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Imaging geological layers beneath lakes, rivers, and shallow seawater provides detailed information critical for hydrological modeling, geologic studies, contaminant mapping, and more. However, significant engineering and interpretation challenges have limited the applications, preventing widespread adoption in aquatic environments. We have developed a towed transient electromagnetic (tTEM) system for a new, easily configurable floating, transient electromagnetic instrument (FloaTEM) capable of imaging the subsurface beneath both freshwater and saltwater. Based on the terrestrial tTEM instrument, the FloaTEM system utilizes a similar philosophy of a lightweight towed transmitter with a trailing offset receiver pulled by a small boat. The FloaTEM system is tailored to the specific freshwater or saltwater application as necessary, allowing investigations down to 100 m in freshwater environments and up to 20 m on saline waters. Through synthetic analysis, we show how the depth of investigation of the FloaTEM system greatly depends on the resistivity and thickness of the water column. The system has been successfully deployed in Denmark for a variety of hydrologic investigations, improving the ability to understand and model processes beneath water bodies. We present two freshwater applications and a saltwater application. Imaging results reveal significant heterogeneities in the sediment types below the freshwater lakes. The saline water example demonstrates that the system is capable of identifying and distinguishing clay and sand layers below the saline water column.

The nature of Yellowstone National Park’s plumbing system linking deep thermal fluids to its legendary thermal features is virtually unknown. The prevailing concepts of Yellowstone hydrology and chemistry are that fluids reside in reservoirs with unknown geometries, flow laterally from distal sources and emerge at the edges of lava flows. Here we present a high-resolution synoptic view of pathways of the Yellowstone hydrothermal system derived from electrical resistivity and magnetic susceptibility models of airborne geophysical data. Groundwater and thermal fluids containing appreciable total dissolved solids significantly reduce resistivities of porous volcanic rocks and are differentiated by their resistivity signatures. Clay sequences mapped in thermal areas and boreholes typically form at depths of less than 1,000 metres over fault-controlled thermal fluid and/or gas conduits. We show that most thermal features are located above high-flux conduits along buried faults capped with clay that has low resistivity and low susceptibility. Shallow subhorizontal pathways feed groundwater into basins that mixes with thermal fluids from vertical conduits. These mixed fluids emerge at the surface, controlled by surficial permeability, and flow outwards along deeper brecciated layers. These outflows, continuing between the geyser basins, mix with local groundwater and thermal fluids to produce the observed geochemical signatures. Our high-fidelity images inform geochemical and groundwater models for hydrothermal systems worldwide. This work was supported by the US Geological Survey Mineral and Energy Resources and Volcanic Hazards Programs, NSF grant no. EPS-1208909 and the University of Wyoming Office of Research and Economic Development. Published version Authored by U.S. government employees and therefore in the public domain.

Inversion of large-scale time-domain transient electromagnetic (TEM) surveys is computationally expensive and time-consuming. The calculation of partial derivatives for the Jacobian matrix is by far the most computationally intensive task, as this requires calculation of a significant number of forward responses. We propose to accelerate the inversion process by predicting partial derivatives using an artificial neural network. Network training data for resistivity models for a broad range of geological settings are generated by computing partial derivatives as symmetric differences between two forward responses. Given that certain applications have larger tolerances for modeling inaccuracy and varying degrees of flexibility throughout the different phases of interpretation, we present four inversion schemes that provide a tunable balance between computational time and inversion accuracy when modeling TEM datasets. We improve speed and maintain accuracy with a hybrid framework, where the neural network derivatives are used initially and switched to full numerical derivatives in the final iterations. We also present a full neural network solution where neural network forward and derivatives are used throughout the inversion. In a least-squares inversion framework, a speedup factor exceeding 70 is obtained on the calculation of derivatives, and the inversion process is expedited ~36 times when the full neural network solution is used. Field examples show that the full nonlinear inversion and the hybrid approach gives identical results, whereas the full neural network inversion results in higher deviation but provides a reasonable indication about the overall subsurface geology.

High-bandwidth magnetic data are normally distorted by ubiquitous 50- or 60-Hz noise from powerlines and similar sources. The powerline noise can be orders of magnitude larger than the magnetic signal from targets and must be culled from data sets prior to interpretation. Suppression of the powerline noise by simple filtering can result in artifacts and an unacceptable reduction in resolution of ground-based and unmanned aerial vehicle magnetic surveys. Removal approaches such as those based on Biot-Savart modeling are sensitive to the estimated position of the powerline systems, in addition to their limited applicability due to the requirement of a DC source. Moreover, the powerline noise in data acquired from a moving platform is inherently nonstationary and removal techniques must be specifically developed with this in mind. We propose a model-based method that does not rely on a priori knowledge of the powerline system by fitting and subtracting a set of sinusoids to the data. These sinusoids are computed on small windows of data, tied together with regularization terms within the fitting process to reduce discontinuities between segments. We further incorporate powerline frequency as a nonlinear parameter, allowing for fluctuations in the fundamental frequency as loads on the power grid change. Through synthetic and field examples, we show that periodic noise can be reliably removed automatically without the need for filtering or significant alterations of the frequency content. Powerline noise is reduced by over 98% in the field example.

The mineral exploration industry is again in a boom to provide new resources of critical raw materials as well as base and precious metals. This is evident from the globally increased expenditure reported for 2018 (International Mining 2018). Global demand towards green technologies requires sustainable flow of primary raw materials into the so‐called whole value chain. Without exploring in new areas (greenfields), the chance of finding giant deposits or providing fresh resources to the market and sustaining the value‐chain loop would be minimal. However, it is convenient in the short term to explore in brownfield areas and near mines to make use of existing infrastructures and to avoid new environmental footprints. In such circumstances, the mineral exploration industry is further challenged to not only provide high‐quality and high‐resolution deep‐targeting solutions but also to do it in a cost‐ and environmentally effective way. This is particularly significant in the European Union (EU) and in regions with thick cover, requiring new and much more sensitive exploration technologies for direct deposit targeting and geological characterization. In addressing these, there are several research and innovation initiatives worldwide trying to tackle some of these challenges like, to list a few, Smart Exploration in the EU and Metal Earth in Canada. There are also a number of cooperative research centre (CRC) projects in Australia as well as in Africa where favourable geology exists but exploration is challenged to find new “tier 1” deposits at depth (+500 m). This Special Issue of Geophysical Prospecting contains 18 articles and is coordinated by a number of experts involved in the Smart Exploration project (Malehmir et al. 2019). Eight of the included articles are from the project itself, and highlight the progress being made in this topic with a particular focus on legacy data and the value and potential such data have for deep‐targeting and high‐resolution imaging. The Special Issue, through showcases, reports the remarkable progress being made in overcoming the perceived high exploration cost for mineral exploration particularly for deeper targets. In the following, we provide a brief introduction to the papers included in this Special Issue. The included articles are divided into three main categories: legacy and exploration data, innovative solutions and state‐of‐the‐art equipment. Interested readers are also encouraged to check the three earlier special volumes on similar topics by Eaton, Milkereit and Salisbury (2003 and the references therein), Malehmir et al. (2012 and the references therein) and Buske, Bellefleur and Malehmir (2015 and the references therein).

The signal level and shape of induced polarization responses are significantly affected by the current pulse duration and waveform. If not accounted for, this data dependency on the current will propagate trough the inversion to results rendering unquantifiable subsurface models. While this problem has been addressed in full-response induced polarization modelling, questions remain as to how to accurately retrieve quantitative induced polarization inversion models from the types of apparent integral chargeability data often used in data interpretation. Although several methodologies have been proposed for handling and inverting apparent resistivity and integral chargeability, these cannot compensate for the data dependency on the current waveform and pulse duration. This paper presents a novel inversion method for such data. The method considers current waveform and receiver transfer functions for retrieving quantitative IP models unbiased by transmitter waveform. The method uses the constant phase angle model, expressed in terms of the medium resistivity and phase. Specifically, four field data sets for the same profile but with different 100 per cent duty cycle pulse durations (4, 2, 1 and 0.5 s) serve as examples of data sets giving models dependant on current waveform when inverted with standard approaches. The novel inversion method presented here gives quantifiable models independent on the current waveform and pulse duration. These results resemble models retrieved with existing, full-response induced polarization inversions. The results still contain some degree of uncertainty in relation to underlying assumptions and parametrizations. Managing this source of uncertainty is considered in terms of full-response induced polarization inversions with constant phase angle and maximum phase angle inversions.

Worldwide, soil contamination due to industrial activities is a major issue. One method for remediation of contaminated sites is in situ chemical oxidation, where an oxidizing agent is injected into the contaminated soil. Normally, monitoring wells are established in the remediation area for tracking the oxidizing agent. However, wells only provide point information of the injectant spread. This issue can be addressed using cross‐borehole resistivity and induced polarization tomography, by mapping the electrical properties in the entire remediation volume and by deriving, through petrophysical relations, the hydraulic properties of the medium. Here we present a proof‐of‐concept study, performed over one year as part of a larger remediation project, where resistivity and time‐domain induced polarization data were acquired among 10 boreholes, before and after two rounds of injection of oxidizing agents. The time‐lapse resistivity models, obtained through a focusing inversion scheme that favours compact time‐lapse changes, clearly show the oxidizing agent spread as highly conductive anomalies and confirmed by water conductivity measurements in boreholes. The time‐lapse inversions also show spatial variability in the injectant spread, with some areas not reached. The induced polarization data quality decreased significantly just after the injection rounds, because of the decrease in resistivity and induced polarization signal level, so that induced polarization time‐lapse inversions were not feasible. However, the induced polarization data were used for background characterization and to estimate permeability. In particular, there is a good match between the imaged low‐permeability zones and the areas in which the injectant did not spread, identified by the time‐lapse resistivity inversions. Furthermore, geological samples confirm the presence of fine‐grained sediments in the estimated low‐permeability zones. While time‐lapse resistivity tomography may be used for documenting the injectant spread, induced polarization permeability estimates prior to injection can be used to better tailor the remediation in terms of dimension and location of injection filters.

The transient electromagnetic (TEM) method is a non-invasive geophysical tool well-suited for subsurface imaging in cold and polar regions, where common targets are associated with strong contrasts in electrical resistivity. By imaging the electrical properties of the subsurface, the TEM methods can discriminate between geological units such as frozen ground (permafrost), fresh/saline groundwater systems, and bedrock/glacier ice. In this study, we compare TEM data acquired with ground-based and airborne TEM systems. We demonstrate the mapping capabilities of these two approaches in high latitude polar environments with datasets from Taylor Glacier, Lake Vanda, and Canada Glacier in the McMurdo Dry Valleys of Antarctica. The results show a high consistency between the airborne and ground-based TEM data, both with a high resolution and a deep penetration depth down to hundreds of meters due to the resistive background material, which makes both approaches capable of mapping hydrological systems and identifying the base of glaciers. The airborne TEM approach offers an unmatched spatial data coverage in difficult terrain and a far improved lateral resolution compared to the static ground-based system. The ground-based TEM system offers the possibility for using larger transmitter coils and longer stacking times and therefore has potential for reaching deeper penetration depths. The ground-based TEM approach is hence a valuable tool that can provide consistent imaging results while also being far more accessible in terms of cost and field logistics compared to an airborne TEM campaign.

Adiabatic half-passage (AHP) pulses show great promise for significantly enhancing the signal-to-noise ratio of the surface nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) free-induction decay measurement. Performing an AHP requires that the frequency sweep terminates when the transmit frequency is equal to the Larmor frequency, a condition that demands accurate knowledge of the true Larmor frequency. If the frequency sweep is terminated at an incorrect frequency, i.e., with an unknown offset between the transmit and Larmor frequency at the end of the pulse, the net excitation is affected and it can differ from that predicted by modeling that assumes a 0 Hz offset at the end of the sweep. Surface NMR surveys using a traditional single-frequency pulse have previously been shown to display degraded performance in the presence of an uncertain Larmor frequency estimate; the AHP pulse is also likely susceptible to such degraded performance. To ensure that reliable results can be produced by AHP pulses in the presence of an uncertain Larmor frequency estimate, we have developed an approach that adapts the frequency-cycling scheme for use with AHP pulses. We hypothesize that data collected using two similar AHP pulses, each with the exact same frequency sweep but where one sweeps toward the Larmor frequency from higher frequencies and the other from lower frequencies, can be stacked in such a manner that the impact of an unknown frequency offset is significantly reduced. We present synthetic and field results to demonstrate that frequency-cycling AHP pulse surface NMR data can ensure reliable performance even in the presence of an uncertain Larmor frequency estimate.

The development of multichannel instrumentation was a significant step forward for surface nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR). Multichannel instruments allow data to be recorded on multiple receivers simultaneously, thus facilitating the exploitation of Wiener filtering techniques that provide significant signal-to-noise increases and allow two- and three-dimensional images of the subsurface properties to be produced. When working in challenging environments (e.g. forested/brushy terrain), difficult noise conditions, or when using complicated survey designs it can become quite cumbersome to deploy multiple coils, which often require substantial lengths of cable to be deployed. As such, it would be advantageous if the dimensions of typical receive coils could be greatly reduced from the current standards (~25–100 m). The use of small receive coils would lead to more rapid survey deployment and may advance the utility of methods requiring multiple receivers. The objectives of this work are two-fold. The first aims to quantify limits on the feasible dimensions of small receive coils in surface NMR, aiming to provide an estimate of the minimum effective area of a functional surface NMR receiver. The second aims to demonstrate that the use of multiple additional small receive coils (when used in conjunction with the standard large coincident transmit/receive coil) can help to improve the resolution of estimated water content and relaxation time depth profiles. Synthetic results are presented to quantify lower effective area limits and to demonstrate potential resolution improvements provided by small receivers. The feasibility of a small receiver (400 m2 and 200 m2) is demonstrated in a field setting.

Accurate modelling of the conductivity structure of mineralisations can often be difficult. In order to remedy this, a parametric approach is often used. We have developed a parametric thin-sheet code, with a variable overburden. The code is capable of performing inversions of time-domain airborne electromagnetic data, and it has been tested successfully on both synthetic data and field data. The code implements an integral solution containing one or more conductive sheets, buried in a half-space with a laterally varying conductive overburden. This implementation increases the area of applicability compared to, for example, codes operating in free space, but it comes with a significant increase in computational cost. To minimise the cost, the code is parallelised using OpenMP and heavily optimised, which means that inversions of field data can be performed in hours on multiprocessor desktop computers. The code models the full system transfer function of the electromagnetic system, including variable flight height. The code is demonstrated with a synthetic example imitating a mineralisation buried underneath a conductive meadow. As a field example, the Valen mineral deposit, which is a graphite mineral deposit located in a variable overburden, is successfully inverted. Our results match well with previous models of the deposit; however, our predicted sheet remains inconclusive. These examples collectively demonstrate the effectiveness of our thin-sheet code.

At contaminated sites, knowledge about geology and hydraulic properties of the subsurface and extent of the contamination is needed for assessing the risk and for designing potential site remediation. In this study, we have developed a new approach for characterizing contaminated sites through time-domain spectral induced polarization. The new approach is based on: (1) spectral inversion of the induced polarization data through a reparametrization of the Cole–Cole model, which disentangles the electrolytic bulk conductivity from the surface conductivity for delineating the contamination plume; (2) estimation of hydraulic permeability directly from the inverted parameters using a laboratory-derived empirical equation without any calibration; (3) the use of the geophysical imaging results for supporting the geological modelling and planning of drilling campaigns. The new approach was tested on a data set from the Grindsted stream (Denmark), where contaminated groundwater from a factory site discharges to the stream. Two overlapping areas were covered with seven parallel 2-D profiles each, one large area of 410 m × 90 m (5 m electrode spacing) and one detailed area of 126 m × 42 m (2 m electrode spacing). The geophysical results were complemented and validated by an extensive set of hydrologic and geologic information, including 94 estimates of hydraulic permeability obtained from slug tests and grain size analyses, 89 measurements of water electrical conductivity in groundwater, and four geological logs. On average the IP-derived and measured permeability values agreed within one order of magnitude, except for those close to boundaries between lithological layers (e.g. between sand and clay), where mismatches occurred due to the lack of vertical resolution in the geophysical imaging. An average formation factor was estimated from the correlation between the imaged bulk conductivity values and the water conductivity values measured in groundwater, in order to convert the imaging results from bulk conductivity to water conductivity. The geophysical models were actively used for supporting the geological modelling and the imaging of hydraulic permeability and water conductivity allowed for a better discrimination of the clay/lignite lithology from the pore water conductivity. Furthermore, high water electrical conductivity values were found in a deep confined aquifer, which is separated by a low-permeability clay layer from a shallow aquifer. No contamination was expected in this part of the confined aquifer, and confirmation wells were drilled in the zone of increased water electrical conductivity derived from the geophysical results. Water samples from the new wells showed elevated concentrations of inorganic compounds responsible for the increased water electrical conductivity in the confined aquifer and high concentrations of xenobiotic organic contaminants such as chlorinated ethenes, sulfonamides and barbiturates.

The principle of equivalence is known to cause nonuniqueness in interpretations of direct current (DC) resistivity data. Low- or high-resistivity equivalences arise when a thin geologic layer with a low/high resistivity is embedded in a relative high-/low-resistivity background formation causing strong resistivity-thickness correlations. The equivalences often make it impossible to resolve embedded layers. We found that the equivalence problem could be significantly reduced by combining the DC data with full-decay time-domain induced polarization (IP) measurements. We applied a 1D Markov chain Monte Carlo algorithm to invert synthetic DC data of models with low- and high-resistivity equivalences. By applying this inversion method, it is possible to study the space of equivalent models that have an acceptable fit to the observed data, and to make a full sensitivity analysis of the model parameters. Then, we include a contrast in chargeability into the model, modeled in terms of spectral Cole-Cole IP parameters, and invert the DC and IP data in combination. The results show that the addition of IP data largely resolves the DC equivalences. Furthermore, we present a field example in which DC and IP data were measured on a sand formation with an embedded clay layer known from a borehole drilling. Inversion results show that the DC data alone do not resolve the clay layer due to equivalence problems, but by adding the IP data to the inversion, the layer is resolved.

We implemented an edge-based finite element time domain (FETD) modeling algorithm for simulating controlled-source electromagnetic (CSEM) data. The modeling domain is discretized using unstructured tetrahedral mesh and we consider a finite difference discretization of time using the backward Euler method which is unconditionally stable. We solve the diffusion equation for the electric field with a total field formulation. The finite element system of equation is solved using the direct method. The solutions of electric field, at different time, can be obtained using the effective time stepping method with trivial computation cost once the matrix is factorized. We try to keep the same time step size for a fixed number of steps using an adaptive time step doubling (ATSD) method. The finite element modeling domain is also truncated using a semi-adaptive method. We proposed a new boundary condition based on approximating the total field on the modeling boundary using the primary field corresponding to a layered background model. We validate our algorithm using several synthetic model studies.

The application of time-domain induced polarization (TDIP) is increasing with advances in acquisition techniques, data processing and spectral inversion schemes. An inversion of TDIP data for the spectral Cole-Cole parameters is a non-linear problem, but by applying a 1-D Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) inversion algorithm, a full non-linear uncertainty analysis of the parameters and the parameter correlations can be accessed. This is essential to understand to what degree the spectral Cole-Cole parameters can be resolved from TDIP data. MCMC inversions of synthetic TDIP data, which show bell-shaped probability distributions with a single maximum, show that the Cole-Cole parameters can be resolved from TDIP data if an acquisition range above two decades in time is applied. Linear correlations between the Cole-Cole parameters are observed and by decreasing the acquisitions ranges, the correlations increase and become non-linear. It is further investigated how waveform and parameter values influence the resolution of the Cole-Cole parameters. A limiting factor is the value of the frequency exponent, C. As C decreases, the resolution of all the Cole-Cole parameters decreases and the results become increasingly non-linear. While the values of the time constant, tau, must be in the acquisition range to resolve the parameters well, the choice between a 50 per cent and a 100 per cent duty cycle for the current injection does not have an influence on the parameter resolution. The limits of resolution and linearity are also studied in a comparison between the MCMC and a linearized gradient-based inversion approach. The two methods are consistent for resolved models, but the linearized approach tends to underestimate the uncertainties for poorly resolved parameters due to the corresponding non-linear features. Finally, an MCMC inversion of 1-D field data verifies that spectral Cole-Cole parameters can also be resolved from TD field measurements.

During the last century, many large irrigation projects were carried out in arid lands worldwide. Despite a tremendous increase in food production, a common problem when characterizing these zones is land degradation in the form of waterlogging. A clear example of this phenomenon is in the Nubariya depression in the Western Desert of Egypt. Following the reclamation of desert lands for agricultural production, an artificial brackish and contaminated pond started to develop in the late 1990s, which at present extends for about 2.5 km2. The available data provide evidence of a simultaneous general deterioration of the groundwater system. An extensive hydrogeophysical investigation was carried out in this challenging environment using magnetic resonance sounding (MRS) and ground-based time-domain electromagnetic (TEM) techniques with the following main objectives: (1) understanding the hydrological evolution of the area; (2) characterizing the hydrogeological setting; and (3) developing scenarios for artificial aquifer remediation and recharge. The integrated interpretation of the geophysical surveys provided a hydrogeological picture of the upper 100 m sedimentary setting in terms of both lithological distribution and groundwater quality. The information is then used to set up (1) a regional groundwater flow and (2) a local density-dependent flow and transport numerical model to reproduce the evolution of the aquifer system and develop a few scenarios for artificial aquifer recharge using the treated water provided by a nearby wastewater treatment plant. The research outcomes point to the hydrological challenges that emerge for the effective management of water resources in reclaimed desert areas, and they highlight the effectiveness of using advanced geophysical and modeling methodologies.

Leaching of organic and inorganic contamination from landfills is a serious environmental problem as surface water and aquifers are affected. In order to assess these risks and investigate the migration of leachate from the landfill, 2D and large scale 3D electrical resistivity tomography were used at a heavily contaminated landfill in Grindsted, Denmark. The inverted 2D profiles describe both the variations along the groundwater flow as well as the plume extension across the flow directions. The 3D inversion model shows the variability in the low resistivity anomaly pattern corresponding to differences in the ionic strength of the landfill leachate. Chemical data from boreholes agree well with the observations indicating a leachate plume which gradually sinks and increases in size while migrating from the landfill in the groundwater flow direction. Overall results show that the resistivity method has been very successful in delineating the landfill leachate plume and that good correlation exists between the resistivity model and leachate ionic strength.

Geophysical methods are routinely applied for investigation of near surface in areas of infrastructure, water supply, artificial infiltration, farming, waste deposits, construction, etc. A new towed transient electromagnetic tool, called ‘tTEM’, provides rapid, efficient, high‐resolution imaging of subsurface hydrogeology, and can deliver densely spaced profiles of resistivity. These profiles can be used to map a three‐dimensional subsurface in high resolution. In this paper, we present three case studies where the towed transient electromagnetic system was used to map the subsurface at the hectare scale. In the first case, we used towed transient electromagnetic to map raw materials in the northern Jutland, Denmark. The survey was carried out to map possible sand and gravel deposits. In the towed transient electromagnetic models, the potential sand/gravel targets are identified as high resistive bodies in the top 30 m. These bodies can have significant lateral variation at scales much less than one hundred metres. In the second case study, towed transient electromagnetic was used to map the thickness of a protecting clay layer above an aquifer in Vildbjerg, a town in the central part of Denmark. Results show that the overlying clay layer has sufficient thickness (>15 m) to protect the underlying aquifer from pesticide pollution in the area. Finally, in the third case study, we used towed transient electromagnetic for mapping geology in the vicinity of a landfill. The inversion results reveal a hitherto unknown buried valley‐like feature within the top 30 m of the subsurface that was not identified by older, regional TEM surveys – a feature that can have significant impact on the water flow.

The extraction of spectral information in the inversion process of time-domain (TD) induced polarization (IP) data is changing the use of the TDIP method. Data interpretation is evolving from a qualitative description of the subsurface, able only to discriminate the presence of contrasts in chargeability parameters, towards a quantitative analysis of the investigated media, which allows for detailed soil- and rock-type characterization. Two major limitations restrict the extraction of the spectral information of TDIP data in the field: i) the difficulty of acquiring reliable early-time measurements, in the millisecond range and ii) the self-potential drift in the measured potentials distorting the shape of the late time IP responses, in the second range. Recent developments in TDIP acquisition equipment have given access to full waveform recordings of measured potentials and transmitted current, opening a breakthrough for data processing. For measuring at early times, we developed a new method for removing the significant noise from powerlines contained in the data through a model-based approach, localizing the fundamental frequency of the powerline signal in the full-waveform IP recordings. By this, we cancel both the fundamental signal and its harmonics. Furthermore, a novel and efficient processing scheme for identifying and removing spikes TDIP data is developed. The noise cancellation and the de-spiking allow the use of earlier and narrower gates, down to a few milliseconds after the current turn-off. Furthermore, tapered windows are used in the final gating of IP data, allowing the use of wider and overlapping gates for higher noise suppression without signal distortion. For measuring at late times, we have developed an algorithm for removal of the self-potential drift. Usually constant or linear drift-removal algorithms are used, but these algorithms fail in removing the background potentials due to the polarization of the electrodes previously used for current injection. We developed a drift-removal scheme that model the polarization effect and efficiently allows for preserving the shape of the IP responses at late times. Uncertainty estimates are essential in the inversion of IP data. Therefore, in the final step of the data processing, we estimate the data standard deviation based on the data variability within the IP gates and the misfit of the background drift removal Overall, the removal of harmonic noise, spikes, self-potential drift, tapered windowing and the uncertainty estimation allows for doubling the usable range of TDIP data to almost four decades in time (corresponding to four responses in frequency), and will significantly advance the science and the applicability of the IP method. (Less)

The nuclear magnetic resonance sounding (MRS) method is used increasingly as a tool for hydrological investigations. Compared to other geophysical methods, the advantage of MRS is that it is directly sensitive to the presence of water in the subsurface. Data interpretations can also be used to get information about the subsurface pore structures, which under special conditions can be related to hydraulic properties such as aquifer transmissivity. However, to broaden the usage of this information in hydrological modeling, the uncertainties related to these transmissivity estimates must be determined. Otherwise, properly balanced weights cannot be given to the prior information obtained from MRS transmissivity estimates as compared to the hydrological data sets when used for groundwater model calibration. We have developed a methodology to estimate the uncertainties of MRS-based transmissivity estimates. Compared to previous studies, the methodology is well defined, and it takes into account important factors such as the uncertainties of the hydraulically estimated transmissivities, the uncertainty of the correlation factor in the petrophysical relation, and the uncertainties and correlations of the geophysically estimated parameters. We have determined the correlations and uncertainties of the geophysical parameters using a linear and a nonlinear method, and we find that the results are comparable.

Combined resistivity and time-domain direct current induced polarization (DCIP) measurements are traditionally carried out with a 50\% duty cycle current waveform, taking the resistivity measurements during the on-time and the IP measurements during the off-time. One drawback with this method is that only half of the acquisition time is available for resistivity and IP measurements, respectively. In this paper, this limitation is solved by using a current injection with 100\% duty cycle and also taking the IP measurements in the on-time. With numerical modelling of current waveforms with 50\% and 100\% duty cycles we show that the waveforms have comparable sensitivity for the spectral Cole–Cole parameters and that signal level is increased up to a factor of 2 if the 100\% duty cycle waveform is used. The inversion of field data acquired with both waveforms confirms the modelling results and shows that it is possible to retrieve similar inversion models with either of the waveforms when inverting for the spectral Cole–Cole parameters with the waveform of the injected current included in the forward computations. Consequently, our results show that on-time measurements of IP can reduce the acquisition time by up to 50\% and increase the signal-to-noise ratio by up to 100\% almost without information loss. Our findings can contribute and have a large impact for DCIP surveys in general and especially for surveys where time and reliable data quality are important factors. Specifically, the findings are of value for DCIP surveys conducted in urban areas where anthropogenic noise is an issue and the heterogeneous subsurface demands time-consuming 3D acquisitions. (Less)

Geophysical Journal International, 203 (2), ISSN:0956-540X, ISSN:1365-246X

We present an automatic method for parameterization of a 3-D model of the subsurface, integrating lithological information from boreholes with resistivity models through an inverse optimization, with the objective of further detailing of geological models, or as direct input into groundwater models. The parameter of interest is the clay fraction, expressed as the relative length of clay units in a depth interval. The clay fraction is obtained from lithological logs and the clay fraction from the resistivity is obtained by establishing a simple petrophysical relationship, a translator function, between resistivity and the clay fraction. Through inversion we use the lithological data and the resistivity data to determine the optimum spatially distributed translator function. Applying the translator function we get a 3-D clay fraction model, which holds information from the resistivity data set and the borehole data set in one variable. Finally, we use k-means clustering to generate a 3-D model of the subsurface structures. We apply the procedure to the Norsminde survey in Denmark, integrating approximately 700 boreholes and more than 100 000 resistivity models from an airborne survey in the parameterization of the 3-D model covering 156 km2. The final five-cluster 3-D model differentiates between clay materials and different high-resistivity materials from information held in the resistivity model and borehole observations, respectively.

The Okavango Delta is a huge alluvial megafan in northwestern Botswana. Despite numerous geologic, geochemical, geophysical, and hydrologic investigations over the past half-century, the sedimentary units underlying the delta are largely unknown. To address this issue, helicopter transient electromagnetic data (HTEM) have been collected across the entire delta and coincident ground-based electrical resistance tomographic (ERT) and transient electromagnetic (TEM) data have been acquired at two locations, one along the delta’s western margin and one in its north-central region. Inversions of the HTEM data have yielded three-layer resistivity models in which a relatively homogeneous conductive layer is sandwiched between two resistive layers. The three-layer HTEM model is reproduced in models obtained from independently and jointly inverting the ground-based data. The conductive layer’s low resistivities and depths to its upper and lower boundaries are practically equal in the HTEM and ground-based models. Resistivities of the upper resistive layer are similar in the various models, with the ground-based estimates being somewhat higher than those of the HTEM model at one site and somewhat lower at the other site. For the basal resistive layer, it can only be concluded that its resistivity must be substantially higher than that of the overlying conductive layer. An interpretation of the HTEM and ground-based resistivity models in the delta’s north-central region, appropriately constrained by the surface geology, high-resolution seismic refraction-reflection models, and borehole logs suggests the following structure: basement overlain at progressively shallower depths by freshwater-saturated sand and gravel that represent the remnants of a Paleo Okavango Megafan, saline-water-saturated sand, and lacustrine clay originally deposited in Paleo Lake Makgadikgadi, and freshwater-saturated megafan and fluvial sediments of the current Okavango Delta.

We present a concept that combines lithological information from boreholes with resistivity information from geophysical data to produce an accumulated clay thickness (ACT) estimate as a proxy for assessing the vulnerability of the groundwater to contamination from nitrate. The groundwater's vulnerability to nitrate is strongly dependent on the hydraulic conductivity and the thickness of the protective layers. Low permeable clays in the overburden offer good protection to underlying aquifers by increasing the transit time. This means that the accumulated clay thickness is a good indicator for aquifer vulnerability to nitrate. In geophysically derived resistivity models clays are characterized by low electrical resistivity, but non-unique clay–sand resistivity transition prevents direct mapping of resistivity models to clay thickness. Within the ACT concept, a translator model linking the resistivity to the accumulated clay thickness is calibrated by borehole information, ensuring consistency between the resistivity and the borehole data. An accumulated clay thickness map of the aquifer overburden (e.g., top 30 m) is then calculated, based on the calibrated translator model and geophysically derived resistivity models. We demonstrate the concept on a large-scale nitrate vulnerability assessment survey in Denmark. The concept successfully delineates the clay-dominated areas that play a key role in the assessment of the aquifer's vulnerability to nitrate pollution.

A newly developed helicopter transient electromagnetic (TEM) system has the ability to measure very early times within just a few μs after the turn off of the primary current. For such a system, careful calibration and accurate modeling of the electromagnetic (EM) response is critical to get true resistivities of the very shallow geologic layers. We discovered that this leads to resolution of the same level or in some cases even better than what can be obtained from airborne frequency EM systems. This allowed a range of important applications where high and accurate resolution is mandatory, e.g., geotechnical applications such as urban planning, railroad and road investigations, landslides or distribution of raw materials, and assessing aquifer vulnerability. We evaluated the results of a pilot survey covering the Norsminde catchment south of Aarhus, Denmark, where we found that near-surface layers (top 30 m) can be mapped with an accuracy of a few meters in a complicated glacial sedimentary environment. The mapping of the geologic layers was assessed by a detailed analysis in which we developed a general methodology for crosschecking the EM and borehole data. This methodology is general and can easily be adapted to other data types and surveys. After rating the quality of the boreholes based on a list of predefined criteria, we concluded that the EM data matched with about three-quarters of the boreholes located within less than 15 m from the closest EM soundings. The remaining quarter of the boreholes fell into two groups in which half of the boreholes were of very poor quality or had inaccurate coordinates. Only eight of all the boreholes could not be reproduced by the data, and we attributed this to be caused by very strong lateral or vertical geologic variations not resolvable by the TEM technique.

Very early times in the order of 2–3 μs from the end of the turn-off ramp for time-domain electromagnetic systems are crucial for obtaining a detailed resolution of the near-surface geology in the depth interval 0–20 m. For transient electromagnetic systems working in the off time, an electric current is abruptly turned off in a large transmitter loop causing a secondary electromagnetic field to be generated by the eddy currents induced in the ground. Often, however, there is still a residual primary field generated by remaining slowly decaying currents in the transmitter loop. The decay disturbs or biases the earth response data at the very early times. These biased data must be culled, or some specific processing must be applied in order to compensate or remove the residual primary field. As the bias response can be attributed to decaying currents with its time constantly controlled by the geometry of the transmitter loop, we denote it the ‘Coil Response’. The modelling of a helicopter-borne time-domain system by an equivalent electronic circuit shows that the time decay of the coil response remains identical whatever the position of the receiver loop, which is confirmed by field measurements. The modelling also shows that the coil response has a theoretical zero location and positioning the receiver coil at the zero location eliminates the coil response completely. However, spatial variations of the coil response around the zero location are not insignificant and even a few cm deformation of the carrier frame will introduce a small coil response. Here we present an approach for subtracting the coil response from the data by measuring it at high altitudes and then including an extra shift factor into the inversion scheme. The scheme is successfully applied to data from the SkyTEM system and enables the use of very early time gates, as early as 2–3 μs from the end of the ramp, or 5–6 μs from the beginning of the ramp. Applied to a large-scale airborne electromagnetic survey, the coil response compensation provides airborne electromagnetic methods with a hitherto unseen good resolution of shallow geological layers in the depth interval 0–20 m. This is proved by comparing results from the airborne electromagnetic survey to more than 100 km of Electrical Resistivity Tomography measured with 5 m electrode spacing.

article i nfo Contamination of groundwater by leaking CO2 is a potential risk of carbon sequestration. With the help of a field experiment in western Denmark, we investigate to what extent surface electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) can detect and image dissolved CO2 in a shallow aquifer. For this purpose, we injected CO2 at a depth of 5 and 10 m and monitored its migration using 320 electrodes on a 126 m × 25 m surface grid. A fully automated acquisition system continuously collected data and uploaded it into an online database. The large amount of data allows for time-series analysis using geostatistical techniques for noise estimation and data interpolation to compensate for intermittent instrument failure. We estimate a time-dependent noise level for each ERT configuration, taking data variation and measurement frequency into account. A baseline inversion reveals the geology at the site consisting of aeolian and glacial sands near the surface and marine sands below 10 m depth. 3-D time-lapse ERT inversions clearly image the dissolved CO2 plume with de- creased electrical resistivity values. We can image the geochemical changes induced by the dissolved CO2 until the end of the acquisition, 120 days after the injection start. During these 120 days, the CO2 migrates about 25 m in the expected groundwater flow direction. Water electrical conductivity (EC) sampling using small screens in 29 wells allows for very good verification of the ERT results. Water EC and ERT results generally agree very well, with the water sampling showing some fine-scale variations that cannot be resolved by the ERT. The ERT images have their strength in outlining the plume's shape in three dimensions and in being able to image the plume outside the well field. These results highlight the potential for imaging dissolved CO2 using non-intrusive surface electrical resistivity tomography.

The near juxtaposition of the Makgadikgadi Basin (Botswana), the world’s largest saltpan complex, with the Okavango Delta, one of the planet’s largest inland deltas (technically an alluvial megafan), has intrigued explorers and scientists since the middle of the 19th century. It was clear from early observations that the Makgadikgadi Basin once contained a huge lake, paleo–Lake Makgadikgadi. Several authors have since speculated that this lake also covered wide regions to the north and west of the Makgadikgadi Basin. Our interpretation of unusually high-quality helicopter time-domain electromagnetic (HTEM) data indicates that paleo–Lake Makgadikgadi extended northwestward at least into the region presently occupied by the Okavango Delta. The total area of paleo–Lake Makgadikgadi exceeded 90,000 km2, larger than Earth’s most extensive freshwater body today, Lake Superior (North America). Our HTEM data, constrained by ground-based geophysical and borehole information, also provide evidence for a paleo-megafan underlying paleo–Lake Makgadikgadi sediments.

Validation and calibration of airborne and ground-based time-domain electromagnetic (TEM) systems are important to obtain high-quality data and thereby reliable and reproducible results. Validation and calibration become even more important when the TEM systems are to be used for low-anomaly groundwater and environmental applications. The recent extension of the Danish TEM test site has made it possible to perform detailed validation of airborne TEM systems and calibrate airborne TEM systems that cannot make hovering measurements. We evaluated the Danish TEM test site and used a test site calibration scheme recommended for ground-based as well as airborne TEM systems. Furthermore, we discovered an extended data set from the airborne TEM system, SkyTEM, from the test site, used for an extensive validation of the SkyTEM system. This validation included repeatability tests at different heights and comparisons with the reference sections obtained with ground-based measurements. The validation and comparison were performed directly on the inversion results and in data space, down to the single data gate values. The extensive validation of the SkyTEM system at the TEM test site revealed a very stable and reliable system. The data repeatability of the SkyTEM system at different heights and directions was, in general, well within the standard deviation (STD) of the data. The agreement between the ground-based reference model sections and the SkyTEM model section from different recording heights was very good. Likewise, the match between the ground-based reference data and the SkyTEM data was good and, in general, within 1.5 times the STD on the data. The positive outcome of the extensive validation also confirmed that data processing and modeling were performed at the highest standard.

The forecast of climate change effects on the groundwater system in coastal areas is of key importance for policy makers. The Dutch water system has been deeply studied because of its complex system of low-lying areas, dunes, land won to the sea and dikes, but nowadays large efforts are still being done to find out the best techniques to describe complex fresh-brackish-saline groundwater dynamic systems. In this paper, we describe a methodology consisting of high-resolution airborne electromagnetic (EM) measurements used in a 3-D variable-density transient groundwater model for a coastal area in the Netherlands. We used the airborne EM measurements in combination with borehole-logging data, electrical conductivity cone penetration tests and groundwater samples to create a 3-D fresh-brackish-saline groundwater distribution of the study area. The EM measurements proved to be an improvement compared to older techniques and provided quality input for the model. With the help of the built 3-D variable-density groundwater model, we removed the remaining inaccuracies of the 3-D chloride field and predicted the effects of three climate scenarios on the groundwater and surface water system. Results showed significant changes in the groundwater system, and gave direction for future water policy. Future research should provide more insight in the improvement of data collection for fresh-brackish-saline groundwater systems as it is of high importance to further improve the quality of the model.

Helicopter borne time domain EM systems historically measure only the Z-component of the secondary field, whereas fixed wing systems often measure all field components. For the latter systems the X-component is often used to map discrete conductors, whereas it finds little use in the mapping of layered settings. Measuring the horizontal X-component with an offset loop helicopter system probes the earth with a complementary sensitivity function that is very different from that of the Z-component, and could potentially be used for improving resolution of layered structures in one dimensional modeling. This area is largely unexplored in terms of quantitative results in the literature, since measuring and inverting X-component data from a helicopter system is not straightforward: The signal strength is low, the noise level is high, the signal is very sensitive to the instrument pitch and the sensitivity function also has a complex lateral behavior. The basis of our study is a state of the art inversion scheme, using a local 1D forward model description, in combination with experiences gathered from extending the SkyTEM system to measure the X component. By means of a 1D sensitivity analysis we motivate that in principle resolution of layered structures can be improved by including an X-component signal in a 1D inversion, given the prerequisite that a low-pass filter of suitably low cut-off frequency can be employed. In presenting our practical experiences with modifying the SkyTEM system we discuss why this prerequisite unfortunately can be very difficult to fulfill in practice. Having discussed instrumental limitations we show what can be obtained in practice using actual field data. Here, we demonstrate how the issue of high sensitivity towards instrument pitch can be overcome by including the pitch angle as an inversion parameter and how joint inversion of the Z- and X-components produces virtually the same model result as for the Z-component alone. We conclude that adding helicopter system X-component to a 1D inversion can be used to facilitate higher confidence in the layered result, as the requirements for fitting the data into a 1D model envelope becomes more stringent and the model result thus less prone to misinterpretation.

SUMMARY Adaptive noise cancelling of multichannel magnetic resonance sounding (MRS) signals is investigated. An analysis of the noise sources affecting MRS signals show that the applicability of adaptive noise cancelling is primarily limited to cancel powerline harmonics. The problems of handling spikes in MRS signals are discussed and an efficient algorithm for spike detection is presented. The optimum parameters for multichannel adaptive noise cancelling are identified through simulations with synthetic signals added to noise-only recordings from an MRS instrument. We discuss the design and the efficiency of different stacking methods. The results from multichannel adaptive noise cancelling are compared to time-domain multichannel Wiener filtering. Our results show that within the experimental uncertainty the two methods give identical results.

SUMMARY We present a new, efficient and accurate forward modelling and inversion scheme for magnetic resonance sounding (MRS) data. MRS, also called surface-nuclear magnetic resonance (surface-NMR), is the only non-invasive geophysical technique that directly detects free water in the subsurface. Based on the physical principle of NMR, protons of the water molecules in the subsurface are excited at a specific frequency, and the superposition of signals from all protons within the excited earth volume is measured to estimate the subsurface water content and other hydrological parameters. In this paper, a new inversion scheme is presented in which the entire data set is used, and multi-exponential behaviour of the NMR signal is approximated by the simple stretched-exponential approach. Compared to the mono-exponential interpretation of the decaying NMR signal, we introduce a single extra parameter, the stretching exponent, which helps describe the porosity in terms of a single relaxation time parameter, and helps to determine correct initial amplitude and relaxation time of the signal. Moreover, compared to a multi-exponential interpretation of the MRS data, the decay behaviour is approximated with considerably fewer parameters. The forward response is calculated in an efficient numerical manner in terms of magnetic field calculation, discretization and integration schemes, which allows fast computation while maintaining accuracy. A piecewise linear transmitter loop is considered for electromagnetic modelling of conductivities in the layered half-space providing electromagneticmodellingofarbitraryloopshapes.Thedecayingsignalisintegratedovertime windows, called gates, which increases the signal-to-noise ratio, particularly at late times, and the data vector is described with a minimum number of samples, that is, gates. The accuracy of the forward response is investigated by comparing a MRS forward response with responses from three other approaches outlining significant differences between the three approaches. All together, a full MRS forward response is calculated in about 20 s and scales so that on 10 processors the calculation time is reduced to about 3–4 s. The proposed approach is examined through synthetic data and through a field example, which demonstrate the capability of the scheme. The results of the field example agree well the information from an in-site borehole.

Time-domain-induced polarization has significantly broadenedits field of reference during the last decade, from mineralexploration to environmental geophysics, e.g., for clay and peatidentification and landfill characterization. Though, insufficientmodeling tools have hitherto limited the use of time-domaininducedpolarization for wider purposes. For these reasons, anew forward code and inversion algorithm have been developedusing the full-time decay of the induced polarization response,together with an accurate description of the transmitter waveformand of the receiver transfer function, to reconstruct thedistribution of the Cole-Cole parameters of the earth. The accuratemodeling of the transmitter waveform had a strong influenceon the forward response, and we showed that thedifference between a solution using a step response and a solutionusing the accurate modeling often is above 100%. Furthermore,the presence of low-pass filters in time-domain-inducedpolarization instruments affects the early times of the acquireddecays (typically up to 100 ms) and has to be modeled in theforward response to avoid significant loss of resolution. The developedforward code has been implemented in a 1D laterallyconstrained inversion algorithm that extracts the spectral contentof the induced polarization phenomenon in terms of the Cole-Cole parameters. Synthetic examples and field examples fromDenmark showed a significant improvement in the resolution ofthe parameters that control the induced polarization responsewhen compared to traditional integral chargeability inversion.The quality of the inversion results has been assessed by a completeuncertainty analysis of the model parameters; furthermore,borehole information confirm the outcomes of the field interpretations.With this new accurate code in situ time-domaininducedpolarization measurements give access to new applicationsin environmental and hydrogeophysical investigations,e.g., accurate landfill delineation or on the relation betweenCole-Cole and hydraulic parameters.

International audience; We develop a technique allowing 3D gridding of large sets of 1D resistivity models obtained after inversion of extensive airborne EM surveys. The method is based on the assumption of a layered-earth model. 2D kriging is used for interpolation of geophysical model parameters and their corresponding uncertainties. The 3D grid is created from the interpolated data, its structure accurately follows the geophysical model, providing a lightweight file for a good rendering. Propagation of errors is tracked through the quantification of uncertainties from both inversion and interpolation procedures. The 3D grid is exported to a portable standard, which allows flexible visualization and volumetric computations, and improves interpretation. The method is validated and illustrated by a case-study on Santa Cruz Island, in the Galapagos Archipelago.

Understanding the hydrologic seƫ ng of any given area is a challenging task, especially considering that the amount of available informaƟ on is oŌ en very sparse relaƟ ve to the size of the area and the complexity of the problem. We used geophysical transient electromagneƟ c (TEM) data from an airborne SkyTEM instrument to invesƟ gate discharge of freshwater from a river catchment into a coastal lagoon area, in support of large-scale hydrologic mapping of the HOBE hydrology research center. ExisƟ ng hydrologic data indicate possible ouƞ low from the catchment underneath the survey area, a hypothesis that was indeed backed up by our geophysical results. The results revealed a straƟ fi ed geologic seƫ ng frequently incised by buried valleys beneath the lagoon. They also showed that the valleys are saturated with sea water, unlike the layers at the same depth that are probably saturated with brackish water. The salinity decreases with depth in large parts of the lagoon. The salinity distribuƟ on in the seƫ ng indicates the presence of intricate fl ow systems beneath the coastal area and the lagoon, and we propose that it is governed by the heterogeneity in the geologic seƫ ng. We also demonstrated how water depth as well as salinity can be accurately mapped using SkyTEM in combinaƟ on with a robust and fl exible inversion scheme.

Being able to recover accurate and quantitative descriptions of the subsurface electrical conductivity structure from airborne electromagnetic data is becoming more and more crucial in many applications such as hydrogeophysical and environmental mapping, but also for mining exploration. The effect on the inverted models of inaccurate system description in the 1D forward modeling of helicopter time-domain electromagnetic (TEM) data was studied. The most important system parameters needed for accurate description of the subsurface conductivity were quantified using a nominal airborne TEM system and three different reference models to ensure the generality of the conclusions. By calculating forward responses, the effect of changing the system transfer function of the nominal airborne TEM system was studied in detail. The data were inverted and the consequences of inaccurate modeling of the system transfer function were studied inthe model space. Errors in the description of the transfer function influence the inverted model differently. The low-pass filters, current turn-off, and receiver-transmitter (Rx-Tx) timing issues primarily influenced the early time gates. The waveform repetition, gate integration, altitude, and geometry mainly influenced the late time gates. Depth of investigation is highly model dependent, but in general the early times hold information on the shallower parts of the model and the late times hold information on the deeper parts of the model. Amplitude, gain, and current variations affect the entire sounding and therefore the entire model. The results showed that all of these parameters should be measured and modeled accurately during inversion of airborne TEM data. If not, the output model can differ quite dramatically from the true model. Layer boundaries can be inaccurate by tens of meters, and layer resistivities by as much as an order of magnitude. In the worst cases, the measured data simply cannot be fitted within noise level.

Airborne electromagnetic methods (AEM) are used extensively in groundwater investigations, often in combination with high-resolution seismic data. Despite the frequent use of this mapping strategy, only a few cases are found in the literature. In this study, comparisons and interpretations were made based on AEM (SkyTEM) and high-resolution seismic data from an area covering 10 km 2 in the western part of Denmark. As support for the interpretations, an exploration well was drilled to provide lithological and logging information in the form of resistivity and vertical seismic profiling. Based on the resistivity log, synthetic SkyTEM responses were calculated with a varying number of gate-times in order to illustrate the effect of the noise-level. At the exploration well geophysical data were compared to the lithological log; in general there is good agreement. The same tendency was recognised when SkyTEM results from the area were superposed onto seismic sections. Comprehensive geological knowledge is necessary in order to introduce layer boundaries from one method interactively in the data handling of the other. However, in cases where resistivity transitions are positively correlated to reflections, SkyTEM data supports the interpretation of weak reflections, and can also support the correlation of reflections both internally and between seismic lines. Besides contributing lithological information, the AEM survey provides gross three-dimensional structural information, whereas seismic data contributes with more detailed structural information in two dimensions.

The combination of in situ geotechnical testing and continuously measured geophysical data can be a powerful tool in geotechnical site investigation. In two cases from Sweden and one case from Denmark electric resistivity surveys are used successfully in geotechnical site investigations. The main contribution of resistivity results is the possibility to interpret continuous geological models. An improved methodology combines two-dimensional (2D) smooth inversion and 2D laterally constrained inversion (2D-LCI) to significantly increase interpretability. The 2D smooth inversion has high horizontal resolution and 2D-LCI high vertical resolution. The possibility to add a priori information from, for example, drill log data to constrain the 2D-LCI increases the confidence in the inverted model and limits ambiguity. In a site investigation for a railway trench in southern Sweden a geotechnical data set is used as a priori data to increase the reliability of the inversion of the resistivity data. From this combined survey a complex Quaternary geology is described in detail. A slope stability study from south of Stockholm, Sweden, employed resistivity data together with refraction seismic and geotechnical drill log data. The result gives necessary geometrical information for the important geological units, for example for stability calculations. Both these surveys were performed with a multielectrode system. In the third case a pulled array resistivity survey was used to map the uppermost 15-20 m to estimate the distribution of the geological formations for freeway construction in Denmark. The result enables a more accurate estimate of the total freeway construction costs.

We present a new methodology, spatially constrained inversion (SCI), that produces quasi-3D conductivity modeling of electromagnetic (EM) data using a 1D forward solution. Spatial constraints are set between the model parameters of nearest neighboring soundings. Data sets, models, and spatial constraints are inverted as one system. The constraints are built using Delaunay triangulation, which ensures automatic adaptation to data density variations. Model parameter information migrates horizontally through spatial constraints, increasing the resolution of layers that would be poorly resolved locally. SCI produces laterally smooth results with sharp layer boundaries that respect the 3D geological variations of sedimentary settings. SCI also suppresses the elongated artifacts commonly seen in interpretation results of profile-oriented data sets. In this study, SCI is applied to airborne time-domain EM data, but it can also be implemented with other ground-based or airborne data types.

The transient electromagnetic (TEM) method has been used extensively for hydrogeophysical exploration in Denmark for the past decade. Innovative instrumentation combined with multi-dimensional modelling and interpretational insights based on experience gained through numerous case studies have proven to be a successful strategy. In the case study reported here, the combination revealed an unknown and unexpected buried valley complex. Drill hole data were in good agreement with estimates of both the bearings and depths of valleys defined by the TEM surveys. The Pulled Array Transient Electromagnetic (PATEM) system was built to provide high data density for increased lateral resolution. A High moment Transient Electromagnetic (HiTEM) system was developed for delineation of aquifers to depths up to 300 m. Because both of these systems provide high data density, data quality can be assessed as part of the interpretational strategy. When acquiring TEM measurements in areas as densely populated as the Danish countryside, precautions must be taken to minimize coupling between the TEM system and man-made conductors. Modelling the slope of the flanks of buried valleys has challenged the adequacy of the one-dimensional (1-D) assumption for inversion of TEM data. The study shows that for a valley structure in a low-resistive layer, the 1-D assumption is sufficient to track the presence of rather steep slopes. For a valley structure in a high-resistive layer, however, the insensitivity of the TEM method to resistors makes it difficult to determine a slope with a 1-D inversion, and only the overall structure is defined.

Buried Quaternary valleys in Denmark are complex structures filled with various deposits consisting primarily of glacio-lacustrine clay, till and meltwater sand, and gravel. The valleys are important geophysical targets, because they often contain significant volumes of groundwater used for public water supply. About 700 km of buried valley structures have been imaged in the western part of Denmark by the transient electromagnetic (TEM) method. The ability to map the valleys depends primarily on valley geometry, infill architecture and the resistivity of the fill sediments as well as the substratum. One-dimensional (1-D) inversion models of the TEM soundings have been used to construct contour maps of 20 m average resistivities and depth to a good conductor, which provide images for geological interpretation. Images of buried valley morphology, fill properties, infill architecture, such as cut-and-fill structures, valley distribution and valley generations, are characterized for case studies from Hornsyld, Holstebro and the Vonsild/Agtrup areas of Denmark.

It is shown that the electromagnetic (EM) spectrum is characterized by strong amplitude-modulated transmitters operating in the target bandwidth of transient electromagnetic (TEM) measurements. As these transmitters cause significant noise in TEM soundings, it is mandatory to band-limit the input signals to improve the signal-to-noise ratio and thereby the depth of exploration. Band-limitation will distort the TEM responses, which leads to erroneous inversion results if the applied low-pass filters are not accounted for in the inversion scheme. We incorporate the low-pass filters in the inversion scheme and test the inversion approach on theoretical and field data. Inversion of band-limited theoretical responses results in recovery of erroneous resistivity models if the filters are not included in the inversion scheme. By contrast, inversion of band-limited theoretical and field data, for which the applied low-pass filters are included in the inversion scheme, leads to recovery of similar resistivity models, independent of the applied cut-off frequencies.