ON THE TRANSFORMATION OF DIPOLE TO SCHLUMBERGER SOUNDING CURVES *

A method is described to transform a dipole sounding curve, obtained with any one of the common dipole arrays over a horizontally layered earth, to the form of a Schlumberger sounding curve. Starting from the general expression which relates the dipole apparent resistivity to the Schlumberger apparent resistivity and its derivative with respect to the spacing, it is possible with some approximations to derive an easy numerical computation procedure in order to perform the transformation. The applicability of the method is discussed briefly.     

TRANSFORMATION OF SCHLUMBERGER APPARENT RESISTIVITY TO DIPOLE APPARENT RESISTIVITY OVER LAYERED EARTH BY THE APPLICATION OF DIGITAL LINEAR FILTERS *

A simple extension of our previous work in which digital filters were developed to transform dipole resistivity measurements over layered earth to Schlumberger ones leads us to the development of filters for transforming the latter to the former. As in the previous work we use a sampling interval of 1/6 In 10 in designing the filters that are both accurate and fast in operation.     

TRANSFORMATION OF DIPOLE RESISTIVITY SOUNDING MEASUREMENTS OVER LAYERED EARTH BY LINEAR DIGITAL FILTERING *

The technique of linear digital filtering as developed for the direct interpretation of Schlumberger and Wenner soundings (Ghosh 1971) has been applied here for the derivation of the resistivity transform function from the field dipole measurements as the first step in directly interpreting dipole data. Filter coefficients for this transformation have been worked out for the radial-polar, perpendicular and parallel (30°) arrays of dipole sounding. The procedure combines speed with accuracy.     

TRANSFORMATION OF DIPOLAR,WENNER AND TWO-ELECTRODE CURVES TO SCHLUMBERGER APPARENT RESISTIVITY SOUNDING CURVES*

A simple mathematical technique based on regressional analysis allows the transformation of dipolar, Wenner and two-electrode apparent resistivity sounding curves to Schlumberger ones. The algorithm is suitable for a programmable pocket calculator and the accuracy is very high. This has been demonstrated by comparing Schlumberger master curves with transformations of master curves for the other configurations for the same model.     

TRANSFORMATION OF RESISTIVITY SOUNDING MEASUREMENTS OBTAINED IN ONE ELECTRODE CONFIGURATION TO ANOTHER CONFIGURATION BY MEANS OF DIGITAL LINEAR FILTERING*

The technique of digital linear filtering is used for transformation of apparent resistivity data from one electrode configuration into another. Usually filter spectra are determined via the discrete Fourier transforms of input and output functions: the filter characteristic is the quotient of the spectra of the output function and input function. In this paper, the transformation of the apparent resistivities is presented for four electrode configurations (Wenner, the two-electrode, Schlumberger, and dipole configurations). In our method, there is no need to use the discrete Fourier transform of the input and output functions in order to determine the filter spectrum for converting apparent resistivity in one electrode configuration to any other configuration. Sine responses for determination of the derivative of apparent resistivities are given in analytical form. If the filter spectrum for converting the apparent resistivity to the resistivity transform for one electrode configuration is known, the filter spectra for transforming the apparent resistivity to the resistivity transform for any electrode configurations can be calculated by using newly derived expressions.     

THE USE OF TWO-ELECTRODE AND SCHLUMBERGER FILTERS FOR COMPUTING RESISTIVITY AND EM SOUNDING CURVES*

Different sets of filter coefficients for the linear filter technique for the computations of resistivity and EM sounding curves are evaluated for several electrode and coil configurations. Instead of this procedure, the two-electrode filter can be used for computations of Wenner, Schlumberger, and dipole—dipole apparent resistivity model curves by defining convolutional expressions which contain the new input functions in terms of the resistivity transform function. Similarly, the Schlumberger filter performs the computations of dipole—dipole apparent resistivity model curves. The Wenner, Schlumberger, and dipole—dipole filter functions are defined in terms of the two-electrode filter using the new convolutional expressions. A relationship between the Schlumberger and dipole—dipole filter functions is given. The above arguments are adopted for the computations of EM sounding curves. It is shown that the EM filter for the horizontal coplanar loop system (which is identical to the two-electrode filter) performs the computations of the mutual coupling ratios for perpendicular, vertical coplanar, and vertical coaxial loop systems. In the same way, the Schlumberger filter can be used to compute vertical coaxial sounding curves. The corresponding input functions are defined in terms of the EM kernel for all convolutional expressions presented. After these considerations, integral expressions of the mutual coupling ratios involving zero-order Bessel function are derived. The mutual coupling ratio for the vertical coaxial loop system is given in the same form as the mutual coupling ratio for the vertical coplanar loop system.     

COMPUTATION OF TYPE CURVES FOR ELECTROMAGNETIC DEPTH SOUNDING WITH A HORIZONTAL TRANSMITTING COIL BY MEANS OF A DIGITAL LINEAR FILTER*

The computation method described in this paper is based on the existence of a linear relationship between the mutual coupling ratio and the kernel function in the integral expression for it. Accordingly, the mutual coupling ratio can be determined by first computing sample values of the kernel function and then subjecting these to a digital linear filter. In the present paper the appropriate sampling distance is determined and the values of the digital filter coefficients are computed, both for electromagnetic sounding with horizontal coils and for electromagnetic sounding with perpendicular coils.     

THE DETERMINATION OF FILTER COEFFICIENTS FOR THE COMPUTATION OF STANDARD CURVES FOR DIPOLE RESISTIVITY SOUNDING OVER LAYERED EARTH BY LINEAR DIGITAL FILTERING *

The technique of linear digital filtering developed for the computation of standard curves for conventional resistivity and electromagnetic depth soundings is applied to the determination of filter coefficients for the computation of dipole curves from the resistivity transform function by convolution. In designing the filter function from which the coefficients are derived, a sampling interval shorter than the one used in the earlier work on resistivity sounding is found to be necessary. The performance of the filter sets is tested and found to be highly accurate. The method is also simple and very fast in application.     

DIGITAL LINEAR FILTER FOR COMPUTING TYPE CURVES FOR THE TWO-ELECTRODE SYSTEM OF RESISTIVITY SOUNDING*

In this paper a technique for computing type curves for the two-electrode resistivity soundings is presented. It is shown that the apparent resistivity due to the system can be represented by a convolution integral. Thus, it is possible to apply the principle of digital linear filtering and compute the desired type-curves. The filter function required for the purpose is found to be identical with that used to compute the EM sounding curves for the two coplanar horizontal loop system. It is further shown that from the two-electrode apparent-resistivity expression one can easily derive the apparent resistivities for other configurations. A comparison of depths of investigation for various systems reveals that the two-electrode system has greater depth of investigation than other conventional systems. This is also supported by the field example presented in the end, which illustrates the relative performance of the two-electrode system vis-a-vis the Wenner system.     

LOW-PASS FILTERING OF NOISY SCHLUMBERGER SOUNDING CURVES PART 1: THEORY*

A contribution is given to the solution of the problem of filtering noise-degraded Schlumberger sounding curves. It is shown that the transformation to the pole-pole system is actually a smoothing operation that filters high-frequency noise. In the case of residual noise contamination in the transformed pole-pole curve, it is demonstrated that a subsequent application of a conventional rectangular low-pass filter, with cut-off frequency not less than the right-hand frequency limit of the main message pass-band, may satisfactorily solve the problem by leaving a pole-pole curve available for interpretation. An attempt is also made to understand the essential peculiarities of the pole-pole system as far as penetration depth, resolving power and selectivity power are concerned.     

LOW-PASS FILTERING OF NOISY FIELD SCHLUMBERGER SOUNDING CURVES PART II: APPLICATION*

The basic principles of the application of the linear system theory for smoothing noise-degraded d.c. geoelectrical sounding curves were recently established by Patella. A field Schlumberger sounding is presented to demonstrate first their application and validity. To achieve this purpose, firstly it is pointed out that the required smoothing or low-pass filtering can be considered as an intrinsic property of the transformation of original Schlumberger sounding curves into pole-pole (two-electrode) curves. Then we sketch a numerical algorithm to perform the transformation, opportunely modified from a known procedure for transforming dipole diagrams into Schlumberger ones. Finally we show a field example with the double aim of demonstrating (i) the high quality of the low-pass filtering, and (ii) the reliability of the transformed pole-pole curve as far as quantitative interpretation is concerned.     

OPTIMIZATION OF SHORT DIGITAL LINEAR FILTERS FOR INCREASED ACCURACY*

The accuracy of short length digital linear filter operators can be substantially increased if the sampling interval as well as the abscissa shift are properly adjusted. This may be done by a trial and error process of adjustment of these parameters until the error made by the filter operator, applied to a suitably chosen test function, is smallest. As an illustration of the application of this method, 7-, 11- and 19-point filters for the calculation of Schlumberger apparent resistivity from a known resistivity transform are designed. Errors with the new 7-point filter are seen to be less than those with a 19-point filter of conventional design. The errors with the new 19-point filter are two to three orders of magnitude smaller than those made by the conventional 19-point filter. The new method should provide digital linear operators that allow significant improvements in accuracy for comparable computation efforts, or substantial reduction in computation for comparable accuracy of results, or something of both.     

GEOELECTRIC AXIAL DIPOLE SOUNDING CURVES FOR A CLASS OF TWO-DIMENSIONAL EARTH STRUCTURES*

With the aim of studying the behaviour of geoelectric axial dipole vertical soundings over complex geology, a systematic theoretical approach is presented for a class of earth structures characterized by horizontal and vertical parallel boundary planes. The two-dimensional cylindrical bodies of infinite length and rectangular cross-section are constrained to have resistivities satisfying Alfano's condition at every intersection line of the graticule, in order to adopt the image-point theory. A detailed analysis is performed for models with any number of horizontal boundaries and two vertical discontinuities. The apparent resistivity formulas are obtained and selected apparent resistivity curves are drawn for different parameter combinations and various directions of the sounding expansion axis. The class under consideration contains as a particular case the HVC model elaborated in Alpin's monograph, where only a small collection of master curves is available for the axial array. The reconstruction of those curves by the present formulation shows the existence of large discrepancies. A test based on the transformation to equivalent half-Schlumberger sounding curves supports the conclusion that an unidentified error must exist in some part of the theoretical approach of the Russian researchers. Finally, some field sounding curves based on geothermal and volcanological surveys are presented and interpreted by complete curve matching, essentially to show the applicability of the theoretical solutions.     

DETERMINATION OF RESISTIVITY SOUNDING FILTERS BY THE WIENER-HOPF LEAST-SQUARES METHOD*

It has been found that the Wiener-Hopf least-squares method is a very successful tool for the determination of resistivity sounding filters. The values of the individual filter coefficients differ quite appreciably from those obtained by the Ghosh procedure. These differences in the filter coefficients, however, have only a negligible effect on the output of the filter. It seems that these differences in the coefficients correspond to a filter function of a rather narrow frequency band around the Nyquist frequency, which is only very weakly present in the input and output functions.     

A NOTE ON THE LINEAR FILTER METHOD OF COMPUTING ELECTROMAGNETIC SOUNDING CURVES *

The values of the filter coefficients used for the computation of electromagnetic sounding curves are studied in conjunction with the values of the input function to the filter, or the range of values which the input function may assume, and the filters are broken off at such a place that the error in the sum of the products of filter coefficient and input function does not exceed a prescribed value. This analysis is carried out for the horizontal coils system, the perpendicular coils system, and the vertical coplanar coils system. The lengths of the filters so derived depend on the layer parameters, the frequency and the coil spacing. Even in the most unfavourable cases the filters are shorter than the filters published by Koefoed, Ghosh, and Polman (1972).     

THE QUANTITATIVE INTERPRETATION OF DIPOLE SOUNDINGS BY MEANS OF THE RESISTIVITY TRANSFORM FUNCTION*

In this paper a theorem is demonstrated which allows—after the introduction of a suitable dipole kernel function or dipole resistivity transform function—to write the apparent resistivity function as an Hankel transformable integral expression. As a practical application of the theorem a procedure of quantitative interpretation of dipole soundings is suggested in which the dipole resistivity transform function obtained after inversion of the original dipole apparent resistivity data is used to control the goodness of the set of layering parameters which have been derived with our previous method of transformation of dipole sounding curves into equivalent Schlumberger diagrams.     

OPTIMUM DIGITAL FILTERS FOR SIGNAL TO NOISE RATIO ENHANCEMENT*

One of the main objectives of seismic digital processing is the improvement of the signal-to-noise ratio in the recorded data. Wiener filters have been successfully applied in this capacity, but alternate filtering devices also merit our attention. Two such systems are the matched filter and the output energy filter. The former is better known to geophysicists as the crosscorrelation filter, and has seen widespread use for the processing of vibratory source data, while the latter is. much less familiar in seismic work. The matched filter is designed such that ideally the presence of a given signal is indicated by a single large deflection in the output. The output energy filter ideally reveals the presence of such a signal by producing a longer burst of energy in the time interval where the signal occurs. The received seismic trace is assumed to be an additive mixture of signal and noise. The shape of the signal must be known in order to design the matched filter, but only the autocorrelation function of this signal need be known to obtain the output energy filter. The derivation of these filters differs according to whether the noise is white or colored. In the former case the noise autocorrelation function consists of only a single spike at lag zero, while in the latter the shape of this noise autocorrelation function is arbitrary. We propose a novel version of the matched filter. Its memory function is given by the minimum-delay wavelet whose autocorrelation function is computed from selected gates of an actual seismic trace. For this reason explicit knowledge of the signal shape is not required for its design; nevertheless, its performance level is not much below that achievable with ordinary matched filters. We call this new filter the “mini-matched” filter. With digital computation in mind, the design criteria are formulated and optimized with time as a discrete variable. We illustrate the techniques with simple numerical examples, and discuss many of the interesting properties that these filters exhibit.     

A DIGITAL LINEAR FILTER FOR RESISTIVITY SOUNDING WITH A GENERALIZED ELECTRODE ARRAY*

This paper presents a digital linear filter which maps composite resistivity transforms to apparent resistivities for any four—electrode array over a horizontally layered earth. A filter is provided for each of three sampling rates; the choice of filter will depend on resistivity contrasts and computational facilities. Two methods of filter design are compared. The Wiener-Hopf least-squares method is preferable for low sampling rate filters. The Fourier transform method is more successful in producing a filter with a high sampling rate which can handle resistivity contrasts of 100 000: 1.     

TRANSFORMATION OF MAGNETOMETRIC DATA INTO TECTONIC MAPS BY DIGITAL TEMPLATE ANALYSIS*

Results of gravimetric surveys can be interpreted by comparing the Bouguer field values with master curves based on simplified geological models. It has been shown in a previous paper how this procedure can be transformed into routine processes which can be computerized. The application of this method has yielded useful results in detailed gravity surveys. The present paper discusses the application of the same interpretation principles to magnetic data. After some modifications, the method elaborated for the gravimetric data can be used for the interpretation of magnetometric survey results. Magnetometric-tectonic maps are obtained which show the structural picture by common geological symbols. In the case of faults, the dimensions of depth of burial and throw are indicated on the maps. The method is illustrated by an example where these procedures have been applied to gravimetric and magnetometric data of the same area. Two different maps are obtained: One shows the tectonics according to density contrasts and the other map depicts the tectonic situation on the basis of magnetic susceptibility contrasts.     

THE APPLICATION OF LINEAR FILTER THEORY TO THE DIRECT INTERPRETATION OF GEOELECTRICAL RESISTIVITY SOUNDING MEASUREMENTS*

Koefoed has given practical procedures of obtaining the layer parameters directly from the apparent resistivity sounding measurements by using the raised kernel function H(λ) as the intermediate step. However, it is felt that the first step of his method—namely the derivation of the H curve from the apparent resistivity curve—is relatively lengthy. In this paper a method is proposed of determining the resistivity transform T(λ), a function directly related to H(λ), from the resistivity field curve. It is shown that the apparent resistivity and the resistivity transform functions are linearily related to each other such that the principle of linear electric filter theory could be applied to obtain the latter from the former. Separate sets of filter coefficients have been worked out for the Schlumberger and the Wenner form of field procedures. The practical process of deriving the T curve simply amounts to running a weighted average of the sampled apparent resistivity field data with the pre-determined coefficients. The whole process could be graphically performed within an quarter of an hour with an accuracy of about 2%.