Structural joint inversion on irregular meshes

2019 ◽  
Vol 220 (3) ◽  
pp. 1995-2008 ◽  
Author(s):  
C Jordi ◽  
J Doetsch ◽  
T Günther ◽  
C Schmelzbach ◽  
H Maurer ◽  
...  

SUMMARY Structural joint inversion of several data sets on an irregular mesh requires appropriate coupling operators. To date, joint inversion algorithms are primarily designed for the use on regular rectilinear grids and impose structural similarity in the direct neighbourhood of a cell only. We introduce a novel scheme for calculating cross-gradient operators based on a correlation model that allows to define the operator size by imposing physical length scales. We demonstrate that the proposed cross-gradient operators are largely decoupled from the discretization of the modelling domain, which is particularly important for irregular meshes where cell sizes vary. Our structural joint inversion algorithm is applied to a synthetic electrical resistivity tomography and ground penetrating radar 3-D cross-well experiment aiming at imaging two anomalous bodies and extracting the parameter distribution of the geostatistical background models. For both tasks, joint inversion produced superior results compared with individual inversions of the two data sets. Finally, we applied structural joint inversion to two field data sets recorded over a karstified limestone area. By including geological a priori information via the correlation-based operators into the joint inversion, we find P-wave velocity and electrical resistivity tomograms that are in accordance with the expected subsurface geology.


Geophysics ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 76 (3) ◽  
pp. F203-F214 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Abubakar ◽  
M. Li ◽  
G. Pan ◽  
J. Liu ◽  
T. M. Habashy

We have developed an inversion algorithm for jointly inverting controlled-source electromagnetic (CSEM) data and magnetotelluric (MT) data. It is well known that CSEM and MT data provide complementary information about the subsurface resistivity distribution; hence, it is useful to derive earth resistivity models that simultaneously and consistently fit both data sets. Because we are dealing with a large-scale computational problem, one usually uses an iterative technique in which a predefined cost function is optimized. One of the issues of this simultaneous joint inversion approach is how to assign the relative weights on the CSEM and MT data in constructing the cost function. We propose a multiplicative cost function instead of the traditional additive one. This function does not require an a priori choice of the relative weights between these two data sets. It will adaptively put CSEM and MT data on equal footing in the inversion process. The inversion is accomplished with a regularized Gauss-Newton minimization scheme where the model parameters are forced to lie within their upper and lower bounds by a nonlinear transformation procedure. We use a line search scheme to enforce a reduction of the cost function at each iteration. We tested our joint inversion approach on synthetic and field data.



Geophysics ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 74 (6) ◽  
pp. R99-R109 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wenyi Hu ◽  
Aria Abubakar ◽  
Tarek M. Habashy

We have developed a frequency-domain joint electromagnetic (EM) and seismic inversion algorithm for reservoir evaluation and exploration applications. EM and seismic data are jointly inverted using a cross-gradient constraint that enforces structural similarity between the conductivity image and the compressional wave (P-wave) velocity image. The inversion algorithm is based on a Gauss-Newton optimization approach. Because of the ill-posed nature of the inverse problem, regularization is used to constrain the solution. The multiplicative regularization technique selects the regularization parameters automatically, improving the robustness of the algorithm. A multifrequency data-weighting scheme prevents the high-frequency data from dominating the inversion process. When the joint-inversion algorithm is applied in integrating marine controlled-source electromagnetic data with surface seismic data for subsea reservoir exploration applications and in integrating crosswell EM and sonic data for reservoir monitoring and evaluation applications, results improve significantly over those obtained from separate EM or seismic inversions.



Geophysics ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 76 (4) ◽  
pp. F239-F250 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fernando A. Monteiro Santos ◽  
Hesham M. El-Kaliouby

Joint or sequential inversion of direct current resistivity (DCR) and time-domain electromagnetic (TDEM) data commonly are performed for individual soundings assuming layered earth models. DCR and TDEM have different and complementary sensitivity to resistive and conductive structures, making them suitable methods for the application of joint inversion techniques. This potential joint inversion of DCR and TDEM methods has been used by several authors to reduce the ambiguities of the models calculated from each method separately. A new approach for joint inversion of these data sets, based on a laterally constrained algorithm, was found. The method was developed for the interpretation of soundings collected along a line over a 1D or 2D geology. The inversion algorithm was tested on two synthetic data sets, as well as on field data from Saudi Arabia. The results show that the algorithm is efficient and stable in producing quasi-2D models from DCR and TDEM data acquired in relatively complex environments.



2019 ◽  
Vol 219 (3) ◽  
pp. 1866-1875 ◽  
Author(s):  
F M Wagner ◽  
C Mollaret ◽  
T Günther ◽  
A Kemna ◽  
C Hauck

SUMMARY Quantitative estimation of pore fractions filled with liquid water, ice and air is crucial for a process-based understanding of permafrost and its hazard potential upon climate-induced degradation. Geophysical methods offer opportunities to image distributions of permafrost constituents in a non-invasive manner. We present a method to jointly estimate the volumetric fractions of liquid water, ice, air and the rock matrix from seismic refraction and electrical resistivity data. Existing approaches rely on conventional inversions of both data sets and a suitable a priori estimate of the porosity distribution to transform velocity and resistivity models into estimates for the four-phase system, often leading to non-physical results. Based on two synthetic experiments and a field data set from an Alpine permafrost site (Schilthorn, Bernese Alps and Switzerland), it is demonstrated that the developed petrophysical joint inversion provides physically plausible solutions, even in the absence of prior porosity estimates. An assessment of the model covariance matrix for the coupled inverse problem reveals remaining petrophysical ambiguities, in particular between ice and rock matrix. Incorporation of petrophysical a priori information is demonstrated by penalizing ice occurrence within the first two meters of the subsurface where the measured borehole temperatures are positive. Joint inversion of the field data set reveals a shallow air-rich layer with high porosity on top of a lower-porosity subsurface with laterally varying ice and liquid water contents. Non-physical values (e.g. negative saturations) do not occur and estimated ice saturations of 0–50 per cent as well as liquid water saturations of 15–75 per cent are in agreement with the relatively warm borehole temperatures between −0.5  and 3 ° C. The presented method helps to improve quantification of water, ice and air from geophysical observations.



Geophysics ◽  
2000 ◽  
Vol 65 (2) ◽  
pp. 540-552 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yaoguo Li ◽  
Douglas W. Oldenburg

The inversion of magnetic data is inherently nonunique with respect to the distance between the source and observation locations. This manifests itself as an ambiguity in the source depth when surface data are inverted and as an ambiguity in the distance between the source and boreholes if borehole data are inverted. Joint inversion of surface and borehole data can help to reduce this nonuniqueness. To achieve this, we develop an algorithm for inverting data sets that have arbitrary observation locations in boreholes and above the surface. The algorithm depends upon weighting functions that counteract the geometric decay of magnetic kernels with distance from the observer. We apply these weighting functions to the inversion of three‐component magnetic data collected in boreholes and then to the joint inversion of surface and borehole data. Both synthetic and field data sets are used to illustrate the new inversion algorithm. When borehole data are inverted directly, three‐component data are far more useful in constructing good susceptibility models than are single‐component data. However, either can be used effectively in a joint inversion with surface data to produce models that are superior to those obtained by inversion of surface data alone.



Geophysics ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 81 (3) ◽  
pp. ID37-ID57 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jiajia Sun ◽  
Yaoguo Li

Joint inversion of multiple geophysical data has become an active area of research due to its potential to greatly enhance the fidelity of inverted models. Many open questions and challenges still remain. One of them is how to effectively incorporate into joint inversion multimodal petrophysical information that describes the statistical behavior of physical property values in the parameter domain (i.e., in a crossplot). We have regarded the multimodal petrophysical data as different clusters in the parameter domain and developed an approach that handles multimodal petrophysical information through guided fuzzy c-means (FCM) clustering in the parameter domain. We inverted the petrophysical data in the parameter domain in a similar manner to and simultaneously with the geophysical data in the spatial domain through minimizing one common objective function. Numerical examples have determined that the resulting models from this multidomain joint-inversion strategy are able to reproduce both the geophysical and the petrophysical data. In addition to incorporating a priori multimodal petrophysical information into inversion, guided FCM clustering also allows us to integrate geology differentiation and geophysical inversion into one unified framework that makes these two components positively affect each other. Geology differentiation results were obtained as a direct output from joint inversion. We have also developed a strategy for imposing different clustering constraints in different model regions, allowing region-specific a priori petrophysical information to be incorporated into inversion. We have applied our joint-inversion algorithm to the SEG/EAGE salt model in four different scenarios, and we found that the proposed algorithm produced much better geophysical models and geology differentiation results than separate inversions.



Geophysics ◽  
2000 ◽  
Vol 65 (2) ◽  
pp. 492-501 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhiyi Zhang ◽  
Partha S. Routh ◽  
Douglas W. Oldenburg ◽  
David L. Alumbaugh ◽  
Gregory A. Newman

Inversions of electromagnetic data from different coil configurations provide independent information about geological structures. We develop a 1-D inversion algorithm that can invert data from the horizontal coplanar (HC), vertical coplanar, coaxial (CA), and perpendicular coil configurations separately or jointly. The inverse problem is solved by minimizing a model objective function subject to data constraints. Tests using synthetic data from 1-D models indicate that if data are collected at a sufficient number of frequencies, then the recovered models from individual inversions of different coil systems can be quite similar. However, if only a limited number of frequencies are available, then joint inversion of data from different coils produces a better model than the individual inversions. Tests on 3-D synthetic data sets indicate that 1-D inversions can be used as a fast and approximate tool to locate anomalies in the subsurface. Also for the test example presented here, the joint inversion of HC and CA data over a 3-D conductivity provided a better model than that produced by the individual inversion of the data sets.



Geophysics ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 79 (4) ◽  
pp. R133-R149 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hendrik Paasche ◽  
Jens Tronicke

Geophysical techniques offer the potential to tomographically image physical parameter variations in the ground in two or three dimensions. Due to the limited number and accuracy of the recorded data, geophysical model generation by inversion suffers ambiguity. Linking the model generation process of disparate data by jointly inverting two or more data sets allows for improved model reconstruction. Fully nonlinear inversion using optimization techniques searching the solution space of the inverse problem globally enables quantitative assessment of the ambiguity inherent to the model reconstruction. We used two different multiobjective particle swarm optimization approaches to jointly invert synthetic crosshole tomographic data sets comprising radar and P-wave traveltimes, respectively. Beginning with a nonlinear joint inversion founded on the principle of Pareto optimality and game theoretic concepts, we obtained a set of Pareto-optimal solutions comprising commonly structured radar and P-wave velocity models for low computational costs. However, the efficiency of the approach goes along with some risk of achieving a final model ensemble not adequately illustrating the ambiguity inherent to the model reconstruction process. Taking advantage of the results of the first approach, we inverted the database using a different nonlinear joint-inversion approach reducing the multiobjective optimization problem to a single-objective one. Computational costs were significantly higher, but the final models were obtained mutually independently allowing for objective appraisal of model parameter determination. Despite the high computational effort, the approach was found to be an efficient nonlinear joint-inversion formulation compared to what could be extracted from individual nonlinear inversions of both data sets.



Author(s):  
D. Gopinathan ◽  
M. Venugopal ◽  
D. Roy ◽  
K. Rajendran ◽  
S. Guillas ◽  
...  

Numerical inversions for earthquake source parameters from tsunami wave data usually incorporate subjective elements to stabilize the search. In addition, noisy and possibly insufficient data result in instability and non-uniqueness in most deterministic inversions, which are barely acknowledged. Here, we employ the satellite altimetry data for the 2004 Sumatra–Andaman tsunami event to invert the source parameters. We also include kinematic parameters that improve the description of tsunami generation and propagation, especially near the source. Using a finite fault model that represents the extent of rupture and the geometry of the trench, we perform a new type of nonlinear joint inversion of the slips, rupture velocities and rise times with minimal a priori constraints. Despite persistently good waveform fits, large uncertainties in the joint parameter distribution constitute a remarkable feature of the inversion. These uncertainties suggest that objective inversion strategies should incorporate more sophisticated physical models of seabed deformation in order to significantly improve the performance of early warning systems.



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