Spectral induced polarization: frequency domain versus time domain laboratory data

Abstract

SUMMARY Spectral information obtained from induced polarization (IP) measurements can be used in a variety of applications and is often gathered in frequency domain (FD) at the laboratory scale. In contrast, field IP measurements are mostly done in time domain (TD). Theoretically, the spectral content from both domains should be similar. In practice, they are often different, mainly due to instrumental restrictions as well as the limited time and frequency range of measurements. Therefore, a possibility of transition between both domains, in particular for the comparison of laboratory FD IP data and field TD IP results, would be very favourable. To compare both domains, we conducted laboratory IP experiments in both TD and FD. We started with three numerical models and measurements at a test circuit, followed by several investigations for different wood and sandstone samples. Our results demonstrate that the differential polarizability (DP), which is calculated from the TD decay curves, can be compared very well with the phase of the complex electrical resistivity. Thus, DP can be used for a first visual comparison of FD and TD data, which also enables a fast discrimination between different samples. Furthermore, to compare both domains qualitatively, we calculated the relaxation time distribution (RTD) for all data. The results are mostly in agreement between both domains, however, depending on the TD data quality. It is striking that the DP and RTD results are in better agreement for higher data quality in TD. Nevertheless, we demonstrate that IP laboratory measurements can be carried out in both TD and FD with almost equivalent results. The RTD enables a good comparability of FD IP laboratory data with TD IP field data.