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Publications in Scientific Journals:

M. Weigand, A. Flores-Orozco, A. Kemna:
"Reconstruction quality of SIP parameters in multi-frequency complex resistivity imaging";
Near Surface Geophysics, 15 (2017), 18; 187 - 199.



English abstract:
Complex resistivity imaging provides information on the subsurface distribution of the electrical
conduction and polarisation properties. Spectral induced polarisation (SIP) refers to the frequency
dependence of these complex resistivity values. Measured SIP signatures are commonly analysed
by performing a Cole-Cole model fit or a Debye decomposition, yielding in particular chargeability
and relaxation time values. Given the close relation of these parameters with petrophysical
properties of relevance in various hydrogeological and environmental applications, it is crucial to
understand how well they can be reconstructed from multi-frequency complex resistivity imaging
with subsequent Cole-Cole or Debye decomposition analysis. In this work, we investigate, in a
series of numerical simulations, the reconstruction behaviour of the main spectral induced polarisation
parameters across a two-dimensional complex resistivity imaging plane by considering a local
anomalous polarisable body at different depths. The different anomaly positions correspond to different
cumulated sensitivity (coverage) values, which we find to be a simple and computationally
inexpensive proxy for resolution. Our results show that, for single-frequency measurements, the
reconstruction quality of resistivity and phase decreases strongly with decreasing cumulated sensitivity.
A similar behaviour is found for the recovery of Cole-Cole and Debye decomposition chargeabilities
from multi-frequency imaging results, while the reconstruction of the Cole-Cole exponent
shows non-uniform dependence over the examined sensitivity range. In contrast, the Cole-Cole and
Debye decomposition relaxation times are relatively well recovered over a broad sensitivity range.
Our results suggest that a quantitative interpretation of petrophysical properties derived from Cole-
Cole or Debye decomposition relaxation times is possible in an imaging framework, while any
parameter estimate derived from Cole-Cole or Debye decomposition chargeabilities must be used
with caution. These findings are of great importance for a successful quantitative application of
spectral induced polarisation imaging for improved subsurface characterisation, which is of interest
particularly in the fields of hydrogeophysics and biogeophysics.

Keywords:
Geophysics, Electrical Imaging, Inversion


"Official" electronic version of the publication (accessed through its Digital Object Identifier - DOI)
http://dx.doi.org/10.3997/1873-0604.2016050

Electronic version of the publication:
http://publik.tuwien.ac.at/files/publik_258977.pdf


Created from the Publication Database of the Vienna University of Technology.