Frequency‐ and time‐domain electromagnetic responses of layered earth—A multiseparation, multisystem approach

Abstract

EM depth soundings by controlled‐source electromagnetic methods (CSEM) are made to determine the vertical resistivity distribution of the earth. The two variations of soundings, namely frequency sounding and geometric sounding, are used for exploring the subsurface. Although in field applications electromagnetic (EM) sounding has relative advantages over direct current resistivity sounding, quantitative use of EM depth sounding has not been used as much as direct current resistivity sounding (Mundry and Bohlm, 1987). Mundry and Bohlm (1987) have pointed out that one of the problems in the application of frequency EM sounding is the lack of sophisticated interpretational tools. The interpretation of the mutual coupling ratio (MCR) from the EM field component measurements, [Formula: see text], invariably relies on numerical inversion routines. However, unlike the direct current (DC) or magnetotelluric (MT) apparent resistivity curves, MCR curves do not reflect the subsurface resistivity distributions, and an initial guess model from MCR required for its inversion is difficult. Conversion of single component EM measurements into apparent resistivity is ambiguous because for a single measurement, two apparent resistivity values are obtained. Combining the general expressions for MCR obtained from the quasi‐static tangential electric and vertical magnetic field components of a vertical magnetic dipole source on the surface of a half‐space, Das (1995) defined an apparent resistivity for the use of the CSEM. The CSEM apparent resistivity curves show features similar to DC and MT apparent resistivity curves and they greatly enhance the interpretation. I refer to this paper (Das, 1995, published in this issue) as Paper I. In the present paper, difficult measurements of the electric field have been avoided by combining [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text] obtained from the magnetic field measurements of two different configurations, i.e., the horizontal coplanar loops (HCP) and vertical coplanar loops (VCP) systems, respectively. This combination of measurements provides operational simplicity in the field and gives the same CSEM apparent resistivity described in Paper I. However, complementary behavior of the two combinations would be realized.