NUMERICAL INVERSE MAGNETOTELLURIC PROBLEMS

Abstract

Marquardt’s maximum neighborhood method for computing the values of nonlinear parameters is applied to model magnetotelluric data to compute conductivity contrast, overburden thickness, and the depth extent of a conductor. The problems treated are two‐dimensional and the network solution is used to formulate the relationship between the EM fields and the nonlinear paramaters. The method appears to work much better than trial‐and‐error or master‐curve matching techniques. Its application to any particular magnetotelluric problem appears to be limited only by one’s experience and imagination.