SEGJ Technical Conference


Inversion of Airborne ZTEM Data


Abstract
We present a 3D inversion method for airborne ZTEM (Z-axis Tipper Electromagnetic) data to recover the subsurface resistivity structures. Using synthetic examples, we first examine how the inversion can recover a conductive dyke in a resistive basement beneath a thick more resistive overburden. A dyke is well imaged to depths more than 2 km almost regardless of the starting model, provided the flight line is oriented perpendicular to the strike. Next, we show that 3D conductors can be well delineated by jointly inverting the data collected from multiple flight lines.