a towed receiver array

Abstract

We have considered the simultaneous 3D inversion of controlled-source electromagnetic data from a towed receiver array and a coarse grid of stationary seabed receivers. Our 3D synthetic model demonstrated the sensitivity and effect on imaging of towed and seabed receiver data. The short-offset data from the towed receivers at 1–3 km offset are effective at resolving a shallow resistor at a 400-m burial depth. On the other hand, the data from the stationary seabed receivers have less noise and will resolve the 3D geometry of resistive structures buried at the 1–2 km depths typical of a hydrocarbon reservoir. We have determined how the complementary sensitivity of data from the two receiver types can be used in simultaneous inversion to recover the shallow and deep resistors.