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Spatial filtering of local magnetotelluric field distortions

Article in Izvestiya Physics of the Solid Earth · January 1990

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Izvestiya, Eart~ Physics Vol. 26, No. 10, 1990

UDC 550.837.211

Spatial Filtering of Local Magnetotelluric

Field Distortions

D B. AVDEYEV, G. S. GODNEVA, B. SR. ZINGER AND E. V. FAYNBERG

Institute of Terrestrial Magnetism, Ionosphere and Radio Wave Propagation,

USSR Academy of Sciences

A procedure for spatial averaging of the magnetotelluric field is examined.

It is shown that averaging is an effective means for suppressing distortions of
the magnetotelluric field caused by local geoelectric inhomogeneities. The ex-
tent Wof the region of spatial averaging ensuring field normalization is defined
by the condition W>max flAIl. IALI}., where AL=(T/(S-t+Zo-)}"'. T is transverse resistiv-
ity,Zo---iOl!1oAois Tikhonov-Cagniard impedance of the underlying section, S is the
integral conductivity of the surface layer.

(1) with some reasonable error is acquiring funda-

It is well known that the magnetotelluric
sounding method relies on the possibility of de- mental significance.
termining the parameters of the section using the It is natural to seek an answer to this ques-
tion using two approaches which supplement one an-
expression
other. First, it is possible to analyze typical
geoelectric situations using numerical simulation
nXH,(r)=E,(r)/Z.(r). (1 of electromagnetic fields in inhomogeneous media.
Such investigations have been carried out by many
authors for various two-dimensional, film and
relating the horizontal components E , H of the three-dimensional models. Here we note only the
"( "(
electrical and magnetic fields at the observation results published in [1). Another approach in-
point r. Here n is the vector of a unit external volves a qualitative investigation of the precise
normal to the Earth's surface, ZO(r) is local im- interrelationship among the electromagnetic field
components and the finding of the conditions under
pedance. The basis of the magnetotelluric method which the corresponding nonlocal relations can be
is the fundamental Tikhonov-Cagniard sounding mod-
el, within whose framework a plane model of the replaced by (1).
A class of horizontally inhomogeneous models
Earth with a specific conductivity dependent on a for which a precise interrelationship between ET
single coordinate (depth) is examined. The model and H can be obtained direction from the corre-
is excited by a vertically incident plane-homoge- T
neous wave. Within the framework of the Tikhonov- sponding relation for a horizontally homogeneous
Cagniard model the E , E fields and impedance Z medium, widely used in geoelectrics, is a class of
"( "( o film models. In models of this class geoelectric
are not dependent on r. The well-known A. N.
inhomogeneities are embedded in a thin inhomogene-
Tikhonov theorem guarantees uniqueness in deter-
ous S-layer lying directly beneath the Earth's
mining the section 0(2) from the impedance ZO' surface. Below we limit ourselves to an examina-
stipulated in the entire frequency range. tion of such models. The problem of the conditions
In actual practice, however, it is necessary for applicability of film models was examined in
to deal with horizontally inhomogeneous sections detail in [2).
whose specific conductivity o(r, 2) is dependent A surfac'e inhomogeneous layer is encountered
both on depth 2 and on the horizontal radius- virtually everywhere and its influence on the sur-
vector r. In this case the electromagnetic field face electromagnetic field is usually considerable.
is nonuniform, which makes inevitable the use of This influence results in a violation of condition
profile and areal observations and the invoking of (1) or, as they say, distortions of the MTS curves.
complex mathematical algorithms for extracting in- In order to lessen the effect of these distortions
formation on the section from observational data. it is necessary to have recourse to averaging of
However, the Tikhonov-Cagniard model as before is specific resistivity or impedance. In such cases
attractive to geophysicists due to its simplicity. those curves are selected which were obtained
For this reason the question of when the interre- within a region having a hypothetically identical
lationship among the electromagnetic field compo- deep structure. Then the curves are averaged and
nents in actuality can be represented in the form the mean curve is interrupted [3, 4].

0OOl-4354/91/2610-000~$18.00/1 813
 814 D. B. AVDEYEV ET AL.

There also are schemes oriented on direct de- is related to the nature of the singularity of the
termination of the mean fields on the basis of da- admittance filter when ~ + O. In actuality,
ta from profile measurements of the electrical
field [5]. Below we will discuss the problem of
the extent of the spatial region within which aver-
aging must be carried out and also to what degree
the averaging operation makes it possible'to even- -2:ti<tl!loG'(r) ~ - ~ e
out the influence of surface inhomogeneities. For r_o r
this purpose we will examine a model of an Earth
consisting of an inhomogeneous surface S-layer un- where xo={ -iw!1oa{+O) }"', a( +0) is the conductivity of
derlain by a horizontally homogeneous section. the section at its top. Accordingly. f(r)-1/r
The model is excited by an arbitrary external when P + O. In a case when the electrical field is
field. It is known that the electrical field tan- constant along the Earth's surface or when the dif-
gential component E (r) remains continuous with ference E,(i)- E,(r) is an odd function of p' - p
'[
the integral term in (3) becomes equal to zero.
passage through the S-layer. whereas the magnetic
field tangential component experiences a jump de- since f(-r)=Y(r). and (3) is reduced to
termined by current density:
nXH,-(r) =E,(r)/Z.-,
nXH.(r) -nXH.-(r) =8 (r)E.(r) (2)
In actual practice, however, neither assumption is
where H is the magnetic field tangential compo-
satisfied.
T
nent at the top of the underlying S-layer of a Using (2), (3), it is easy to derive an ex-
horizontally homogeneous section. According to pression relating the electromagnetic field tangen-
[6], the magnetotelluric field tangential compo- tial components at the Earth's surface:
nents are related at the surface of the horizon-
tally homogeneous section as follows
nXH,(r)=E,(r)/Z.(r)+ fy(r-r') {E,(r')-E,(r)}dr', (9)
.
where

1 - Z.-
-~+S(r)
Z.(r)

is local Tikhonov-Cagniard admittance. Thus, the

problem of applicability of the Tikhonov-Cagniard
model during sounding of an inhomogeneous medium is
reduced to the problem of whether in (3), and
therefore in (9), it is possible to neglect the in-
(4)

(erl8ler)
{-+-
G'(r) dG'
}
tegral
term.
term in comparison with the nonintegral
The latter, obviously, is dependent on the
r dr' nature of behavior of both the electrical field and
the admittance filter. According to [6], the in-
which below will be called the admittance kernel. duction part of the admittance filter (that is, the
Here er = rlr, a@b is used to denote the tensor i
part related to the kernel G ) attenuates exponen-
product of the vectors a=ate,+a.e., b=b,e,+b.e., ct! e. tially at distances on the order of the effective
are horizontal unit vectors of a Cartesian coordi- depth of field penetration into the underlying
nate system: (a@b)m,=amb,. The functions section A 01.
I The latter value is directly re-
~
d ( 1 ) dk lated to the impedance of the underlying section:
Go (r)
" = -
.
dk Z' .
1.(kr)2nr (5)

~
Z.-=-iCJJ!1.}... (11)
S d dk However, for an underlying section in its up-
G'(r)= _I (6)
. dk per part having a high-impedance layer, the expo-
nential attenuation of the galvanic (related to
are determined using a Fourier-Bessel transform
dd) part of the admittance filter is characterized
through the spectral impedances Zki, zkg of the by the parameter
section for the induction and galvanic modes re-
spectively. In relation (3) integration is car-
ried out along the outer surface of a horizontally A'=-V~
homogeneous section; the integral is understood
It is easy to confirm that the IA I parameter in
in the sense of the main Cauchy value. The fact g
that expression of the contraction through an in- typical geoelectric situations substantially ex-
tegral in (3) has a form more complex than usual ceeds I A 01.
 Using the enumerated results, it is possibl~ Denoting by <f> the result of averaging the com-
l'
to limit the integration in (3), (9) to the region ponent f<1"> within the limits of a circle Ir-r'I~11
Ir-r'I~A , where with its center at the point l' and taking into ac-
count that the averaging result represents a con-
A~ max {I".I. I",!} (13) traction of the filtered function with a spatial
filter, and also the commutativity of the contrac-
In this case relation (3) remains correct regard- tion, it is easy to confirm that the relation
less of how the horizontally homogeneous model is
excited. In the range of periods used for sound-
ing the primary field can be regarded as purely nX<H,->,=<E,>,/Z.-+fV(r-r') {<E,>,.-<E,>,}dr' (18
inductive. The presence of an inhomogeneous sur- .

face layer nevertheless leads to the appearance of follows from (3). If the extent of the region of
a galvanic mode of the field in a conducting Earth spatial averaing is
It was demonstrated in [7] that the anomalous gal-
vanic fields excited by surface layer inhomogenei- W>max{IA.I.li.LI} (JQ)
ties become negligibly small in comparison with
anomalous induction fields with withdrawal from condition (17) is obviously satisfied for the fil-
the inhomogeneity a distance on the order of I~LI. tered field <E >P and (18) is reduced to
where
nX<H,->,=<t~,>,IZo-. (;10)
"T
(14) Thus, averaging for a region with the extent W,
},L=V~
satisfying condition (10), guarantees the possi-
It therefore follows that the integration region bility of satisfying sounding of the underlying
in (3), (9) can be limited to Ir-il~A, where horizontally homogeneous section by the Tikhonov-
Cagniard method using averaged fields. Generally
A~ max(IA.I. IALI}, (15) speaking, condition (19) is not necessary. For
example, when the electromagnetic field changes
A precise idea concerning field behavior along the quasiperiodically in space, for the correctness of
surface of an inhomogeneous Earth can be obtained (20) it is adequate to ensure satisfaction of the
in part only as a result of nontrivial numerical condition W » L , where L is the spatial period.
computations. In order to give a qualitative in- p p
Averaging both sides of expression (2) for
homogeneous Earth, below we will use Lt, the "spa- the jump of the magnetic field tangential compo-
tial scale of field change," defined by the rela- nent in the S-layer, after addition with (20) we
tion find that the averaged electromagnetic field tan-
gential components at the Earth's surface satisfy
max I - a'E,
(16) the relation
~.'-I.' az~ az,

By definition, Lf characterizes more the curvature

of the field distribution than the rate of its
spatial change. In a case when the field changes where
along the Earth's surface so smoothly that
(- 1 ) =~+<S)r'
z-
L/> max (lh.l. IALI) z.. n
it is possible to omit the integral terms in (3), Q(r) =;(SE.),-(S)," (E.),
(9). In this case (3) is reduced to (8), relation
(9) is reduced to (I), and accordingly, sounding
of both the underlying section and the section in- The Q(r) function. describing the correlation be-
cluding the inhomogeneous surface layer can be tween ET(r) and S(r). can be determined exper-
carried out using the Tikhonov-Cagniard model. imentally. In a case when Q(r) is small in comparison
Now we will examine a situation when inequal- with <Eo.>,. <1/Z.>,. the second term on the right-hand
ity (17) is not satisfied. Such a situation is side of (21) can be omitted and sounding by the
evidently not exceptional. In actuality, due to Tikhonov~Cagniard method using averaged fields
surface layer inhomogeneities the apparent resis- leads to a correct evaluation of mean admittance
tivity curves registered at points with an identi- for the section. Otherwise this does not occur.
cal deep structure and with spacings 10-15 km in As follows from what has been stated above.
many cases differ by one-two orders of magnitude. the relative contribution of the Q(r) function to
First we will examine the influence of the spatial the right-hand side 'of (21) can be majorized by
averaging procedure on the interrelationship of the relative contribution of the surface current
the electromagnetic field tangential components at to the magnetic field observed at the Earth's sur-
the surface of the underlying horizontally homoge- face. This means. in particular. that the rela-
neous section. By the term "averaging" is meant tive Q value decreases with advance into the long-
period region of the frequency-time spectrum. In
any low-frequency spatial filtering procedure.
 816 D. B. AVDEYEV ET AL.

0
F;J W/jj ~~o.°,~~q250mho
V///d ~
.17. 48
mho/m

40,//
~~/
"/ /~/
~/////
% =00
(5"3
//~
/.

80 120 160 200 240 280 320

0,2
o;~

~6
0;8
~o
1.2

Fig. a) Model of conductivity distribution; b) dis-

ion of electrical field along Earth's surface.

I<E~>/<~>I/IZ.I

. 0 500 W;km

Fig. 2. Determination of mean S of surface-

underlying section as function of width of Fig. 3 Relative displacement as function of
width of averaging region.
averaging region.

actuality, if within the limits of the entire jump of the magnetic field tangential component in
averaging region the S-layer is small, and accordingly the correct-
ness of the similar relation for <H,), and <E,),
S(r)<t/IZ.-I. at the Earth's surface follows from (20). In this
case <1/Z.),~1/Z.-.
then S(r) <1/IZ.'1 will be all the more true for the Thus, averaging of the electromagnetic field
induction mode. If for a significant part of the tangential components for a spatial region of the
spatial spectrum (k~Lf-') a, similar relation also extent W, satisfying condition (19), makes it pos-
is correct for the galvanic mode S (r) <i/IZ.',. the sible to "normalize" the electromagnetic field at
 - !jIj!C,"," -~-"C,,~.cc_~

period 3600 s. The PT curve obtained from aver-

aged fields is represented by the dashed curve in

Fig. 4 simultaneously with the "normal" PT curve
corresponding to a mean value < S > = 750 mho. It
can be seen that the descending branches of both
curves asymptotically converge with an increase in
T; a substantial displacement of the PT curve is

observed in the S-range.

We note in conclusion that the degree of the
displacement arising with iteration for the aver-
aged fields also is dependent on the definition
used for averaged impedance. The definition

Fig . 4. PT curve for mean S of surface lay- < - 1 ) =-:-+

1 -
< 1 ) -1 (22)

(solid curve) and PT curve constructed as

Z. ,Z. S,

a result of averaging (dashed curve). is proposed in [9] in place of (22). Simple trans-
formations make it possible to show that in this
case the averaged fields satisfy a relation coin-
ciding with (21), but with a displacement value
equal to
the surface of the underlying section. A similar
procedure, applied to surface fields, leads to
Q' SE,)," S>.-'(E,>, (23)
partial field "normalization." The relative mag-
nitude of the displacement arising in this case This displacement becomes equal to zero in a case
decreases with advance into the long-period part when the surface current does not change within
of the frequency-time spectrum. the averaging region, that is, if it is possible
Before proceeding to a numerical example we to neglect the effects of current leakage from the
will make one comment. As already emphasized, by ~urface layer and also the effects of flow around
the term "averaging" as used above is meant any
surface inhomogeneities.
low-frequency spatial filtering procedure. In
particular, averaging in the literal sense of the
word can be used: Conclusions

(f>,= j f(r')ds'
I'-"'<W
/ \ ds'
J
I,-"I<W
--.
fective
1. Low-frequency spatial
means for suppressing
filtering
distortions
in an ef-
of the
magnetotelluric field caused by local geoelectric
As an illustration of electromagnetic field nor-
malization as a result of averaging we cite the inhomogeneities.
2. The extent of the region of spatial aver-
results of computations for the two-dimensional aging Wensuring field normalization is defined by
model represented in Fig. 1a. In the model the the condition W> ffiliX {IAol. IALI}. where AL {T/(S-1+ =
inhomogeneous upper layer consists of alternating
bands with widths of 48 and 32 km with the conduc- Zo-)}.T is the Tikhonov-Cagniard impedance of the
tivities 250 and 1500 mho. A high-impedance in- underlying section, S is integral conductivity of
termediate layer with a specific conductivity the surface layer.
3. The displacement of "normalized" MT
10-3 mho/m and a thickness 40 km rests on an curves is minimal in the range of descending
"ideal" conductor. Computations were made for a asymptotes and is maximal in the range of ascend-
H-polarized field using the Varentsov-Golubev
program [8] in periods T = 40,80, 320, 1000, ing asymptotes.
3600 s. Figure 1b shows the pattern of distribu-
tion of the normalized electrical field along the
Earth's surface, typical for all the mentioned
periods, demonstrating manifestation of the S-
effect: the electrical field changes inversely
proportionally to the local S value. Figure 2
shows an evaluation of the impedance of the un-
derlying section, normalized to \zo-I, computed
using the averaged electrical and magnetic fields
as a function of W. The dependence of the rela-
tive degree of the displacement Q on W is illus-
trated in Fig. 3. It can be seen that with an
increase in the periods the displacement is re-
duced from 36% in a period T = 40 s to 3.5% in a Received August 18, 1988
 818 D. B. AVDEYEV ET AL.

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