Modelling using receiver waveform and the importance of system geometry

Abstract

Conductivity-depth sections (CDI) produced from a recent airborne TEM exploration survey showed a poor fit to the expected geology of the area (a known conductive layer was appearing deeper than expected). The source of the problem was found to be the use of an incomplete description of the system geometry which had the effect of dramatically scaling the secondary field. In many modelling programs, including in this case EMFlow, the system geometry may be used to determine transmitter-receiver coupling which is used to compute the apparent primary field. This paper explains why system geometry can be critical for precise modelling of TEM data. By specifying the correct transmitter orientation and de-rotating receiver pitch for both primary and secondary fields, the match between known geology and CDI depth was greatly improved.