A NOVEL FIXED-SOURCE ELECTROMAGNETIC SYSTEM1

A novel fixed-source electromagnetic system has been developed. The transmitter is a large rectangular loop or grounded dipole. The transmitted waveform consists of up to five superimposed pure sinusoids at well-separated frequencies. The receiver measures the amplitude and phase at two frequencies from a single receiver coil. The amplitude ratio is routinely calculated. Field trials with both surface and downhole configurations show that the method has advantages over the more traditional frequency-domain Turam type and downhole electromagnetic (DHEM) systems. Among such advantages are the use of a single receiver coil and the removal of noise due to free-space variations in transmitter-receiver geometry. The latter is important for DHEM surveys. In terms of field procedures and quantities measured, the system is similar to time-domain methods.     

Retrieval of super‐virtual refraction by cross‐correlation

Topography and severe variations of near‐surface layers lead to travel‐time perturbations for the events in seismic exploration. Usually, these perturbations could be estimated and eliminated by refraction technology. The virtual refraction method is a relatively new technique for retrieval of refraction information from seismic records contaminated by noise. Based on the virtual refraction, this paper proposes super‐virtual refraction interferometry by cross‐correlation to retrieve refraction wavefields by summing the cross‐correlation of raw refraction wavefields and virtual refraction wavefields over all receivers located outside the retrieved source and receiver pair. This method can enhance refraction signal gradually as the source–receiver offset decreases. For further enhancement of refracted waves, a scheme of hybrid virtual refraction wavefields is applied by stacking of correlation‐type and convolution‐type super‐virtual refractions. Our new method does not need any information about the near‐surface velocity model, which can solve the problem of directly unmeasured virtual refraction energy from the virtual source at the surface, and extend the acquisition aperture to its maximum extent in raw seismic records. It can also reduce random noise influence in raw seismic records effectively and improve refracted waves’ signal‐to‐noise ratio by a factor proportional to the square root of the number of receivers positioned at stationary‐phase points, based on the improvement of virtual refraction's signal‐to‐noise ratio. Using results from synthetic and field data, we show that our new method is effective to retrieve refraction information from raw seismic records and improve the accuracy of first‐arrival picks.     

基于解析时间波场外推与波场分解的逆时偏移方法研究

双程波方程逆时深度偏移是复杂介质高精度成像的有效技术,但其结果中通常包含成像方法引起的噪音和假象,一般的滤波方法会破坏成像剖面上的振幅,其中的假象也会给后续地质解释带来困扰.将波场进行方向分解然后实现入射波与反射波的相关成像能够有效地消除这类成像噪音,并提高逆时偏移成像质量.波传播方向的分解通常在频率波数域实现,它会占用大量的存储和计算资源,不便于在沿时间外推的逆时深度偏移中应用.本文提出解析时间波场外推方法,可以在时间外推的每个时间片上实现波传播方向的显式分解,逆时深度偏移中利用分解后的炮检波场进行对应的相关运算,实现成像噪音和成像信号的分离.在模型和实际数据上的测试表明,相比于常规互相关逆时偏移成像结果,本文方法能够有效地消除低频成像噪音和特殊地质构造导致的成像假象.     

Scattered ground‐roll attenuation using model‐driven interferometry

Scattered ground roll is a type of noise observed in land seismic data that can be particularly difficult to suppress. Typically, this type of noise cannot be removed using conventional velocity‐based filters. In this paper, we discuss a model‐driven form of seismic interferometry that allows suppression of scattered ground‐roll noise in land seismic data. The conventional cross‐correlate and stack interferometry approach results in scattered noise estimates between two receiver locations (i.e. as if one of the receivers had been replaced by a source). For noise suppression, this requires that each source we wish to attenuate the noise from is co‐located with a receiver. The model‐driven form differs, as the use of a simple model in place of one of the inputs for interferometry allows the scattered noise estimate to be made between a source and a receiver. This allows the method to be more flexible, as co‐location of sources and receivers is not required, and the method can be applied to data sets with a variety of different acquisition geometries. A simple plane‐wave model is used, allowing the method to remain relatively data driven, with weighting factors for the plane waves determined using a least‐squares solution. Using a number of both synthetic and real two‐dimensional (2D) and three‐dimensional (3D) land seismic data sets, we show that this model‐driven approach provides effective results, allowing suppression of scattered ground‐roll noise without having an adverse effect on the underlying signal.     

基于稀疏分布特征的井下微地震信号识别与提取方法

井下微震监测获得的地震记录往往包含大量的噪声,记录信噪比很低.有效地震信号的识别与提取是进行后续地震定位等工作之前需要优先解决的问题.经过研究发现,井下水压裂微地震信号具有稀疏分布的特征,而井下环境噪声则具有更多的Gaussian分布特征.为此,本文提出将图像处理领域适宜于稀疏分布信号降噪处理的稀疏码收缩方法应用于井下微震监测数据处理.为解决需要利用与待处理数据中有效信号成分具有相似分布特征的无噪信号序列估算正交基以及计算效率等问题,将原方法与小波变换理论相结合.即通过优选小波基函数作为正交基进行小波变换将信号分解为不同级的小波系数,利用稀疏码收缩方法中对稀疏编码施加的非线性收缩方式作为阈值准则对小波系数进行改造.通过多方面的数值实验证明了该方法在处理地震子波及井下微地震信号方面准确可靠.含噪记录经过处理后有效地震信号的到时、波形、时频谱特征等均能得到良好的识别和恢复.并且该方法具有很强的抗噪能力,当信噪比低至-20~-30db时,仍然能够发挥作用.在处理大量实际井下微震监测数据的过程中,面对多种复杂情况,本方法展现出了计算效率高、计算结果可靠、应用简单等优势,证明了其本身具有实际应用价值,值得进一步的研究和推广.     

Electromagnetic fields in a non-uniform steel-cased borehole

Since most oil wells are cased in steel, electromagnetic (EM) signals undergo severe attenuation as they diffuse across the casing. This paper examines an effect of non‐uniform casing properties on EM fields measured in a steel‐cased well embedded in a layered formation. We use a finite‐element method for computing secondary azimuthal electric fields in a cylindrically symmetric model, and analytically obtain primary fields for a homogeneous casing in a homogeneous whole space. Although steel casing largely masks EM signals induced into a layered formation, the induced signal is more pronounced in phase than in amplitude. The effect of casing non‐uniformity is quite large in measured fields but is highly localized. When electrical conductivity varies rapidly in the casing wall, the resulting EM fields also vary rapidly. A cross‐correlation function of these variations has strong peaks at two points, the interval between them being equal to the source–receiver distance. The high‐frequency coherent noise event caused by the non‐uniform casing can be greatly suppressed by low‐pass filtering to enhance EM signals indicating formation conductivity.     

海底可控源电磁接收机及其水合物勘查应用

海洋可控源电磁法在国外已成为海底天然气水合物调查的有效手段之一.为实现我国海域深水条件下水合物的海洋可控源电磁探测,本文从方法原理出发,采用低功耗嵌入式控制、前端低噪声斩波放大、高精度时间同步和水声通讯等技术,设计并开发了由承压舱、玻璃浮球、采集电路、电场与磁场传感器、姿态测量装置、声学释放器、USBL定位信标、测量臂、水泥块等部件组成的海底可控源电磁接收机,实现了海洋微弱电磁场信号的高精度采集.海底可控源电磁接收机具有高可靠性、低噪声、低功耗和低时漂的特点.利用研制的海底可控源电磁接收机,在琼东南海域进行水合物勘查,采集得到了可靠的人工源电磁场数据.通过数据处理及反演,获得了研究区海底的电阻率模型,结合地震资料,对高阻异常体进行推断解释,其结果为天然气水合物钻探井位布置提供了电性依据.     

Multi-refractor imaging with stacked refraction convolution section

Multi‐refractor imaging is a technique for constructing a single two‐dimensional image of a number of refractors by stacking multiple convolved and cross‐correlated reversed shot records. The method is most effective with high‐fold data that have been obtained with roll‐along acquisition programs because the stacking process significantly improves the signal‐to‐noise ratios. The major advantage of the multi‐refractor imaging method is that all the data can be stacked to maximize the signal‐to‐noise ratios before the measurement of any traveltimes. However, the signal‐to‐noise ratios can be further increased if only those traces that have arrivals from the same refractor are used, and if the correct reciprocal times or traces are employed. A field case study shows that multi‐refractor imaging can produce a cross‐section similar to the familiar reflection cross‐section with substantially higher signal‐to‐noise ratios for the equivalent interfaces.     

On removing the primary field from fixed-wing time-domain airborne electromagnetic data: some consequences for quantitative modelling, estimating bird position and detecting perfect conductors

In the process of removing the primary field from fixed‐wing time‐domain airborne EM data, the response is decomposed into two parts, which are referred to here as the time‐domain ‘in‐phase’ and ‘quadrature’ components. The time‐domain in‐phase component is dominated by the primary field, which varies significantly as the transmitter–receiver separation changes. The time‐domain quadrature component comes solely from the secondary response associated with currents induced in the ground and this is the component that has traditionally been used in the interpretation of data from fixed‐wing towed‐bird time‐domain EM systems. In the off‐time, the quadrature response is very similar to the total secondary response. However, there are large differences in the on‐time and even some small differences in the off‐time.One consequence of these differences is that when airborne EM data are to be interpreted using a synthetic mathematical model, the synthetic data calculated should also be the quadrature component. A second consequence relates to the time‐domain in‐phase component which is sometimes used to estimate the receiver‐sensor (bird) position. The bird‐position estimation process assumes there is no secondary field in the in‐phase component. If the ground is resistive, the secondary contained in the in‐phase component is small, so the bird‐position estimate is accurate to about 30 cm, but in highly conductive areas the secondary contribution can be large and the position estimate can be out by as much as 5 m. A third consequence arises for highly conductive bodies, the response of which is predominantly in‐phase. This means that any response from these types of body is lost in the component that has been removed in the primary‐field extraction procedure. However, if the bird position is measured very accurately, the actual free‐space primary field can be estimated. If this is then subtracted from the estimated primary (actually free‐space primary plus secondary in‐phase response), then the residual is the secondary in‐phase response of the ground. Using this methodology, very conductive ore bodies could be detected. However, a sensitivity analysis shows that detection of a large vertically dipping very conductive body at 150 m depth would require that the bird position be measured to an accuracy of about 1.4 cm and the aircraft attitude to within about 0.01°. Such tolerances are very stringent and not easily attainable with current technology.     

Robust dual‐sensor data sea‐surface ghost attenuation for quality control purposes

Three‐dimensional receiver ghost attenuation (deghosting) of dual‐sensor towed‐streamer data is straightforward, in principle. In its simplest form, it requires applying a three‐dimensional frequency–wavenumber filter to the vertical component of the particle motion data to correct for the amplitude reduction on the vertical component of non‐normal incidence plane waves before combining with the pressure data. More elaborate techniques use three‐dimensional filters to both components before summation, for example, for ghost wavelet dephasing and mitigation of noise of different strengths on the individual components in optimum deghosting. The problem with all these techniques is, of course, that it is usually impossible to transform the data into the crossline wavenumber domain because of aliasing. Hence, usually, a two‐dimensional version of deghosting is applied to the data in the frequency–inline wavenumber domain. We investigate going down the “dimensionality ladder” one more step to a one‐dimensional weighted summation of the records of the collocated sensors to create an approximate deghosting procedure. We specifically consider amplitude‐balancing weights computed via a standard automatic gain control before summation, reminiscent of a diversity stack of the dual‐sensor recordings. This technique is independent of the actual streamer depth and insensitive to variations in the sea‐surface reflection coefficient. The automatic gain control weights serve two purposes: (i) to approximately correct for the geometric amplitude loss of the Z data and (ii) to mitigate noise strength variations on the two components. Here, Z denotes the vertical component of the velocity of particle motion scaled by the seismic impedance of the near‐sensor water volume. The weights are time‐varying and can also be made frequency‐band dependent, adapting better to frequency variations of the noise. The investigated process is a very robust, almost fully hands‐off, approximate three‐dimensional deghosting step for dual‐sensor data, requiring no spatial filtering and no explicit estimates of noise power. We argue that this technique performs well in terms of ghost attenuation (albeit, not exact ghost removal) and balancing the signal‐to‐noise ratio in the output data. For instances where full three‐dimensional receiver deghosting is the final product, the proposed technique is appropriate for efficient quality control of the data acquired and in aiding the parameterisation of the subsequent deghosting processing.     

The feasibility of electromagnetic gradiometer measurements

The quantities measured in transient electromagnetic (TEM) surveys are usually either magnetic field components or their time derivatives. Alternatively it might be advantageous to measure the spatial derivatives of these quantities. Such gradiometer measurements are expected to have lower noise levels due to the negative interference of ambient noise recorded by the two receiver coils. Error propagation models are used to compare quantitatively the noise sensitivities of conventional and gradiometer TEM data. To achieve this, eigenvalue decomposition is applied on synthetic data to derive the parameter uncertainties of layered-earth models. The results indicate that near-surface gradient measurements give a superior definition of the shallow conductivity structure, provided noise levels are 20–40 times smaller than those recorded by conventional EM instruments. For a fixed-wing towed-bird gradiometer system to be feasible, a noise reduction factor of at least 50–100 is required. One field test showed that noise reduction factors in excess of 60 are achievable with gradiometer measurements. However, other collected data indicate that the effectiveness of noise reduction can be hampered by the spatial variability of noise such as that encountered in built-up areas. Synthetic data calculated for a vertical plate model confirm the limited depth of detection of vertical gradient data but also indicate some spatial derivatives which offer better lateral resolution than conventional EM data. This high sensitivity to the near-surface conductivity structure suggests the application of EM gradiometers in areas such as environmental and archaeological mapping.     

A new method to discriminate between a valid IP response and EM coupling effects

The problem of discrimination between a valid induced polarization (IP) response and electromagnetic (EM) coupling effects is considered and an effective solution is provided. First, a finite dimensional approximation to the Cole‐Cole model is investigated. Using the least‐squares approach, the parameters of the approximate model are obtained. Next, based on the analysis of overvoltage, a finite dimensional structure of the IP model is produced. Using this overvoltage‐based structure, a specific finite dimensional approximation of the Cole‐Cole model is proposed. Summarizing the analysis of the finite dimensional IP model, it is concluded that the proposed IP model, which fits the field data much better than the traditional Cole‐Cole model, is essentially an RC‐circuit. From a circuit‐analysis point of view, it is well known that an electromagnetic effect can be described by an RL‐circuit. The simulation results on experimental data support this conception. According to this observation, a new method to discriminate between a valid IP response and EM coupling effects is proposed as follows: (i) use a special finite dimensional model for IP–EM systems; (ii) obtain the parameters for the model using a least‐squares approach; (iii) separate RC‐type terms and RL‐type terms – the first models the IP behaviour, the latter represents the EM part. Simulation on experimental data shows that the method is very simple and effective.     

Automatic stacking‐velocity estimation using similarity‐weighted clustering

Local seismic event slopes contain subsurface velocity information and can be used to estimate seismic stacking velocity. In this paper, we propose a novel approach to estimate the stacking velocity automatically from seismic reflection data using similarity‐weighted k‐means clustering, in which the weights are local similarity between each trace in common midpoint gather and a reference trace. Local similarity reflects the local signal‐to‐noise ratio in common midpoint gather. We select the data points with high signal‐to‐noise ratio to be used in the velocity estimation with large weights in mapped traveltime and velocity domain by similarity‐weighted k‐means clustering with thresholding. By using weighted k‐means clustering, we make clustering centroids closer to those data points with large weights, which are more reliable and have higher signal‐to‐noise ratio. The interpolation is used to obtain the whole velocity volume after we have got velocity points calculated by weighted k‐means clustering. Using the proposed method, one obtains a more accurate estimate of the stacking velocity because the similarity‐based weighting in clustering takes into account the signal‐to‐noise ratio and reliability of different data points in mapped traveltime and velocity domain. In order to demonstrate that, we apply the proposed method to synthetic and field data examples, and the resulting images are of higher quality when compared with the ones obtained using existing methods.     

AUTOMATED STATIC CORRECTIONS*

The widespread use of common depth point techniques has emphasized the need for accurate static corrections. Manual interpretation methods can give excellent results, but a computer technique is desirable because of the great volumn of data recorded in common depth point shooting. The redundancy inherent in common depth point data may be used to compute a statistical estimate of the static corrections. The corrections are assumed to be time-invarient, surface-consistent, and independent of frequency. Surface consistency implies that all traces from a particular shot will receive the same shot static correction and all traces from a particular receiver position will receive the same receiver correction. Time shifts are computed for all input traces using crosscorrelation functions between common depth point traces. The time shift for each trace is composed of a shot static, a receiver static, residual normal moveout if present, and noise. Estimates of the shot and receiver static corrections are obtained by averaging different sets of the measured time shifts. Time shifts which are greatly in error are detected and removed from the computations. The method is useful for data which has a moderate to good signal to noise ratio. Residual normal moveout should be corrected before estimating the statics. The program estimates the statics for correctly stacking common depth point traces but it is not sensitive to constant or very slowly changing static errors.     

Using beamforming to maximise the detection capability of small,sparse seismometer arrays deployed to monitor oil field activities

Like most other industrial activities that affect the subsurface, hydraulic fracturing carries the risk of reactivating pre‐existing faults and thereby causing induced seismicity. In some regions, regulators have responded to this risk by imposing traffic light scheme‐type regulations, where fracture stimulation programs must be amended or shut down if events larger than a given magnitude are induced. Some sites may be monitored with downhole arrays and/or dense near‐surface arrays, capable of detecting very small microseismic events. However, such monitoring arrangements will not be logistically or economically feasible at all sites. Instead, operators are using small, sparse arrays of surface seismometers to meet their monitoring obligations. The challenge we address in this paper is to maximise the detection thresholds of such small, sparse, surface arrays so that they are capable of robustly identifying small‐magnitude events whose signal‐to‐noise ratios may be close to 1. To do this, we develop a beamforming‐and‐stacking approach, computing running short‐term/long‐term average functions for each component of each recorded trace (P, S_H, and S_V), time‐shifting these functions by the expected travel times for a given location, and performing a stack. We assess the effectiveness of this approach with a case study using data from a small surface array that recorded a multi‐well, multi‐stage hydraulic fracture stimulation in Oklahoma over a period of 8 days. As a comparison, we initially used a conventional event‐detection algorithm to identify events, finding a total of 17 events. In contrast, the beamforming‐and‐stacking approach identified a total of 155 events during this period (including the 17 events detected by the conventional method). The events that were not detected by the conventional algorithm had low‐signal‐to‐noise ratios to the extent that, in some cases, they would be unlikely to be identified even by manual analysis of the seismograms. We conclude that this approach is capable of improving the detection thresholds of small, sparse arrays and thus can be used to maximise the information generated when deployed to monitor industrial sites.     

Experimental study on the performance of an azimuthal acoustic receiver sonde for a downhole tool

A new azimuthal acoustic receiver sonde with a body and corresponding circuits was designed for a downhole tool. The 64‐sensor receiver sonde holds eight receiver stations that can be combined into at least 64 three‐sensor receiver subarrays. As a result, the receiver sonde can use different sensor combinations instead of different transducer types to produce multiple modes, including a phased azimuthal reception mode and conventional monopole, dipole, and quadruple modes. Laboratory measurements were conducted to study the performance of the azimuthal acoustic receiver sonde for a downhole tool, and the experimental results indicate that the receiver sonde provides a consistent reception performance. Individual sensors receive similar time‐domain waveforms, and their corresponding frequency bands and sensitivities are consistent within the measurement errors of around 5%. The direction of the reception main lobe is approximately parallel to its exterior normal direction. In addition, a receiver subarray with three sensors receives waveforms that have higher energy and narrower beamwidths. For individual sensors, the angular width of the dominant reception lobe is 191.3^° on average, whereas that of the individual receiver subarrays is approximately 52.1^° on average. The amplitude of the first arrival received by the receiver subarray centred at the primary sensor directly pointing to the source is approximately 2.2 times the average amplitude of the first arrivals received by the other receiver subarrays in the same receiver station. Thus, the maximum amplitude of the waveforms received by the receiver subarrays can be used to determine the direction of the incident waves. This approach represents a promising method for determining the reflector azimuth for acoustic reflection logging and three‐dimensional acoustic logging.     

Microseismic events enhancement and detection in sensor arrays using autocorrelation‐based filtering

Passive microseismic data are commonly buried in noise, which presents a significant challenge for signal detection and recovery. For recordings from a surface sensor array where each trace contains a time‐delayed arrival from the event, we propose an autocorrelation‐based stacking method that designs a denoising filter from all the traces, as well as a multi‐channel detection scheme. This approach circumvents the issue of time aligning the traces prior to stacking because every trace's autocorrelation is centred at zero in the lag domain. The effect of white noise is concentrated near zero lag; thus, the filter design requires a predictable adjustment of the zero‐lag value. Truncation of the autocorrelation is employed to smooth the impulse response of the denoising filter. In order to extend the applicability of the algorithm, we also propose a noise prewhitening scheme that addresses cases with coloured noise. The simplicity and robustness of this method are validated with synthetic and real seismic traces.     

Model‐based attenuation for scattered dispersive waves

Coherent noise in land seismic data primarily consists in source‐generated surface‐wave modes. The component that is traditionally considered most relevant is the so‐called ground roll, consisting in surface‐wave modes propagating directly from sources to receivers. In many geological situations, near?surface heterogeneities and discontinuities, as well as topography irregularities, diffract the surface waves and generate secondary events, which can heavily contaminate records. The diffracted and converted surface waves are often called scattered noise and can be a severe problem particularly in areas with shallow or outcropping hard lithological formations. Conventional noise attenuation techniques are not effective with scattering: they can usually address the tails but not the apices of the scattered events. Large source and receiver arrays can attenuate scattering but only in exchange for a compromise to signal fidelity and resolution. We present a model?based technique for the scattering attenuation, based on the estimation of surface‐wave properties and on the prediction of surface waves with a complex path involving diffractions. The properties are estimated first, to produce surface?consistent volumes of the propagation properties. Then, for all gathers to filter, we integrate the contributions of all possible diffractors, building a scattering model. The estimated scattered wavefield is then subtracted from the data. The method can work in different domains and copes with aliased surface waves. The benefits of the method are demonstrated with synthetic and real data.     

CRS-stack-based seismic imaging considering top-surface topography

In this case study we consider the seismic processing of a challenging land data set from the Arabian Peninsula. It suffers from rough top‐surface topography, a strongly varying weathering layer, and complex near‐surface geology. We aim at establishing a new seismic imaging workflow, well‐suited to these specific problems of land data processing. This workflow is based on the common‐reflection‐surface stack for topography, a generalized high‐density velocity analysis and stacking process. It is applied in a non‐interactive manner and provides an entire set of physically interpretable stacking parameters that include and complement the conventional stacking velocity. The implementation introduced combines two different approaches to topography handling to minimize the computational effort: after initial values of the stacking parameters are determined for a smoothly curved floating datum using conventional elevation statics, the final stack and also the related residual static correction are applied to the original prestack data, considering the true source and receiver elevations without the assumption of nearly vertical rays. Finally, we extrapolate all results to a chosen planar reference level using the stacking parameters. This redatuming procedure removes the influence of the rough measurement surface and provides standardized input for interpretation, tomographic velocity model determination, and post‐stack depth migration. The methodology of the residual static correction employed and the details of its application to this data example are discussed in a separate paper in this issue. In view of the complex near‐surface conditions, the imaging workflow that is conducted, i.e. stack – residual static correction – redatuming – tomographic inversion – prestack and post‐stack depth migration, leads to a significant improvement in resolution, signal‐to‐noise ratio and reflector continuity.     

Airborne EM skin depths

Skin depth is an electromagnetic (EM) scale length that provides a measure of the degree of attenuation experienced by a particular frequency of an EM system. As has been discussed in the literature, skin depth is not a complete measure of the depth of investigation, but the two may be related. Frequency‐domain airborne EM systems employ pairs of transmitter and receiver coils that use a frequency range from several hundred hertz to over 100 kHz. For elevated dipoles, both geometrical and frequency‐dependent attenuation of the induced fields must be considered. For airborne EM systems it is possible to define a skin depth based only on the electric field induced by the transmitter. A vertical decay scale length, here defined from the at‐surface position of maximum electric field, enables the same skin‐depth estimate to be obtained for both cases of vertical and horizontal dipolar excitation. Such dipolar skin depths associated with towed‐bird and fixed‐wing airborne systems are studied in relation to frequency, conductivity and sensor elevation. Dipolar skin depths are found to be much smaller than their plane‐wave counterparts except at high frequency (>50 kHz) and in combination with high conductivity. For the majority of airborne systems the influence of altitude on skin depth is highly significant. Dipolar skin depths increase with increasing sensor elevation. Low frequencies display the greatest sensitivity. At low elevation (<40 m), geometrical attenuation dominates the behaviour of the skin depth. The study indicates that typical low‐altitude airborne surveys provide vertically compact assessments of subsurface conductivity, well suited to near‐surface, environmental applications.