Marine Controlled-source Electromagnetic Fields Research Articles

Three-dimensional modeling of Marine Controlled Source Electromagnetic field using a space-wavenumber domain method

Under complex conditions, the three-dimensional modeling of Marine Controlled Source Electromagnetic field requires a significant amount of computation, resulting in slow calculation speed and high storage requirements. To solve these problems, we propose a 3D numerical simulation method of electromagnetic field in the space-wavenumber domain under the Lorenz gauge. Firstly, the new method utilizes the two-dimensional Fourier transform in the horizontal direction to transform the 3D partial differential equations of the Lorenz vector potentials into multiple independent ordinary differential equations. Secondly, the finite element method is used to solve the ordinary differential equations. The fields in the spatial domain are then obtained by using the inverse Fourier transform, and finally, an iterative method with a compact operator is applied to approximate the true solution. The approach requires less computation and storage, and the algorithm is highly parallel, which effectively improves the efficiency of 3D forward modeling of electromagnetic fields. The correctness, effectiveness, and computational efficiency of the method are verified by the design model.

Finite Element Simulation of 3-D Marine Controlled Source Electromagnetic Fields in Anisotropic Media with Unstructured Tetrahedral Grids

Marine controlled-source electromagnetic (CSEM) method has proved to be a powerful tool and found its increasing applications for offshore resource exploration and tectonic studies. However, bathymetric variations and anisotropic structures encountered in practical measurements have posed challenges for reliable interpretation of marine CSEM data collected in increasingly complex geologic settings. In this study, we present a Finite element (FE) based forward algorithm for simulating 3-D marine CSEM responses in geologic settings characterized with rough bathymetry and electrical anisotropy. Unstructured tetrahedral meshes are employed to permit precise descriptions of arbitrary seafloor topography. After validating the accuracy of the algorithm, we investigate the effects of bathymetric variations and complicated electric anisotropy separately and jointly on marine CSEM responses. Numerical results have demonstrated that both the bathymetry and electrical anisotropy can cause significant distortions on marine CSEM responses, but to different extent. The effects of full electrical anisotropy and bathymetry have to be taken into consideration for reliable interpretations of marine CSEM data in practice.

3-D Marine Controlled-Source Electromagnetic Modeling in Electrically Anisotropic Formations Using Scattered Scalar–Vector Potentials

Marine controlled-source electromagnetic (CSEM) method has become a popular technique for offshore hydrocarbon exploration. It has been well recognized that marine CSEM data are strongly affected by electrical anisotropy of geologic formations in practice. Here, we present a robust and efficient finite volume algorithm for simulating marine CSEM responses in 3-D arbitrarily anisotropic formations. The algorithm is based on scattered scalar–vector potentials which improve the ill-conditioning of the resulting linear system by deflating the null space of the curl operator, and a conservative volume averaging scheme is utilized for the discretization of arbitrary electrical anisotropy. The accuracy of our algorithm is validated against quasi-analytic solutions for a layered vertical transverse isotropic reservoir model. It is then demonstrated by numerical results that the marine CSEM fields are significantly affected by the anisotropic conductivity tensor, and neglect of the full anisotropy of geologic formations may cause misleading data interpretation.

Induced polarization in a 2.5D marine controlled-source electromagnetic field based on the adaptive finite-element method

The induced polarization (IP) in rocks and minerals is of significance to the marine controlled-source electromagnetic (CSEM) field. We propose an adaptive finite-element algorithm for the 2.5D frequency-domain forward modeling of marine CSEM that considers the induced polarization. The geoelectrical model is discretized using an unstructured triangular elemental grid that accommodates the complex topography and geoelectrical structures. We use the Cole–Cole model to describe the IP and develop a complex resistivity forward modeling algorithm. We compare the simulation results with published 1D model results and subsequently calculate the electromagnetic field for variable azimuth sources, IP parameters, and topography. Finally, we analyze the IP effect on the marine CSEM field and show that IP of oil reservoirs and topography affects the marine CSEM electromagnetic field.

A comparative study of Hankel transform filters for marine controlled-source electromagnetic surveys

Using a closed-form solution of the Hankel transform in transverse magnetic mode for a homogeneous half-space model, we can assess the accuracy of digital linear filters for evaluating the Hankel transform. In this paper, we conduct comparative performance tests on the linear filter with known integral transforms. We examine three kinds of filters developed by W. L. Anderson, F. N. Kong and H. Mizunaga, which are known to be suitable for marine controlled-source electromagnetic (CSEM) applications. Kong’s filters perform best in the three kinds of filters over a practical range of offset distances in marine CSEM surveys. While the relative error versus distance appears as a V-shaped curve in semi-log scale, Mizunaga’s filters are the shortest in length and have a performance comparable to Kong’s filters. Anderson’s filters have a quite similar performance between the J0 and J1 filters, although these are somewhat inferior to Kong’s and Mizunaga’s filters when computing marine CSEM fields.

3D finite element modeling of marine controlled-source electromagnetic fields using locally refined unstructured meshes

We present a 3D forward modeling algorithm of marine controlled-source electromagnetic (CSEM) fields using finite element method based on unstructured meshes. As the unstructured mesh is incorporated, the algorithm can easily accommodate complex structures, such as dipping interfaces and rough topography. Secondary coupled-potential formulation of Maxwell's equations allows to avoid the singularities introduced by the sources. The primary electromagnetic fields excited by electric dipole source in layered isotropic media are derived from the semi-analytical formulas based on Schelkunoff potentials. To improve the accuracy and efficiency of the algorithm, we propose an effective local mesh refinement strategy, where the elements near the receiver locations and in the abnormal areas are refined using the volume constraints. We validate the finite element code against a 1D and 2D reservoir model and study the performance of the local mesh refinement strategy. The Canonical disc model illustrates the utility of the finite element method for 3D CSEM modeling. The bathymetry model study shows that the seafloor topography gives an important response which needs to be reproduced by numerical modeling to avoid the misinterpretation of measurements.

Frequency-domain inversion of marine CSEM data in one-dimensional vertically anisotropic structures

The marine controlled-source electromagnetic (CSEM) method has proven to be an important addition to seismic imaging techniques in exploration of offshore hydrocarbon reservoirs and near-surface investigations. In inversion and interpretation of industrial CSEM data sets, this method can be used in a number of situations by assuming isotropy. However, the presence of electric anisotropy in the Earth's crust, due to thin layer interbedding or grain alignments in the sediments, can significantly alter the response measured by the EM receivers. Ignoring anisotropy in interpreting marine CSEM data may lead to distorted images of seabed conductivity structures, even misinterpretation.#br#In this paper, we present an inversion method for frequency domain marine controlled-source electromagnetic data generated by a titled dipole source in vertically anisotropic stratified media. This approach is based on the Gauss-Newton scheme. We extend and generalize the formulation of marine CSEM fields to calculation of the electromagnetic fields excited by arbitrarily oriented dipole sources. The partial derivatives of the electromagnetic fields with respect to both the horizontal and vertical resistivity are analytically calculated. Based on the relationship between the horizontal resistivity (ρh) and the vertical resistivity (ρv) of the inversion model, an adaptive selection method for regularization factors is proposed to balance the effects of the data misfit and the structural constraint.#br#The synthetic and real data inversion tests indicate that our inversion method can reconstruct the anisotropic resistivity of the overburden layer and the basement, and the burial depth, the thickness and the vertical resistivity of the reservoir layer can be well recovered. A better reconstruction can be obtained with multiple frequency and multiple component data sets. Combing inline and broadside geometry data sets can provide high resolution in reconstructing the burial depth of the reservoir layer and resistivity of the anisotropic basement.

Interpreting marine controlled source electromagnetic field behaviour with streamlines

Streamlines represent particle motion within a vector field as a single line structure and have been used in many areas of geophysics. We extend the concept of streamlines to interactive three dimensional representations of the coupled vector fields generated during marine controlled source electromagnetic surveys. These vector fields have measurable amplitudes throughout many hundreds of cubic kilometres. Electromagnetic streamline representation makes electromagnetic interactions within complex geo-electrical setting comprehensible. We develop an interface to rapidly compute and interactively visualise the electric and magnetic fields as streamlines for 3D marine controlled source electromagnetic surveys. Several examples highlighting how interactive use has value in marine controlled source electromagnetic survey design, interpretation and teaching are provided. The first videos of electric, magnetic and Poynting vector field streamlines are provided along with the first published example of the airwave represented as streamlines. We demonstrate that the electric field airwave is a circulating vortex moving down and out from the air–water interface towards the ocean floor. The use of interactive streamlines is not limited to marine controlled source electromagnetic methods. Streamlines provides a high level visualisation tool for interpreting the electric and magnetic field behaviour generated by a wide range of electromagnetic survey configurations for complex 3D geo-electrical settings.

Massively parallel electrical-conductivity imaging of hydrocarbons using the IBM Blue Gene/L supercomputer

Large-scale controlled-source electromagnetic (CSEM) three-dimensional (3D) geophysical imaging is now receiving considerable attention for electrical-conductivity mapping of potential offshore oil and gas reservoirs. To cope with the typically large computational requirements of the 3D CSEM imaging problem, our strategies exploit computational parallelism and optimized finite-difference meshing. We report on an imaging experiment utilizing 32,768 tasks (and processors) on the IBM Blue Gene/L™ (BG/L) supercomputer at the IBM T. J. Watson Research Center. Over a 24-hour period, we were able to image a large-scale marine CSEM field dataset that previously required more than 4 months of computing time on distributed clusters utilizing 1,024 tasks on an InfiniBand® fabric. The total initial data-fitting errors (i.e., “misfits”) could be decreased by 67% within 72 completed inversion iterations, indicating the existence of an electrically resistive region in the southern survey area below a depth of 1,500 m underneath the seafloor. The major part of the residual misfit stems from transmitter-parallel receiver components that have an offset from the transmitter sail line (broadside configuration). Modeling confirms that improved broadside data fits can be achieved by considering anisotropic electrical conductivities. While delivering a satisfactory gross-scale image for the depths of interest, the experiment provides important evidence for the necessity of discriminating between horizontal and vertical conductivities for maximally consistent 3D CSEM inversions.