Practical Manual

Subject: Geophysical Inversion

3-Year M.Sc. Tech (AGP)/5-Year Int-M.Tech (AGP)

By
Saumen Maiti

Academic Year: 2020-2021

Semester: Monsoon

Department of Applied Geophysics

IIT(ISM) Dhanbad-826004

1
Contents Page No.

1. Course learning objectives 03

2. Course goal/learning outcome 03

3. Practical 1 04
4. Practical 2 06
5. Practical 3 08
6. Practical 4 10
7. Practical 5 12
8. Practical 6 14
9. Practical 7 16
10. Practical 8 17
11. Practical 9 18
12. Practical 10 20
13. Practical 11 21
14. Practical 12 23
15. Practical 13 24

2
 Course Learning Objectives

This subject will provide the knowledge of foundation of inverse

theory and various practical aspects for solving inverse problems
in applied geophysics. Clear understanding of data model
relationship, local and global optimization techniques, model-
based inversion, data-driven inversion, regularization and
concepts of Bayesian theory for stochastic inversion.

Course Goal / Learning Outcome

The primary objective of the course is to introduce fundamental
and advanced aspects of inversion for geophysical exploration. At
the end of the course, with acquired knowledge, students will be
able to solve the linear and non-linear geophysical inverse
problems for geophysical exploration

3
Practical 1: Earth's mass (M) and moment of inertia (I) are given as,
I
M = 5.974 × 10 24 kg and 2 = 1.974 × 10 24 kg ; radius of the earth (a)=6371 Km ;
a
radius of the core (c) is 3485 Km. From the given data, estimate (i) average
density of the earth (ii) average density of the core and mantle using least-
squared inversion method. (iii) Estimate data resolution ( RD = G (G T G ) −1 G T )
and model resolution matrix ( Rm = (G T G ) −1 G T G )

Objective: To formulate inversion framework for estimating average density

of core, mantle and earth using information of mass and moment of inertia
of the earth.

Learning outcome: To be able to estimate earth's model parameters (e.g.

average density of core, mantle and earth) from observation (e.g., mass and
moment of inertia) using generalized matrix inversion method.

Key Steps:

(i)

1) Assume average density of earth ρ m .

2) Constitute the data and model relation d = Gm using the formula of

mass (M) and moment of inertia of the earth.

3) Calculate G

4) Calculate G T

5) Find out G T G

6) Estimate ρ m using ρ m = (G T G ) −1 G T d

(ii)

Consider radius of the core and mantel as c and a ; density of core is

ρ1 and ρ 2

7) Constitute the data and model relation d = Gm using the formula of

mass (M) and moment of inertia of the earth.

8) Calculate G

9) Calculate G T

10) Find out G T G

4
 11) Estimate ρ1 and ρ 2 using ρ = (G T G ) −1 G T d

(iii)

12) Calculate data resolution matrix. RD = G (G T G ) −1 G T

13) Calculate model resolution matrix. Rm = (G T G ) −1 G T G

5
Practical 2: The variation of arrival time with off-set distance is given as

Distance, x (meter) Arrival time T (m-sec)

3 7.0

6 13.5

9 20.0

12 25.0

15 31.0

18 34.0

21 37.5

24 39.5

27 42.0

30 43.0

33 46.0

36 ?

To fit the equation of straight line T = mx + c and estimate the velocity of

layer formations using matrix inversion method. Verify the results with linear
regression equations.

Objective: To formulate inversion framework for estimating average

velocity in earth's layer using record of travel time of seismic p-wave.

Learning outcome: To be able to estimate earth's model parameters (e.g.

average velocity in earth's layer) from observation (e.g., arrival time of
seismic p-wave) using generalized matrix inversion method and linear
regression technique.

Key Steps:

1) Plot x vs. T graph.

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2) There may be two lines with slopes (m1, m2) and intercepts (c1, c2).

3) Assume average velocity of earth layer v m .

4) Constitute the data and model relation d = Gm .

5) Calculate G

6) Calculate G T

7) Find out G T G

8) Estimate v m using v m = (G T G ) −1 G T d

9) Interpret data kernel matrix G and results.

10) Use least squared inversion method to calculate estimated model

parameters.

11) Using inverse of slopes calculate the formation velocities.

7
Practical 3: Consider the refraction seismology delay-time experiment in
which two shots S1 and S 2 are recorded at three receiver positions R1 , R2
and R3 . The subsurface structures consists of two-layers of velocity V0 and V1
where V1 > V0 . The travel-time between a shot and receiver on the surface t ij
is given by

xij
t ij = + δi + γ j
v1

where xij is the horizontal distance between shot and receiver positions and
δ i and γ j are delay-time associated with the ith shot and jth receiver
positions. Formulate the problem and estimate the velocity V1 and delay-
time parameters δ and γ from the seismic travel-time data using (i) matrix
inversion (ii) compare the results of matrix inversion with the inversion with
SVD-based decomposition by finding U, Q and L matrix.

(i,j) t ij (s ) xij (Km)

1,1 2.323 6.00

1,2 2.543 6.708

1,3 2.857 8.485

2,1 2.640 7.616

8
 2,2 2.529 7.00

2,3 2.553 7.616

Objective: To formulate inversion framework for estimating model

parameters in delay time experiment of refraction seismology.

Learning outcome: To be able to estimate earth's model parameters (e.g.

delay time parameter/constants, seismic velocity of layer) from observation
(e.g., delay time experimental record of refraction seismology) using
generalized matrix inversion method and SVD-based least-squared inversion
method.

Key Steps:

1) Form the linear equations of travel time for respective source and
receiver positions.

2) Calculate data kernel matrix G, model parameter matrix m ( δ i , γ j , 1/v1)

and data matrix d=[t].

3) Using least squared inversion method estimate the delay time model
parameters.

5) Use singular value decomposition (SVD) - based least squared method to

estimate the delay time model parameters in earthquake seismological data.

9
Practical 4: Consider the refraction seismology delay-time experiment in
which two shots S1 and S 2 are recorded at three receiver positions R1 , R2 and
R3 . The subsurface structures consists of two-layers of velocity V0 and
V1 where V1 > V0 . The travel-time between a shot and receiver on the surface
t ij is given by

xij
t ij = + δi + γ j
v1

where xij is the horizontal distance between shot and receiver positions and
δ i and γ j are delay-time associated with the ith shot and jth receiver
positions. Solve the problem using damped least-squared solution. Plot the
damping factor β with the sums-squared error.

(i,j) t ij (s ) xij (Km) β

1,1 2.323 6.00 1.0

1,2 2.543 6.708 0.25

1,3 2.857 8.485 0.75

2,1 2.640 7.616 0.1

2,2 2.529 7.00 0.01

10
 2,3 2.553 7.616 0.001

Objective: To formulate damped least squared inversion framework for

estimating model parameters in delay time experiment of refraction
seismology.

Learning outcome: To be able to estimate earth's model parameters (e.g.

delay time parameter/constants, seismic velocity of layer) from observation
(e.g., delay time experimental record of refraction seismology) using
damped least-squared inversion method and to know the role regularization
in inversion.

Key Steps:

1) Form the linear equations of travel time for respective source and
receiver positions.

2) Calculate data kernel matrix G, model parameter matrix m ( δ i , γ j 1/v1)

and data matrix d= [t].

3) Using least squared inversion method estimate the model parameters.

5) Use Damped least squared inversion method to estimate the model

parameters. m = (G T G + βI ) −1 G T d

11
Practical 5: Consider the refraction seismology delay-time experiment in
which two shots S1 and S 2 are recorded at three receiver positions R1 , R2 and
R3 . The subsurface structures consists of two-layers of velocity V0 and
V1 where V1 > V0 . The travel-time between a shot and receiver on the surface
t ij is given by

xij
t ij = + δi + γ j
v1

where xij is the horizontal distance between shot and receiver positions and
δ i and γ j are delay-time associated with the ith shot and jth receiver
positions. Let us constrain the problem by specifying one of the delay-time
and see if a unique solution can be obtained for all six parameters of the
inverse problem. Assuming that we know the value of δ 1 = 0.433 , how would
we formulate and solve the constrained problem for the six parameters?

(i,j) t ij (s ) xij (km)

1,1 2.323 6.00

1,2 2.543 6.708

1,3 2.857 8.485

12
 2,1 2.640 7.616

2,2 2.529 7.00

2,3 2.553 7.616

Objective: To formulate constrained inversion framework for estimating

model parameters in delay time experiment of refraction seismology.

Learning outcome: To be able to estimate earth's model parameters (e.g.

delay time parameter/constants, seismic velocity of layer) from observation
(e.g., delay time experimental record of refraction seismology) using
constrained inversion method and to know how to use the given information
of any of the delay time constant for solving the inverse problem.

Key Steps:

1) Form the linear equations of travel time for respective source and receiver
positions.

2) Calculate data kernel matrix G, model parameter matrix m ( δ i , γ j , 1/v1)

and data matrix d=[t].

3) Use the given constraint δ 1 = 0.433 that reduces the rank of model
parameter matrix.

4) Using least squared inversion method estimate the model parameters.

5) Use SVD based least squared inversion method to estimate the model
parameters.

13
Practical 6: Consider the refraction seismology delay-time experiment in
which two shots S1 and S 2 are recorded at three receiver positions R1 , R2 and
R3 . The subsurface structures consists of two-layers of velocity V0 and
V1 where V1 > V0 . The travel-time between a shot and receiver on the surface
t ij
is given by

xij
t ij = + δi + γ j
v1

where xij is the horizontal distance between shot and receiver positions and
δ i and γ j are delay-time associated with the ith shot and jth receiver
positions. Solve the problem for inversion with β weighted first-difference
operators. The assumption here is that the delay parameters are slowly
varying spatially and the well-determined slowness parameters is left un-
constrained.

(i,j) t ij (s ) xij (km)

1,1 2.323 6.00

1,2 2.543 6.708

14
 1,3 2.857 8.485

2,1 2.640 7.616

2,2 2.529 7.00

2,3 2.553 7.616

Objective: To formulate β (damping factor) weighted first-difference

operators-based inversion framework for estimating model parameters in
delay time experiment of refraction seismology.

Learning outcome: To be able to estimate earth's model parameters (e.g.

delay time parameter/constants, seismic velocity of layer) from observation
(e.g., delay time experimental record of refraction seismology) using
β (damping factor) weighted first-difference operators-based inversion
method.

Key Steps:

1) Form the linear equations of travel time for respective source and receiver
positions.

2) Calculate data kernel matrix G, model parameter matrix m ( δ i , γ j 1/v1)

and data matrix d= [t].

3) Using least squared inversion method estimate the model parameters.

5) Use Damped least squared inversion method to estimate the model

parameters. m = (G T G + βI ) −1 G T d . Where β is the 1st difference operator and
taken usually as 0.01.

15
Practical 7: The variation of arrival time with off-set distance is given as

Distance, x (meter) Arrival time T (m-sec)

3 7.0

6 13.5

9 20.0

12 25.0

15 31.0

Fit the equation of straight line and estimate the velocity of layer formation
using gradient descent method.

Objective: To formulate gradient descent based local inversion framework

for estimating average velocity in earth's layer using record of travel time of
seismic p-wave.

Learning outcome: To be able to estimate earth's model parameters (e.g.

average velocity in earth's layer) from observation (e.g., arrival time of
seismic p-wave) using gradient descent based local inversion technique.

Key Steps:

1) Form the linear equations of travel time.

2) Calculate the data kernel matrix G.

3) Form the objective function based on L2 norm.

4) Assume initial model m0.

5) Calculate gradient of the objective function.

6) Assume the step length factor a.

7) Calculate the model parameter at next iteration with change of model

parameter in negative of gradient direction.

16
Practical 8: The variation of arrival time with off-set distance is given as

Distance, x (meter) Arrival time T (m-sec)

3 7.0

6 13.5

9 20.0

12 25.0

15 31.0

Assume that some data are related with each other and the data covariance
matrix is given. Calculate the model covariance matrix and error propagated
in model parameters. Using weighted least squared inversion method
estimate the formation velocity.

Objective: To formulate weighted least squared inversion framework for

estimating layer velocity using travel time record.

Learning outcome: To be able to estimate earth's model parameters (e.g.

seismic p-wave velocity) from observation (e.g., travel time record of p-
wave) using weighted least squared inversion technique.

Key Steps:

1) Form the linear equations of travel time.

2) Calculate the data kernel matrix G.

3) Using data covariance matrix calculate model covariance matrix.

4) Calculate the error propagated in model using standard deviation.

5) Use weighted least squared inversion method to estimate model

parameters.

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Practical 9: 1D Vertical electrical sounding method was carried at hard rock
setting of Eastern Indian Shield, India. Apparent resistivity with AB/2, data
is given in the following table. Calculate the layer parameters using gradient
descent method. Given codes for forward modeling of 1D VES and Jacobian
matrix formulation based on MATLAB.

AB/2(m) apparent resistivity (Ohm-m)

1 993.447883540833

2 953.771221092738

3 871.657048030934

4 760.865939076180

5 642.823243782562

6 534.588955041325

8 376.557102775329

10 294.988565934478

15 271.894929838599

20 327.733743273776

25 392.539711183212

30 454.930191556990

40 569.198938703381

50 670.920372421780

60 761.895648675398

80 917.580885384711

100 1045.73378170457

Objective: To formulate gradient descent based local inversion framework

for estimating true resistivity and true layer thickness using apparent
resistivity versus AB/2 record.

Learning outcome: To be able to estimate earth's model parameters (e.g.

true resistivity and true thickness) from observation (e.g., apparent

18
resistivity versus AB/2 record) using gradient descent based local inversion
technique.

Key Steps:

1) Form the objective function based on L2 norm.

2) Assume initial model m0.

3) Calculate gradient of the objective function.

4) Assume the step length factor a.

5) Calculate the model parameter at next iteration with change of model

parameter in negative of gradient direction.

19
Practical 10: A vertical fault model was investigated from gravity survey.
The gravity anomaly across the vertical fault was given in following Table.
Using vertical fault model of gravity calculate the sensitivity matrix and plot
the sensitivity for given stations.

Station gravity anomaly (in mGal)

-100 0.412740874011729

-80 0.412959442904075

-60 0.413609351324912

-40 0.414854961160182

-20 0.416748349177221

0 0.419088459988878

20 0.421428570800536

40 0.423321958817575

60 0.424567568652845

80 0.425217477073682

100 0.425436045966028

Objective: To calculate the sensitivity matrix for vertical fault model

inversion using gravity anomaly data.

Learning outcome: To be able to estimate sensitivity matrix for vertical

fault model inversion using gravity anomaly data and to understand the role
of sensitivity matrix calculation in inversion.

Key Steps:

1) Write the formula for vertical fault model in gravity exploration.

2) Evaluate the Jacobian using differential operator with respect to

corresponding model parameters.

3) Assume an initial model.

4) Calculate the Jacobian at given stations.

5) Plot the stations vs sensitivity graph.

20
Practical 11: A vertical fault model was investigated from gravity survey.
The gravity anomaly across the vertical fault was given in following Table.
Use vertical fault model and assume an initial model parameter/model,
calculate the model parameters at next iteration using least squared
inversion method.

Station gravity anomaly (in mGal)

-100 0.412740874011729

-80 0.412959442904075

-60 0.413609351324912

-40 0.414854961160182

-20 0.416748349177221

0 0.419088459988878

20 0.421428570800536

40 0.423321958817575

60 0.424567568652845

80 0.425217477073682

100 0.425436045966028

Objective: To formulate iterative least squared inversion framework for

estimating parameters of vertical fault using gravity anomaly data.

Learning outcome: To be able to estimate earth's model parameters (e.g.

parameters of vertical fault) from observation (e.g., gravity anomaly) using
iterative least squared inversion technique and to understand the role of the
method for solving non-linear inverse problem.

Key Steps:

1) Write the formula of vertical fault model in gravity.

2) Evaluate the Jacobian using differential operator with respect to

corresponding model parameters.

3) Assume an initial model.

4) Calculate the Jacobian at given stations.

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5) Calculate the model parameters using least squared inversion method.

22
Practical 12: The gravity anomaly across the vertical fault was given in the
following Table. Use vertical fault model and assume initial model to
calculate the best fit model parameters using Particle Swarm Optimization
(PSO).

Station gravity anomaly (in mGal)

-100 0.412740874011729

-80 0.412959442904075

-60 0.413609351324912

-40 0.414854961160182

-20 0.416748349177221

0 0.419088459988878

20 0.421428570800536

40 0.423321958817575

60 0.424567568652845

80 0.425217477073682

100 0.425436045966028

Objective: To formulate Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO)-based global

inversion framework for estimating parameters of vertical fault using gravity
anomaly data.

Learning outcome: To be able to estimate earth's model parameters (e.g.

parameters of vertical fault) from observation (e.g., gravity anomaly) using
Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO)-based global inversion technique.

Key Steps:

1) Write the formula of vertical fault model in gravity.

2) Write an objective function based on L2 norm.

3) Assume an initial model.

4) Use PSO MATLAB code to calculate the best fit model parameters.

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Practical 13: Suppose you have a multi-layer perceptron (MLP) composed
of one input layer with 10 pass-through nodes, followed by one hidden layer
with 50 artificial nodes, and finally one output layer with 1 artificial node. All
artificial nodes use the ReLU and/or Sigmoid activation function.

Develop neural network model for solving a time-series forecasting

problems. Using the data (Input and Target), build a specified ANN model
and train on training interval and cross-validate in validation and test
interval.

1. Forecast the geo-record /borehole temperature/electrical resistivity at one

step ahead on test interval.

2. What is the shape of the input matrix X?

3. What about the shape of the hidden layer's weight vector Wh.. and it’s bias
vector bh?.

4. What about the shape of the output layer's weight vector Wo. and its bias
vector bo?.

5. What is the shape of the output matrix Y?

6. Write the equation that computes the network's output matrix Y as a

function of X, Wh, bh Wo and bo

Objective: To formulate time series forecasting model using neural

networks.

Learning outcome: To be able to develop time series forecasting model

using neural networks for predicting any physical parameter/properties in
multi-step ahead.

Key Steps:

1) Write the multi-lagged time series forecasting model with input and
target.

2) Train the model on training interval.

3) Cross validate the model on validation and test interval.

4) Forecast the one step ahead value.

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5) From the developed model, provide the answers to the questions.

25