Fast automatic solution of the inverse resistivity problem

Abstract

The paper presents a fast automatic approach to solve the inverse resistivity problem, assisted by optimization, which is a non-linear model-fitting technique. The selected inverse problems are ill-posed and the inverse solution is defined by ‘best fit’ in the sense of least-squares. Formulations are presented in a systematic manner for Newton’s method, least squares method and Marquardt’s modification (ridge regression) method based on local linearization of non-linear problem. The convergence of least-squares method and Marquardt’s method, to provide a robust solution, are first tested on a theoretical model and effectiveness of Marquardt’s method is demonstrated, and then two-field apparent resistivity curves from Banda district, India are interpreted and discussed.