INTRODUCTION TO CSAMT

(Extracted from Practical Geophysics II, Northwest Mining Association, 1992.)

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INTRODUCTION TO CSAMT
Controlled source audio-frequency magnetotellurics (CSAMT) is a high-resolution
electromagnetic sounding technique that uses a fixed grounded dipole or horizontal loop
as an artificial signal source. CSAMT is similar to the natural source magnetotellurics
(MT) and audio-frequency magnetotellurics (AMT) techniques, with the main difference
being the use of an artificial signal source for CSAMT. The source provides a stable
signal, resulting in higher-precision and faster measurements than are usually obtainable
with natural-source measurements in the same spectral band. However, the controlled
source can also complicate interpretation by adding source effects, and by placing certain
logistical restrictions on the survey. In most practical field situations these drawbacks are
not serious, and the method has proven particularly effective in mapping the earth's crust
in the range of 20 to 2000 meters.

Arrays and sensors

A CSAMT source usually consists of a grounded electric dipole one to two km in length,
located four to ten km from the area where the measurements are to be made. The
frequency band for typical instruments is between 0.125 and 8,000 Hz, with
measurements most commonly made in the 16 to 8,000 Hz range. Magnitude and phase
are normally measured for one electric (E) and one magnetic (H) field component (for
example Ex and Hy, with Ex parallel to the transmitting dipole and Hy perpendicular), as
shown in Figure 1. In reconnaissance mode with an eight-channel receiver, up to 7
electric field dipoles can be measured simultaneously with just one magnetic field
measurement. For detailing modes electric and magnetic orthogonal pairs (Ex, Hy) are
normally measured. For widely spaced soundings or for research applications vector and
tensor measurements utilizing two electric field components (Ex, Ey) and three magnetic
field components (Hx, Hy, Hz) should be considered.

Transmitter

SOUNDING

Digital
Receiver

Separation
4 to 10km
(>4S)

SOURCE

Source
Dipole
(1 to 2km long)

Magnetic
Antenna
Electric
Dipoles
(10 to 300m long)

Figure 1: Field setup for a scalar reconnaissance CSAMT survey using multiple E-fields
and one H-field measurements.

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Scalar CSAMT
Ex
4

Hy
Receiver: 2 channels,
1 station per setup

Transmitter
0.125 Hz to 8 kHz

Reconnaissance CSAMT

Transmitter

Ex1
Ex2
Ex3
Ex4
Ex5
Ex6
Ex7

Hy

Receiver: 8 channels,
7 stations per setup

0.125 Hz to 8 kHz

Vector CSAMT
Ex
Hy
Hx

Transmitter

Ey
Receiver: 4 channels,
1 station per setup

0.125 Hz to 8 kHz

Tensor CSAMT
Ex
Hy
Two
Transmitters
0.125 Hz to 8 kHz

Hx

Hz

Ey
Receiver: 5 channels,
1 station per setup

Figure 2: Field configurations for:

(a) a scalar CSAMT survey
(b) a multiple E-field reconnaissance CSAMT survey, or controlled source audiofrequency electro-telluric (CSAET) survey
(c) a vector CSAMT survey
(d) a tensor CSAMT survey. An alternative set-up for the tensor survey would be to
have one transmitter at its present location to the west of the receiver station
(oriented N-S) and the other to the north (oriented E-W).
A good reconnaissance CSAMT configuration is the multiple electric field measurement
that is also called the controlled source audio-frequency electrotelluric (CSAET) method.
Using an eight-channel receiver you can measure up to seven electric fields for each
magnetic field as shown in Figure 2b. The one magnetic field measurement is then used
to normalize each one of the electric fields for calculation of the Cagniard resistivity and

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phase difference. The horizontal component of the magnetic field (Hy) usually varies
relatively smoothly along a survey line permitting sparse measurement of this component
on a reconnaissance basis. For detail work it is recommended that one make scalar
measurements as in Figure 2a, or at least reduce the number of electric-to-magnetic field
measurements to 3:1 or 2:1.
If you are going to make measurements on a sparse grid, for example making individual
soundings every kilometer or every 500 meters instead of running continuous stations
along a line, you may want to consider vector or tensor measurements (Figures 2c and
2d). These measurements can provide information on anisotropy (current channeling)
and 2-D or 3-D behavior of the subsurface on an individual station basis. Vector or tensor
arrays are not necessary for normal continuous line profiling since variations from
station-to-station provide information on geologic dimensionality.
Of the four arrays shown in Figure 2, the first two are the most commonly used systems:
scalar CSAMT and the reconnaissance CSAET measurement technique.
Grounded dipoles detect the electric field and magnetic coil antennas sense the magnetic
field. The ratio of orthogonal, horizontal electric and magnetic field magnitudes (e.g. Ex
and Hy) yields the apparent resistivity. This is usually referred to as the apparent or
Cagniard resistivity after the French geophysicist who was instrumental in the
development of the magnetotelluric (MT) method in the early 1950's (Cagniard, 1953).
The difference between the phase of the electric and magnetic fields yields the impedance
phase, which we will often just call the phase or phase difference.
A parameter used extensively in EM work is skin depth for frequency domain systems
(diffusion depth in time domain systems). Skin depth is equal to 503

meters; where
f
a = apparent (measured) resistivity, and f = signal frequency. This is the depth at which
the amplitude of a plane wave signal has dropped to 37 percent of its original value.
AMT depth of exploration or depth of investigation, D, is equal to

356

or

meters. This equation holds for CSAMT when the separation between the
f
transmitter dipole and the receiver station is greater than three skin depths or 3.
Although this equation predicts unlimited depths of investigation under the right
circumstances, we have found that in actual practice the maximum depth of investigation
is limited to about 3 km.
Lateral resolution is controlled by the electric field dipole length, normally is between 10
and 200 meters. Vertical resolution is 5 percent to 20 percent of the depth of exploration,
depending upon resistivity contrasts, geologic complexity and electrical noise.

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Table 1 lists the basic equations most commonly used for calculating apparent or
Cagniard resistivity, skin depth and depth of investigation. These equations hold for a
layered earth with the transmitter placed an infinite distance from the receiver. The
limitations brought on by a finite distance between transmitter and receiver will be
discussed later. Figure 3 shows how to determine exploration depth from resistivity and
frequency.
Table 1: Useful equations for CSAMT
Cagniard Resistivity, a:

1
5f

E
H

where:

E = electric field in mV/km

H = magnetic field in gamma () or
nanoteslas (nT)

(ohm-meters)

= phase in milliradians

Phase difference, :

= magnetic permeability of air

= E H
(milliradians)

= 4 x 10-7
= conductivity in siemen/meter

Skin depth is defined by:

=

(meters)

= 503

= 1/
a

Equivalent depth of investigation, D:

D = 356

= 2 f,
f = frequency in Hz
= resistivity in ohm-meters
= 1/

(D in meters)
Wavelength, :
= 2

If it is impractical to set up a large dipole for a transmitting source, you can also use a
large loop of wire for the transmitting antenna. The main drawback of the loop source is
its inefficiency in coupling energy into the ground. Given a dipole and square loop of the
same size (say a one kilometer dipole and a one kilometer square loop) it takes eight to
ten times more loop current than dipole current to get the same signal level at the
receiving site. For this reason, loops are seldom used as transmitting sources. However,
the Cagniard resistivity and phase measurements are the same in the far-field for both
sources, but differ in the transition and near-field zones.

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Far Field CSAMT Depth of Investigation

Ground Resistivity (ohm-m)

1000

100

10

1
0.1

10
100
Frequency (hertz)

1000

10,000

Figure 3: Effective investigation depth for CSAMT as a function of frequency and

ground resistivity.

Description of measured fields

Far-field: The electric and magnetic fields, generated by driving current into the ground
with the large transmitting dipole, propagate along the surface of the ground and
penetrate nearly vertically at distances beyond half a wavelength (approximately 3)
from the transmitter. This zone of vertical penetration is called the far-field, where the
electric and magnetic fields behave as plane waves, similar to natural source MT and
AMT fields. Therefore we can use the simplified MT and AMT equations for modeling
structure in the far-field.
Near-field: When the electrical distance between the transmitter and receiver becomes
less than 3 (about 1/2 wavelength: Table 1) at the frequency being measured, the electric
and magnetic fields change gradually from plane-wave to curved, and the Cagniard
resistivity formula no longer provides realistic apparent resistivity values. When
operating in the far-field or plane-wave zone over a layered earth, both E and H-fields
drop off as 1/r3, where r is the separation between the transmitter and receiver, and both
fields vary as a function of frequency and earth resistivity.
Transition-zone: In the transition zone, the H-field drop-off begins to change to 1/r2 and
the dependency on frequency and earth resistivity begins to change as well. The E-field
continues to drop off as 1/r3 and retains its function of earth resistivity, but its
dependency on frequency also begins to change.
In the near-field the H-field decays at 1/r2, becomes saturated and no longer varies as a
function of frequency or resistivity. The E-field still remains a function of resistivity,
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decays at 1/r3, but is independent of frequency. The depth of investigation becomes

independent of frequency and dependent upon array geometry. This is the condition that
puts a practical limit on the depth of exploration for CSAMT soundings.
For consistency, we use the Cagniard resistivity calculation through the transition zone
and into the near-field, although the values calculated in these areas do not reflect the
actual resistivity values of the earth.
Following are some general rules for phase interpretation:
FAR FIELD PHASE VALUES:
785 mr - homogeneous half-space response.
> 785 mr - indicates going from high to low resistivity layering with depth.
< 785 mr - indicates going from low to high resistivity layering with depth.
TRANSITION ZONE AND BEGINNING OF NEAR FIELD:
> 0 mr - indicates basement with a low resistivity contrast
< 0 mr - indicates basement with a high resistivity contrast
NEAR FIELD:
All values tend toward 0 milliradians with decreasing frequency.
Depth of Exploration
As observed in the graph in Figure 1 and the equations in Table 1, the depth of
exploration or investigation is related to the square root of ground resistivity and the
inverse square root of signal frequency. Although the equations do not provide any limit
to the depth of exploration obtainable, the maximum usable depth achieved in practice is
usually between 2 and 3 kilometers. As a general rule, when sounding over a relatively
homogeneous half-space, the separation between transmitter and receiver should be about
5 times the depth of exploration. Therefore, if you want to see down to 1 km you should
have receiver-transmitter separation of about 5 km. If the background resistivity is
1000 m, you will only have to sound down to about 100 Hz to penetrate 1 km; if the
background resistivity is 100 m, you will have to sound down to about 10 Hz, etc.
Refer to Figure 1 for more information.
The limiting factor on depth of exploration with all of the data in the far-field is usually
signal level. The electric and magnetic fields drop off as the inverse cube of the
separation distance (1/r3) between the receiver and transmitter, so the signal level drops
off very quickly. It is not unusual to work in environments where the background noise
is more than 10 times the signal level. Most surveys are run with receiver-transmitter
separations between 5 and 15 kilometers.

Lateral Resolution
Lateral resolution is mainly determined by the size of the E-field dipole. Theoretically
you could make the dipole as small as you wish to get the desired lateral resolution, but
again signal strength and noise enter the picture. Received signal strength is proportional
to the length of the dipole, so if you cut the dipole size in half, you cut your signal
strength in half. The smallest dipole we have used in normal production is about 25 feet
(8 m).
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