3D Numerical modelling of electrical and electromagnetic methods

Abstract

Almost a decade has passed since solutions to the general two-dimensional electrical and electromagnetic problem appeared in the literature (e.g. Jepsen (1969), Coggon (1971), Hohmann (1971), Swift (1971) and Vozoff (1971)). In that time three-dimensional solutions have been obtained on the computer but they often require large computational resources and have not been widely distributed. As a result exploration geoscientists have had little benefit from three-dimensional modelling algorithms. It is timely to review the computational difficulties associated with these problems, illustrate the usefulness of three-dimensional computer modelling, and offer an opinion on the direction such modelling will take in the 'eighties'.