Quasi MT Inversion of Short-Offset Transient Electromagnetic Data

The short-offset transient electromagnetic method (SOTEM) has been extensively used for mineral and hydrocarbon exploration and hydrogeological investigations due to its ease of use and capability to generate diagnostic subsurface information. At present, the data processing methods of SOTEM are mainly focused on one dimensional inversion. To apply the proven inversion methods of frequency domain electromagnetic methods to SOTEM data, this paper presents a new transformation relation from time to frequency based on the similarity between SOTEM all-time apparent resistivity and magnetotelluric (MT) apparent resistivity. Results show that the transformation coefficients depend on the variation trend of SOTEM all-time apparent resistivity curves. Bostick inversion and conjugate gradient inversion techniques were applied to transformed SOTEM data and the results were validated by some simulated calculations and field measured data. This study provides a novel method to SOTEM data processing and a useful aid to join inversion with MT data.