RES2DINVx32 ver. 3.

71
with multi-core support
RES2DINVx64 ver. 4.00
with 64-bit support

for Windows XP/Vista/7

Rapid 2-D Resistivity & IP inversion

using the least-squares method
Wenner (α,β,γ), dipole-dipole, inline pole-pole, pole-
dipole, equatorial dipole-dipole, offset pole-dipole,
Wenner-Schlumberger, gradient
and non-conventional arrays
On land, aquatic and cross-borehole surveys

Geoelectrical Imaging 2D & 3D

GEOTOMO SOFTWARE
MALAYSIA
www.geoelectrical.com
July 2011

This software is distributed by :

Geotomo Software,
115 Cangkat Minden Jalan 5,
Minden Heights, 11700 Gelugor,
Penang,
MALAYSIA
Tel : +60 4 6574525, Fax : +60 4 6588437
email : [email protected], [email protected]
Internet : www.geoelectrical.com, www.geotomosoft.com
 ii

Notice of Copyright
RES2DINV is copyrighted by  Geotomo Software, 2000-2011.
All rights reserved. No part of this document may be reproduced
without written permission of Geotomo Software.
 iii

Table of Contents
Topic Page No.
1 Introduction ..............................................................................................1
2 Computer system requirements ................................................................3
3 Copy protection ........................................................................................4
4 Theory.......................................................................................................4
5 Software installation .................................................................................5
6 Using the program – a quick start.............................................................8
7 Data file format.........................................................................................9
7.1 Index based data format .....................................................................10
7.1.1 Wenner, pole-pole, equatorial dipole-dipole arrays ......................10
7.1.2 Schlumberger , dipole-dipole and pole-dipole arrays....................12
7.1.3 Topography data for index based format data files .......................16
7.2 General array data format ..................................................................17
7.3 Remote electrodes of the pole-pole and pole-dipole arrays ...............23
7.4 Cross-borehole data format................................................................27
7.5 I.P. data format...................................................................................35
7.6 Time-lapse data files ..........................................................................38
7.7 Incorporating data noise estimates .....................................................40
7.8 Fixing resistivities..............................................................................42
7.9 Aquatic surveys..................................................................................44
7.9.1 Underwater surveys.......................................................................44
7.9.2 Surveys with floating electrodes ...................................................48
7.10 Incorporating boundaries of known layers........................................50
7.11 Global or GPS coordinates................................................................53
8 File menu options ...................................................................................56
8.1 Read data file .....................................................................................56
8.2 Round up positions of electrodes .......................................................56
8.4 Cut-off factor to remove data.............................................................59
8.5 Calculate errors from repeated readings ............................................59
8.5 Data Import ........................................................................................60
8.6 Collate data into RES3DINV format .................................................60
8.7 Concatenate data into RES2DINV format .........................................62
8.8 Change buffer drive ...........................................................................63
8.9 Save sorted data after reading in data file ..........................................64
8.10 Trace program execution ...................................................................64
9 Edit menu options ...................................................................................65
9.1 Exterminate bad data points...............................................................65
9.2 Splice large data sets..........................................................................65
9.3 Trim large data set .............................................................................68
9.4 Reverse pseudosection .......................................................................68
9.5 Change location of first electrode ......................................................68
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10 Change Settings menu options...........................................................69

10.1 Inversion Damping Parameters..........................................................69
10.1.1 Damping factors ............................................................................69
10.1.2 Change of damping factor with depth ...........................................71
10.1.3 Limit range of model resistivity ....................................................71
10.1.4 Vertical to horizontal flatness filter ratio ......................................72
10.1.5 Reduce variations near borehole ...................................................72
10.1.5 Use diagonal filter .........................................................................73
10.2 Forward modeling settings.................................................................74
10.2.1 Horizontal mesh size .....................................................................74
10.2.2 Vertical mesh size .........................................................................74
10.2.3 Type of forward modeling method................................................75
10.3 Inversion progress settings.................................................................75
10.3.1 Line search local optimization ......................................................76
10.3.2 Convergence limit .........................................................................76
10.3.3 Number of iterations .....................................................................76
10.3.4 Model resistivity values check ......................................................77
10.4 Data/Display Selection.......................................................................78
10.4.1 Option for contour intervals ..........................................................78
10.4.2 Show pseudosections during inversion .........................................78
10.4.3 Type of gradient array plot............................................................78
10.5 Inversion parameters..........................................................................82
10.5.1 Save inversion parameters.............................................................82
10.5.2 Read inversion parameters ............................................................82
11 Inversion menu options......................................................................83
11.1 Carry out inversion ............................................................................83
11.2 Inversion Methods and Settings.........................................................83
11.2.1 Select robust inversion ..................................................................84
11.2.2 Modify smoothness-constrained least-squares method .................86
11.2.3 Choose logarithm of apparent resistivity.......................................87
11.2.4 Type of method to solve least-squares equation............................88
11.2.5 Use reference model in inversion..................................................89
11.2.6 Fast inversion of long survey lines................................................90
11.2.7 Set time-lapse inversion settings ...................................................91
11.2.8 Select method to handle missing data points.................................92
11.2.9 Floating electrodes survey inversion method ................................92
11.3 Model discretization...........................................................................96
11.3.1 Display model blocks....................................................................96
11.3.2 Change thickness of layers............................................................96
11.3.3 Modify depths to layers.................................................................98
11.3.4 Use extended model ......................................................................98
11.3.5 Use model with blocks of same widths .........................................99
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11.3.6 Reduce effect of side blocks........................................................100

11.3.7 Change width of blocks...............................................................100
11.3.8 Use model refinement .................................................................101
11.3.10 Type of cross-borehole model ................................................104
11.4 Model Sensitivity Options ...............................................................104
11.4.1 Display blocks sensitivity ...........................................................104
11.4.2 Display subsurface sensitivity.....................................................104
11.4.3 Normalize sensitivity values .......................................................105
11.4.5 Generate model blocks ................................................................105
11.4.6 Calculate model resolution..........................................................106
11.5 I.P. Options ......................................................................................107
11.5.1 I.P. data and model weights ........................................................107
11.5.2 Cutoff for valid I.P. values ..........................................................108
11.5.3 Change range of model I.P. values..............................................109
11.5.4 Select type of I.P. transformation................................................109
11.5.6 Use I.P. model refinement...........................................................110
11.6 Batch mode options .........................................................................111
11.6.1 Batch mode inversion..................................................................111
11.6.2 Save XYZ files in batch mode ....................................................112
11.7 Topography options .........................................................................112
11.7.1 Display topography .....................................................................113
11.7.2 Select type of trend removal........................................................113
11.7.3 Type of topographic modeling ....................................................113
12 Print menu........................................................................................117
13 Help menu........................................................................................117
14 Displaying and exporting inversion model results ...........................118
14.1 File menu options.............................................................................118
14.1.1 Read file with inversion results...................................................118
14.1.2 Model export ...............................................................................118
14.2 Display sections menu options.........................................................122
14.2.1 Display data and model sections .................................................122
14.2.2 Sensitivity displays .....................................................................126
14.2.3 Time-lapse displays.....................................................................128
14.3 Change display settings....................................................................131
14.3.1 Color settings ..............................................................................131
14.3.2 Display sections settings .............................................................132
14.3.3 Select fonts and units ..................................................................137
14.4 Edit data ...........................................................................................138
14.4.1 RMS error statistics.....................................................................138
14.5 Print menu........................................................................................139
15 Other resources ................................................................................139
Acknowledgements ........................................................................................140
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References ......................................................................................................141
Appendix A Array types in RES2DINV ................................................145
Appendix B Special OhmMapper Note .................................................147
DISCLAIMER ...............................................................................................148
SUPPORT ......................................................................................................148
What’s New....................................................................................................149
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List of Figures
Figure Caption Page No.
1.1 Sequence of measurements to build up a pseudosection 1
using a computer controlled multi-electrode survey
setup.
1.2 Two possible arrangements of the blocks used in a 2-D 2
model together with the data points in the
pseudosection.
7.1 Parameters that specify the location and length of an 10
array in the index based data format.
7.2 Arrangement of electrodes for the equatorial dipole- 11
dipole array
7.3 Arrangement of the electrodes for the dipole-dipole and 13
pole-dipole arrays.
7.4 Arrangement of electrodes for the offset pole-dipole 15
array.
7.5 Some possible non-conventional arrays. 17
7.6 Arrangement of the electrodes along a survey line such 22
that the true horizontal distance between adjacent
electrodes is constant regardless of the slope of the
ground surface.
7.7 A schematic diagram of the arrangement of the 23
electrodes in an actual field pole-pole measurement.
7.8 A schematic diagram of the arrangement of the 25
electrodes along the survey line in a pole-pole survey
with positions of the C2 and P2 electrodes specified.
7.9 Arrangement of the electrodes in a cross-borehole 27
survey.
7.10 The model obtained after the inversion of the 31
BOREHOLE.DAT data set.
7.11 Model obtained from the inversion of data from a 32
cross-borehole survey to map the flow of a saline
tracer.
7.12 Magusi River ore body resistivity and I.P sections. 38
7.13 Fixing the resistivity of rectangular and triangular 43
regions of the inversion model.
7.14 Three possible situations for aquatic surveys. 44
7.15 Hat Head land and underwater survey. 46
7.16 Lake Lelia underwater survey apparent resistivity 46
pseudosection and model resistivity section.
7.17 Models for the Clifton survey from the different 52
 viii

inversion methods are shown together.

9.1 Example of a data set with a few bad data points. 66
9.2 Example of a display using the splice data option for a 67
data set in the indexed base format.
10.1 Types of roughness filters. 73
10.2 Schematic diagram of finite-difference mesh and 75
model blocks used by forward modeling routine.
10.3 Plot of a multiple gradient array data set in the form of 80
profiles using exact pseudodepths for the
CROMER2.DAT file.
10.4 Two different configurations of the gradient array with 80
the same pseudodepth but with the potential electrodes
at different sides of the array.
10.5 Plot of a multiple gradient array data set in the form of 81
profiles using the approximate pseudodepth method.
10.6 The inversion result of the CROMER02.DAT data set 81
with the apparent resistivity and model sections.
11.1 Example of inversion results using the smooth and 86
robust inversion model constraint.
11.2 Example of inversion model with a fixed water layer. 93
11.3 Arrangement of model blocks and the water bottom 94
boundary for an arrangement with the water layer
incorporated into the inversion model.
11.4 Inversion model for the survey with floating electrodes 95
along the along the São Francisco River in Brazil.
11.5 Different possible arrangement of model blocks for the 97
same data set.
11.6 Example of inversion models using the standard and 103
half-sized model blocks.
11.7 Two arrangements of model blocks using the extended 105
model and sensitivity values methods.
11.8 Topography linear trend removal for the Rathcroghan 113
mound data set.
11.9 Different methods to incorporate topography into a 2-D 115
inversion model.
11.10 Example of inversion model for the Rathcrogan Mound 116
data set with topography.
14.1 Model resolution sections for the LANDFIL.DAT data 127
set.
14.2 Apparent resistivity and inversion model sections from 129
the Birmingham time-lapse experiment.
 ix

14.3 Sections showing the change in the subsurface 130

resistivity values with time obtained from the inversion
of the data sets collected during the infiltration and
recovery phases of the study.
14.4 Example of underwater survey plot. 136
14.5 Histogram of the data misfit from an inversion of the 138
BLUERIDGE.DAT data set.
A.1 Arrangement of the electrodes for some commonly 146
used arrays.
A.2 Normal, reverse and offset pole-dipole array 146
arrangements.
B.1 Example OhmMapper data set and inversion model. 147
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List of Tables
Table Caption Pg. No.
5.1 List of files installed with the RES2DINVx32 program. 6
7.1 Example Wenner array data file format. 10
7.2 Example equatorial dipole-dipole array data file. 11
7.3 Example Wenner-Schlumberger array data file. 12
7.4 Example dipole-dipole array data file. 12
7.5 Example pole-dipole array data file. 14
7.6 Example offset pole-dipole array data file. 15
7.7 Example of index based data file with topography. 16
7.8 Example data file with general array format. 18
7.9 Example general array format file with topography. 19
7.10 Example general array data format file with topography 20
in a separate section.
7.11 Example gradient array data file. 23
7.12 Pole-pole data file with remote electrodes specified. 25
7.13 Example borehole data set. 28
7.14 Example data set with inclined boreholes. 33
7.15 Example borehole data set with topography 34
7.16 Example data file with I.P. values as chargeability. 35
7.17 Example time-lapse data set with 3 time series. 39
7.18 Example data file with noise estimates. 40
7.19 Example data file with fixed regions. 42
7.20 Example data file for aquatic survey with bottom 45
electrodes.
7.21 Underwater survey data file in general array format. 47
7.22 Survey data file with floating electrodes. 49
7.23 Example survey data file with known boundaries. 51
7.24 Example data file with global coordinates. 53
7.25 Example data file with index based format and 54
topography and global coordinates.
7.26 Example data file with general array format and 55
topography and global coordinates.
7.27 Example aquatic survey data file with global coordinates. 55
8.1 Example script file to combine 2-D data files into a 3-D 61
data file.
8.2 Example script file to concatenate 2-D data files. 63
11.1 Data file with standard unit electrode spacing. 102
11.2 Data file with half the standard unit electrode spacing. 102
11.3 Example script file for batch mode inversion. 111
A.1 Array types and their number codes. 145
 1

1 Introduction
RES2DINVx32 and RES2DINVx64 are computer programs that will
automatically determine a two-dimensional (2-D) resistivity model for the
subsurface for the data obtained from electrical imaging surveys (Dahlin 1996).
It is a Windows based program that also supports multi-core CPUs.

Figure 1 shows an example of the electrodes arrangement and measurement

sequence that can be used for a 2-D electrical imaging survey. Many different
multi-electrode systems have been developed over the past 15 years using
different arrangements of the cables and measurement strategies (Loke 2011).
This program is designed to invert large data sets (with about 200 to 100000
data points) collected with a system with a large number of electrodes (about
25 to 16000 electrodes). The survey is usually carried out with a system where
the electrodes are arranged along a line with a constant spacing between
adjacent electrodes. However, the program can also handle data sets with a
non-uniform electrode spacing.

Figure 1.1. Sequence of measurements to build up a pseudosection using a

computer controlled multi-electrode survey setup.

The 2-D model used by the inversion program consists of a large number of
rectangular blocks. Figure 1.2a shows an arrangement of the blocks that
loosely tied to the distribution of the data points in the pseudosection. The
distribution and size of the blocks are automatically generated by the program
using the distribution of the data points as a rough guide. The depth of the
 2

bottom row of blocks is set to be approximately equal to the median depth of

investigation (Edwards 1977) of the data points with the largest electrode
spacing. Figure 1.2b shows an alternative arrangement with blocks of uniform
width extending to the ends of the survey line.

Figure 1.2. Two possible arrangements of the blocks used in a 2-D model
together with the data points in the pseudosection.

A finite-difference or finite-element modeling subroutine is used to calculate

the apparent resistivity values, and a non-linear smoothness-constrained least-
squares optimization technique is calculate the resistivity of the model blocks
(deGroot-Hedlin and Constable 1990). This program can be used for surveys
using the Wenner, pole-pole, dipole-dipole, pole-dipole, Wenner-
Schlumberger, gradient and equatorial dipole-dipole (rectangular) arrays
(Appendix A). In addition to these common arrays, the program even supports
non-conventional arrays with an almost unlimited number of possible electrode
configurations (Loke et al. 2010). You can process pseudosections with up to
16000 electrode positions and 70000 data points at a single time on a computer
 3

with 4 gigabytes (GB) of RAM. Besides normal surveys carried out with the
electrodes on the ground surface, the program also supports aquatic and cross-
borehole surveys.

2 Computer system requirements

This program is designed to run on microcomputers using the Windows
XP/Vista/7 operating systems. On a modern multi-core PC, it will take less
than a half a minute to invert the data set obtained from a survey with 100
electrodes.

RES2DINVx32 : The minimum amount of RAM required is 1 GB, while at

least 2 GB is recommended. You will also need at least 32 GB of free hard-
disk space that the program can use to store temporary swap files. If you have
more than one hard-disk drive, the program will automatically select the drive
with the largest amount of free space as the drive to store the swap files. As
this is a 32-bit program, it can only access up to 2 GB RAM. This is a
limitation placed by Windows for 32-bit programs. It is recommended that you
use a PC with an Intel CPU as the computer code has been optimized for such
processors.
RES2DINVx64 : A PC with a 64-bit multi-core CPU, at least 4 GB RAM and
a 64-bit version of Windows is required. The program can access more than 4
GB GAM. This greatly increases the data and model size that can be processed.

Practically all computers have an in-built power management system that slows
down and eventually shuts down the computer system if the keyboard or mouse
is not accessed after a certain time limit. This can interfere with the operation
of the RES2DINV program if you are inverting a large data set or using the
batch mode to invert a large number of data files. Windows also has an in-built
screen saver functions that replaces the contents of the screen with a screen
saver program. Before running the RES2DINV program, you will need to
disable both the power management and screen saver programs.

There should not be too many background programs running while executing
this program. The active background programs are usually shown on the 'Start'
bar at the bottom of the screen. By shutting down the other programs, more
memory will be available to this program. This will reduce memory to hard-
disk swapping that slows down the program.
 4

3 Copy protection
A USB hardware key (dongle) is supplied with the registered version of the
program. You will need to install the driver for the dongle so that the program
can detect it (please refer to section 5 – Software installation). The
demonstration version of the program does not require a hardware key but
some important features of the program cannot be used.

4 Theory
The inversion routine used by the program is based on the smoothness-
constrained least-squares method (deGroot-Hedlin and Constable 1990, Sasaki
1992, Loke et al. 2003). The smoothness-constrained least-squares method is
based on the following equation
(J T
)
J +λF ∆q k = J T g − λFq k ,
(4.1)
where F = α x CTxC x + α z CTzC z
Cx = horizontal roughness filters
Cz = vertical roughness filter
J = Jacobian matrix of partial derivatives
JT = transpose of J
λ = damping factor
q = model change vector
g = data misfit vector

One advantage of this method is that the damping factor and flatness filters can
be adjusted to suit different types of data. A detailed description of the different
variations of the smoothness-constrained least-squares method can be found in
the free tutorial notes by Loke (2011) available on the www.geoelectrical.com
website. The different program options are described in sections 10 and 11.

The optimization method tries to reduce the difference between the calculated
and measured apparent resistivity values by adjusting the resistivity of the
model blocks subject to the smoothness constraints used. A measure of this
difference is given by the root-mean-squared (RMS) error. However the model
with the lowest possible RMS error can sometimes show large and unrealistic
variations in the model resistivity values and might not always be the "best"
model from a geological perspective. In general the most prudent approach is
to choose the model at the iteration after which the RMS error does not change
significantly. This usually occurs between the 3rd and 5th iterations.
 5

5 Software installation
If you had purchased the software with a CD, the following setup manager
should be automatically displayed when you insert the CD.

Click the appropriate item in order to install RES2DINV program; followed by

the RES3DINV, RES2DMOD and RES3DMOD programs. Click the ‘Keylok
USB Driver’ menu option to install the driver for the USB dongle provided
with the full version of the program. Attach the dongle to the computer only
after you have installed the driver. You will also need to click the ‘Install 32-
bit MS Vcredist driver’ menu item to install a driver required by the
RES2DINVx32 (and RES3DINVx32) program. To install the RES2DINVx64
program, scroll further down the list. You also need to install the 64-bit MS
Vcredist driver.

If you had downloaded the programs from the Internet, you will need to install
the programs manually. The RES2DINV package comes in a single
compressed installation file SETUP.EXE that is a Windows based installation
program. The www.geoelectrical.com website also has the driver installation
files for the dongle and the Vcredist programs.

After installing the RES2DINVx32 program, you should find the list of files in
Table 1 in the folder where the program was installed.
 6

Table 5.1. List of files installed with the RES2DINVx32 program.

RES2DINVx32.EXE Main inversion program
RES2DINV.PDF Manual in PDF format
RES2DINV.CHM Windows Help file for this program
REGISTER.TXT Registration file
LANDFILL.DAT An example field data file for the Wenner array
obtained by a survey with 50 electrodes. This
example shows an interesting application of 2-D
electrical imaging to map a pollution plume from
a landfill site (Niederleithinger, 1994).
GRUNDFOR.DAT Another field example for the Wenner array, but
with a more irregular distribution of the data
points.
ODARSLOV.DAT A fairly large data set collected over a high
resistivity
dyke (Wenner array).
ROMO.DAT Another fairly large data set (Wenner array).
DUFUYA.DAT This is a large data set with nearly 300 electrodes
and more than 1200 data points (Wenner array).
GLADOE2.DAT An example data file with topographical
information.
BLOCKWEN.DAT Input test data file for Wenner array with a few
bad data points.
BLOCKDIP.DAT Example input data file for dipole-dipole array.
BLOCKTWO.DAT Example input data file for pole-pole array.
RATHCRO.DAT Wenner array data file from an archaeological
survey which also contains topographical
information.
RATCMIX.DAT Same data set as above but in general array
format.
RATCMIX_Sep_Topo.DAT Same data set as above in general array format
but with the topography section listed after the
main data section.
PIPESCHL.DAT Example field data set for the Wenner-
Schlumberger array.
WATER.DAT Example data file for an underwater survey.
LAKELELIA.DAT Example of an underwater field survey data set.
MODEL101.DAT A moderately large test data set.
DIPOLEN5.DAT Example dipole-dipole data file with non-integer
values for the “n” factor.
 7

BLUERIDGE.DAT Example dipole-dipole data set with different “a”

and “n” combinations.
WENSCHN5.DAT Example Wenner-Schlumberger data set with
non-integer values for the “n” factor.
PDIPREV.DAT Example pole-dipole data file with the "forward"
and "reverse" arrangement of the electrodes.
POLDPIN5.DAT Example pole-dipole data set with non-integer
values for the “n” factor.
OHMMAPPER.DAT Example field data set from a mobile surveying
system
KNIVSAS.DAT Example data set using the gradient array
IPMODEL.DAT IP with data set with chargeability values
IPSHAN.DAT Field survey IP data set with PFE values
IPMAGUSI.DAT Field survey IP data set with metal factor values.
IPKENN.DAT Field survey IP data set with phase angle values
BOREHOLE.DAT Example cross-borehole data set.
BOREHIP.DAT Example cross-borehole data set with IP
measurements.
BORELANC.DAT Cross-borehole field data set.
BOREDIFF.DAT Example cross-borehole data set where the
electrodes in the two borehole are not at the same
depths.
BORERES.DAT Example cross-borehole data set with
measurements given as resistance values.
BOREHOLE_TOPO.DAT Example borehole data set with topography
TIMELAPS.DAT Example time-lapse data set.
MIXED.DAT Example data set in general array format with
mixture of measurements with Wenner-
Schlumberger and dipole-dipole arrays.
CROMER02.DAT Gradient array data set.
LONG_RES.DAT A synthetic resistivity data set with 600
electrodes (Wenner Alpha array).
LONG_IP.DAT Long data set with I.P. values as well (Wenner
Beta array).
RES2DINV.INI Configuration file for the RES2DINV program.
RES2DINV.IN2 Alternative configuration file.
README.TXT Latest information about the current version of
the 2-D inversion program.
RESIS.BTH Example file for the batch processing mode
option
 8

6 Using the program – a quick start

Click the RES2DINVx32 icon to start the program. The program will first
check the computer system to ensure that it has the necessary resources (such
as memory and hard-disk space) that it requires. As an example, below is a
typical initial information box displayed by the program.

After checking the computer configuration, the program will then display the
following Main Menu bar near the top of the screen.
 9

You can select an option by clicking it with the mouse cursor. If this is the first
time you are using the program, try reading in one of the smaller files such as
the BLOCKDIP.DAT provided with the program. Click the "File" choice,
followed by the “Read data file” menu choice. After that, if necessary,
navigate to the folder where the RES2DINV program is installed. After reading
in the file, go to the “Inversion” option, and then choose the “Carry out
inversion” option. The inversion subroutine will start. Wait for a about a
second for the data to be inverted. If you need to stop the inversion routine at
any time, just click the 'Next' sub-window at the bottom-right of the screen, and
wait for a short while. By default, the program will carry out 6 iterations that
can be increased if necessary.

After the inversion process has been completed, click the “Display” option that
will open up a new window. In the new window, click the “Display sections -
Display data and model sections” sub-option. You will then be asked to
select the iteration number and type of contour intervals. After you have made
the appropriate choices, the program will then display the apparent resistivity
and inversion model sections.

7 Data file format

When you select the “Read data file” menu choice as described in the
previous section, a list of files in the current folder that has an extension of
DAT will be displayed. It is assumes that the files follow the format required
by this program. If not, you have to convert the raw data file using the
conversion program for the particular resistivity meter system. Most field
equipment systems, such as the Abem and Iris Instrument Systems, come with
a utility program to convert the raw data into the format required by the
RES2DINV program. This program can also import data from a number of
field systems (section 8.5). The apparent resistivity values are given in a text
file. You can use any general purpose text editor, such as the Windows
Notepad program if you are creating the data file manually. The data are
arranged in an ASCII delimited manner where a comma or blank space or
LF/CR is used to separate different numerical data items. If there is a problem
in running this program, one possible cause is that the input data were arranged
in a wrong format.

There are two main types of data format used by this program, an index based
and a general array format. The older index based format is only used for
conventional arrays such as the Wenner, Wenner-Schlumberger, pole-pole,
pole-dipole and dipole-dipole arrays. The general array format can be used for
any array, including non-conventional arrays.
 10

7.1 Index based data format

The index based data format use a maximum of three parameters to specify an
array. The first parameter is the location of the first (leftmost) electrode or the
mid-point of the array. The second parameter is the spacing between the P1 and
P2 potential electrodes (the 'a' spacing). The third parameter (only applicable to
the pole-dipole, dipole-dipole and Wenner-Schlumberger arrays) is the ratio of
the distance of the current electrode from the nearest potential electrode to the
P1-P2 spacing. The three parameters are illustrated in Figure 7.1 for the dipole-
dipole array as an example.

Figure 7.1. Parameters that specify the location and length of an array in the
index based data format.

7.1.1 Wenner, pole-pole, equatorial dipole-dipole arrays

For the Wenner, pole-pole and equatorial dipole-dipole arrays (see Figure A.1),
it is always assumed that the 'n' factor is always equals to 1 and thus need not
be listed in the data file. As an example of a data file without the 'n' factor,
Table 7.1 shows the data format for the example file LANDFILL.DAT with
comments about information in the data lines.

Table 7.1. Example Wenner array data file format.

LANDFILL.DAT file Comments
LANDFILL SURVEY Name of survey line
3.0 Unit electrode spacing
1 Array type, 1 for Wenner
334 Number of data points
1 Type of x-location for data points, 1 for mid-point
0 Flag for I.P. data, 0 for none (1 if present)
4.50 3.0 84.9 First data point. For each data point, list the x-location,
7.50 3.0 62.8 'a' electrode spacing, apparent resistivity value
10.50 3.0 49.2 Third data point
13.50 3.0 41.3 Fourth data point
... Same format for other data points
...
75.00 48.0 52.5 Last data point
0,0,0,0,0 Ends with a few zeros. Flags for other options.
 11

The data file BLOCKPOL.DAT gives an example of a pole-pole array data set.
The arrangement of the electrodes for the equatorial dipole-dipole array is
shown in the Figure 7.2.

Figure 7.2. Arrangement of electrodes for the equatorial dipole-dipole array.

The apparent resistivity value ρa for this array is given by

2π a s
ρa = R (7.1)
(s − a )
where s = ( a2 + b2 )0.5 and R is the measured resistance. This array differs
from other arrays where the electrodes are arranged in a single line. Each
reading is characterized by two spacings. The first spacing, a, is the distance
between the current electrodes pair C1-C1 and the potential pair P1-P2. The
second spacing, b, is the spacing between the C1 and C2 electrodes. This
program has a restriction that the spacing between the P1-P2 pair must be the
same as that between the C1-C2 pair. An example of a data file for this array is
the data file FAULTEQU.DAT in Table 7.2. For this array it is necessary to
include the 'b' spacing between the C1-C2 electrodes pair after the array
number.

Table 7.2. Example equatorial dipole-dipole array data file.

FAULTEQU.DAT file Comments
Equatorial dipole-dipole array Name of survey line
1.0 Unit electrode spacing (a)
8 Array type, 8 for equatorial dipole-dipole
1.5 The 'b' spacing between the C1-C2 pair
285 Number of data points
1 Type of x-location for data points, 1 for mid-point
0 Flag for I.P. data, 0 for none (1 if present)
0.50 1.00 2.74 First data point. For each data point, list the
1.50 1.00 2.74 x-location, 'a' electrode spacing, and the
... apparent resistivity value
...
.. Same format for other data points
..
47.00 6.00 1.02 Last data point
0,0,0,0,0 Ends with a few zeros. Flags for other options.
 12

7.1.2 Schlumberger , dipole-dipole and pole-dipole arrays

The dipole-dipole, pole-dipole and Wenner-Schlumberger array data sets have
a slightly different format since an extra parameter, the dipole separation factor
'n', is needed. Table 7.3 shows an example for the Wenner-Schlumberger array.

Table 7.3. Example Wenner-Schlumberger array data file.

PIPESCHL.DAT file Comments
Underground pipe survey Name of survey line
1.0 Unit electrode spacing
7 Array type, 7 for Wenner-Schlumberger
173 Number of data points
1 Type of x-location for data points, 1 for mid-point
0 Flag for I.P. data, 0 for none (1 if present)
1.50 1.00 1 641.1633 First data point. For each data point, list the x-location,
2.50 1.00 1 408.0756 'a' electrode spacing, the 'n' factor and the
3.50 1.00 1 770.0323 apparent resistivity value
4.50 1.00 1 675.3062 Fourth data point
...
.. Same format for other data points
..
2.50 1.00 2 206.2745 31st data point, note 'n' value of 2
...
19.00 2.00 5 896.3058 Last data point, note a=2.0 and n=5
0,0,0,0,0 Ends with a few zeros. Flags for other options.

Table 7.4 describes the data file format for the dipole-dipole array.

Table 7.4. Example dipole-dipole array data file.

BLOCKDIP.DAT file Comments
Underground pipe survey Name of survey line
1.0 Unit electrode spacing
7 Array type, 7 for Wenner-Schlumberger
173 Number of data points
1 Type of x-location for data points, 1 for mid-point
0 Flag for I.P. data, 0 for none (1 if present)
1.50 1.00 1 641.1633 First data point. For each data point, list the x-location,
2.50 1.00 1 408.0756 'a' electrode spacing, the 'n' factor and the
3.50 1.00 1 770.0323 apparent resistivity value
...
.. Same format for other data points
..
2.50 1.00 2 206.2745 31st data point, note 'n' value of 2
...
19.00 2.00 5 896.3058 Last data point, note a=2.0 and n=5
0,0,0,0,0 Ends with a few zeros. Flags for other options.
 13

In most cases, the 'n' dipole separation factor is an integer value. However it is
possible for the 'n' factor to have non-integer values although all the electrodes
still have a constant inter-electrode spacing. This can occur when the spacing
'a' between the P1-P2 pair is twice (or more) the unit electrode spacing. For the
example shown in Figure 7.3b, the unit electrode spacing for the survey line is
1 meter. The 'a' spacing has a value of 2 meters, while the distance between the
C1 and P1 electrodes is 3 meters. In this case, the 'n' factor has a value of 1.5.
The data file, DIPOLEN5.DAT, gives an example of a dipole-dipole data set
with non-integer 'n' values. For cases where the fractional part of the n factor
has is an infinite series in decimal notation, the 'n' value should be given to at
least four decimal places. For example, if the 'n' value is one and one-third, it
should be given as 1.3333.

If the location of the first electrode is used in the data format, it should be the
leftmost electrode; such as the C2 electrode in Figures 7.3a and 7.3b, C1 in
Figure 7.3c and P2 in Figure 7.3d.

Figure 7.3. Arrangement of the electrodes for the dipole-dipole and pole-dipole
arrays. (a) Dipole-dipole array with integer 'n' factor. (b) Example of dipole-
dipole array with non-integer “n” value. Arrangement of the electrodes for (c)
the “forward” and (d) “reverse” pole-dipole arrays.

There are two other issues involved with the pole-dipole array. The first is that
the current electrode can be to the left (normal arrangement) or to the right
(reverse arrangement) of the potential electrodes. To distinguish between the
two arrangements, a positive value is used for the 'n' factor in the normal
arrangement, and a negative value for the 'reverse' arrangement. The pole-
dipole array is an asymmetrical array, and over symmetrical structures the
apparent resistivity anomalies in the pseudosection are also asymmetrical. In
some situations, the asymmetry in the measured apparent resistivity values
could influence the model obtained after inversion. One method to eliminate
the effect of this asymmetry is to repeat the measurements with the electrodes
arranged in the reverse manner. By combining the measurements with the
 14

“forward” and “reverse” pole-dipole arrays, any bias in the model due to the
asymmetrical nature of this array would be removed. The file PDIPREV.DAT
is an example data set that combines measurements made with the “forward”
and “reverse” pole-dipole arrays (Table 7.5).

There is no common standard to define the position of the pseudosection x

plotting position for the pole-dipole array as it is a non-symmetrical array.
There are two possible conventions, to use the mid-point between the P1-P2
electrodes or the mid-point between the C1-P2 electrodes. This program uses
the mid-point between the C1-P2 electrodes to define the x-location of the
array.

Table 7.5. Example pole-dipole array data file.

PDIPREV.DAT file Comments
Forward and reverse pole- Name of survey line
dipole array
7.0 Unit electrode spacing
6 Array type, 6 for pole-dipole
162 Number of data points
0 Type of x-location for data points, 0 for first electrode
0 Flag for I.P. data, 0 for none (1 if present)
0,63,1,0.8277 x-location, 'a' spacing, 'n' factor, apparent resistivity,
0,56,1,0.8236 2nd data point
0,49,1,0.8888 3rd data point
.. Same format for other data points
..
0,63,-1,2.298 82nd data point, 'n' value of -1for reverse pole-dipole
...
0,7,-1,102.4 Last data point, note a=7.0 and n=-1
0,0,0,0,0 Ends with a few zeros. Flags for other options.

Another variation of the pole-dipole array is the offset pole-dipole array. This
array was originally designed to carry out 3-D I.P. surveys rapidly (White et al
2003), thus data from such surveys are normally processed with the 3-D
inversion program RES3DINV. Support is provided for the array in this
program so that users have the option of inverting each line individually. The
arrangement of the electrodes is shown in the Figure 7.4.
 15

Figure 7.4. Arrangement of electrodes for the offset pole-dipole array.

The arrangement is similar to that used by the normal pole-dipole array except
that the current electrode is not on the same line as the potential electrodes, but
offset at a distance “b” from the survey line. This arrangement was used to
reduce the EM coupling between the current electrode and the potential dipole.

The file OFF_PDP.DAT gives an example of the data format for this array.
Table 7.6 shows the initial part of this data file with comments about the
format. The data format is essentially the same as the normal pole-dipole array,
except the array number is 10 and the offset distance is given immediately after
the array number.

Table 7.6. Example offset pole-dipole array data file.

OFF_PDP.DAT file Comments
Blocks with IP Title
2.00 Unit electrode spacing
10 Array type (10 for offset pole-dipole)
1.00 Offset of current electrode from survey line
530 Number of data points
1 1 for mid-point of array given as x-location
1 1 to indicate IP present
Chargeability Type of IP data
Msec IP unit
0.10,1.00 Delay, integration time
2.0 2.0 1.0 100.7976 -0.9118 For each data point, we have
4.0 2.0 1.0 102.0548 -1.8678 x-location, “a” dipole spacing, “n” factor,
6.0 2.0 1.0 104.9487 -4.3391 apparent resistivity, apparent IP
8.0 2.0 1.0 111.0159 -9.0335
….. Other data points
…..
53.0 2.0 -10.0 109.3857 5.5469 Last data point
0,0,0,0,0 A few zeros to end the file
 16

7.1.3 Topography data for index based format data files

The topography data is entered immediately after the main section with the
apparent resistivity values. The file GLADOE2.DAT is an example with
topographical data. The bottom section of this file with a description of the
format for topographical data is as follows.

Table 7.7. Example of index based data file with topography.

GLADOE2.DAT file Comments
237 2 39.207 Last four data points
203 2 14.546 with x-location of the data point, electrode spacing
227 2 31.793 and measured apparent resistivity values
233 2 30.285
2 Topography data flag. If no topography data, place 0 here.
26 Number of topography data points
-100 33 Horizontal and vertical coordinates of 1st,
-40 34.5 2nd topography data point
-20 35.0 This is followed by similar data for
0 35.209 the remaining topography data points
..
..
..
300 33 Last topography data point
2 The topography data point number with the first electrode
0,0,0,0,0 A few zeros to end the file

Note that the topography data is placed immediately after the apparent
resistivity data points. The first item is a flag to indicate whether the file
contains topography data. If there is no topography data, its value is 0. Enter 1
or 2 if topographical data is present. In the case where the actual horizontal and
vertical coordinates of topography data points along the survey line are given,
enter 1. Even if the actual horizontal distances are given in the topography data
section, you must still use the x-distance along the ground surface in the
apparent resistivity data section. In most surveys the distances of the points
along the ground surface, and not true horizontal distances, are actually
measured with a tape or using a cable with takeouts at regular intervals. In this
case, enter a value of 2 for the topography data flag. This is followed by the
number of topographical data points.

It is not necessary to measure the elevation for each electrode. For example, the
data in the GLADOE2.DAT file involves 161 electrodes but only the
elevations at 26 points are given. The maximum number of topographical data
points you can have is 1000. For each data point, the horizontal location and
the elevation is entered into the data file. After the last topographical data
 17

point, the number of the topographical data point where the first electrode is
located is given. In the above example, the first electrode was located at -40
meters, which corresponds to the 2nd topographical data point. Note that the
elevation of the first electrode is required. If this was not measured in the field,
you can estimate it from the elevations of the neighboring data points. In most
cases, the first topographical data point corresponds to the first electrode and
the last topographical data point corresponds to the last electrodes. An example
data file with this arrangement is RATHCRO.DAT. By tying the first and last
topographical data points to the first and last electrodes, this will help to avoid
errors in the data format.

7.2 General array data format

This feature is to cater for electrode arrangements that do not fall under the
usual array types or electrode arrangements, or unusual ways of carrying out
the surveys. There are probably an infinite number of possible electrode
configurations that are limited only by the imagination of the user, but in most
cases they are likely to be slight variations of the standard arrays. Figure 7.5
shows four possible non-standard configurations. One possibility is a non-
symmetrical variation of a symmetrical array, such as the Wenner-
Schlumberger or the dipole-dipole array (Figures 7.5a, 7.5b and 7.5d). Such a
configuration could arise from surveys with multi-channel resistivity meters
where measurements are made with several pairs of potential electrodes for a
common pair of current electrodes. While the program gives the user greater
latitude in the electrode arrangement, some arrays that are technically possible
but would have very low potential signals should be avoided.

Figure 7.5. Some possible non-conventional arrays. (a) Non-symmetrical four-

electrode Wenner-Schlumberger or gradient type of array. (b) Dipole-dipole
array with dipoles of unequal size. (c) A possible but probably non-viable
electrode configuration. (d) Highly non-symmetrical dipole-dipole array.

To accommodate the various possibilities, a general array data format where

the positions of all the four electrodes are listed is used. The x-location as well
as the elevation of all the electrodes used in a measurement must be given. The
 18

file MIXED.DAT is an example data file with such a format. This is actually a
synthetic data set with a mixture of measurements using the Wenner-
Schlumberger and dipole-dipole arrays. The initial part of this data file with
comments about the format is given in Table 7.8.

Table 7.8. Example data file with general array format.

MIXED.DAT file Comments
Mixed array Name of survey line
1.0 Unit electrode spacing
11 Array type (11 for general array)
0 Array type, 0 non-specific
Type of measurement (0=app. Header
resistivity,1=resistance)
0 1 to indicate apparent resistivity
407 Number of data points
1 Type of x-location, 0 for true
horizontal distance
0 Flag for I.P. data, 0 for none (1 if
present)
4 0.0 0.0 3.0 0.0 1.0 0.0 2.0 0.0 10.158 The format for each data point is :-
4 1.0 0.0 4.0 0.0 2.0 0.0 3.0 0.0 10.168 Number of electrodes used,
4 2.0 0.0 5.0 0.0 3.0 0.0 4.0 0.0 10.184 x- and z-location of C1, C2, P1, P2,
4 3.0 0.0 6.0 0.0 4.0 0.0 5.0 0.0 10.225 Apparent resistivity or resistance value
4 4.0 0.0 7.0 0.0 5.0 0.0 6.0 0.0 10.337
..
.. Same format for other data points
..
4 27.0 0.0 26.0 0.00 33.0 0.0 34.0 0.0 6.765 Last data point
0,0,0,0,0 Ends with a few zeros.

The sub-array type indicator is used when the electrode configuration follows
one of the conventional arrays, for example the Wenner-Schlumberger array.
As an example, the file MIXEDWS.DAT has the data for a Wenner-
Schlumberger array only but the information is arranged in a general array
format. In this case the sub-array number is 7. The file RATHCMIX.DAT has
the data for the Rathcrogan mound (Waddell and Barton 1995) for the Wenner
array but in a general array format (thus it has sub-array number of 1). For
these data sets, the apparent resistivity vales can be displayed in the form of a
pseudosection. Table 7.9 lists the data format used for this data set. The file
MIXED.DAT is a combined data set with measurements using the Wenner-
Schlumberger and dipole-dipole array. In this case, there is no consistent array
type, so the sub-array number is given as 0.
 19

Table 7.9. Example general array format file with topography.

RATHCMIX.DAT file Comments
Rathcrogan Name of survey line
2.0 Unit electrode spacing
11 Array type (11 for general array)
1 Sib-array type, 1 for Wenner
Type of measurement (0=app. Header
resistivity,1=resistance)
0 1 to indicate apparent resistivity
399 Number of data points
2 Type of x-location, 2 for surface distance
0 Flag for I.P. data, 0 for none (1 if
present)
4 -36.0 0.044 -30.0 0.503 -34.0 0.134 -32.0 First data point, note non-zero elevation
0.311 116.0 after x-location of each electrode.
4 -34.0 0.134 -28.0 0.712 -32.0 0.311 -30.0 Second data point
0.503 118.0
.. Same format for other data points
..
..
4 58.0 0.385 94.0 -3.270 70.0 -2.095 82.0 Second last data point
-2.853 1160.0
4 60.0 -0.093 96.0 -3.340 72.0 -2.274 Last data point
84.0 -2.914 1680.0
0,0,0,0,0 Ends with a few zeros.

Concerning the indicator for the type of x-location, there are two possible
values. A value of 1 is used if the x-location values are the true horizontal
distances, while a value of 2 is used if it is the distance along the ground
surface. This is similar to the convention used for topography data for the index
based format (Section 7.1.3).

In the RATCMIX.DAT file, the topography information is included as the

elevation for each electrode in every data line. In some cases, it might be more
convenient to enter the topography information in a separate list, much like for
data in the index based format. One example with data in the general array
format but with the topography in a separate list after the apparent resistivity
data lines is given in the file RATCMIX_Sep_Topo.DAT. Part of the file is
shown in Table 7.10. Note the addition of a header line “Topography in
separate list” that indicates the topography information is in a separate list after
the apparent resistivity data lines. Note also in the data lines, the elevation for
each electrode is given as 0.00. The program will calculate the elevation for the
electrodes from the topography information.
 20

Table 7.10. Example general array data format file with topography in a
separate section.
RATCMIX_Sep_Topo.DAT file Comments
Rathcrogan Name of survey line
2.0 Unit electrode spacing
11 Array type (11 for general array)
1 Sib-array type, 1 for Wenner
Type of measurement (0=app. Header
resistivity,1=resistance)
0 1 to indicate apparent resistivity
399 Number of data points
2 Type of x-location, 2 for surface distance
0 Flag for I.P. data, 0 for none (1 if present)
4 -36.0 0.0 -30.0 0.0 -34.0 0.0 -32.0 0.0 First data point, note non-zero elevation
116.0 after x-location of each electrode.
4 -34.0 0.0 -28.0 0.0 -32.0 0.0 -30.0 0.0 Second data point
118.0
.. Same format for other data points
..
..
4 58.0 0.0 94.0 0.0 70.0 0.0 82.0 0.0 Second last data point
1160.0
4 60.0 0.093 96.0 0.0 72.0 0.0 84.0 0.0 Last data point
1680.0
Topography in separate list Extra header required for general array
2 2 to indicate surface distance
67 Number of topography data points
-36,0.044 Horizontal and vertical coordinates of 1st,
-34,0.134 2nd topography data point
.. This is followed by similar data for
.. the remaining topography data points
96,-3.34 Last topography data point
1 The topography data point number with the
first electrode
0,0,0,0,0 Ends with a few zeros.

The measurement can be given in terms of resistance or apparent resistivity. If

there is no topography, i.e. the z-locations are all equal to zero or the same, the
conventional formula can be used to calculate the apparent resistivity. The
geometric factor k is given by the following equation
2π
k= (7.2)
1 1 1 1
 − − + 
 r1 r2 r3 r4 
 21

where r1 is the distance between the C1 and P1 electrodes, r2 is the distance

between the C1 and P2 electrodes, r3 is the distance between the C2 and P1
electrodes and r4 is the distance between the C2 and P2 electrodes. In the case
when there is no topography, the distance between two electrodes is simply the
difference in the x-locations of the two electrodes.

In the case where topography is present, there is no widely accepted

convention. To be consistent with the format used earlier, two different
conventions are used depending on the type of x-location given in the data file.
If the x-locations are given as distances along the surface (i.e. not true
horizontal distances), the distance between two electrodes is calculated by
using the difference in the values of the x-locations only.

If the x-locations are true horizontal distances, the true distance between two
electrodes is used in the calculation of the geometric factor. For example, if the
C1 and P1 electrodes are located at (x1,z1) and (x2,z2) respectively, then

r1 = rx2 + rz2 (7.3)

where rx = x1 - x2
rz = z1 - z2

In the case where the ground surface has a constant slope, both conventions
will give the same geometric factor.

Note that in the general array data format, the z-location is the elevation of the
electrode which is positive in the upwards direction. This unfortunately is
different from the format for the borehole data set where the z-values are
positive in the downwards direction.

Figure 7.6 shows an interesting arrangement where the electrodes are arranged
such that the true horizontal distances between adjacent electrodes are
constant. When the slope of the ground surface is not constant, this results in an
arrangement where the distance between adjacent electrodes as measured along
the ground surface is not constant but depends on the slope. In areas where the
slope is steeper, the distance between adjacent electrodes along the ground
surface is greater. To accommodate such an arrangement, the general array
format can be used. In this case, the indicator for the type of x-location must be
1 since the true horizontal distances are given in the data. Very often, the
survey is carried out with one of the conventional arrays, such as the Wenner-
Schlumberger, so the appropriate sub-array number should also be given.
 22

Figure 7.6. Arrangement of the electrodes along a survey line such that the true
horizontal distance between adjacent electrodes is constant regardless of the
slope of the ground surface. Note that the distance between adjacent electrodes
along the ground surface is greater at the steeper part of the slope.

In some cases, the 2-D data set is generated from a series of collinear 1-D
sounding lines. In such a situation, the distance between adjacent electrodes is
not constant, whether as measured along the surface or in the true horizontal
direction. For such a case, the general array format (with a sub-array type of 0)
can be used.

For data sets with a sub-array type of 0, the data cannot be displayed in the
form of a pseudosection, nor can it edited with the "Exterminate bad data
points" option. To remove bad data points from the data set, you need to first
carry out an inversion of the entire data set. However, you should use the
"Robust data constrain" (see section 11.2.1) to ensure that bad data points do
not have a large effect on the inversion results. Next, go to the "Display"
window and read in the file with the inversion results. Select the "RMS error
statistics" sub-option under the "Edit data" menu (section 14.4.1). This will
display a histogram where the data points are grouped according to the
difference between the measured and calculated apparent resistivity values.
This allows you to remove the data points where a large difference occurs, for
example more than 100 percent. After removing the more noisy data points,
save the trimmed data set in a file and carry out the inversion again with the
trimmed data set.

The multiple gradient array is becoming popular with multi-channel systems

(Dahlin and Zhou 2000). The data for the gradient array must be given in the
general array format with a sub-array number of 15. A listing of the example
GRADIENT.DAT file with comments about the format is given in Table 7.11.
 23

Table 7.11. Example gradient array data file.

GRADIENT.DAT file Comments
Gradient array Name of survey line
1.0 Unit electrode spacing
11 Array type (11 for general array)
15 Sib-array type, 1 for Wenner
Type of measurement (0=app. Header
resistivity,1=resistance)
0 1 to indicate apparent resistivity
1792 Number of data points
1 Type of x-location, 2 for surface distance
0 Flag for I.P. data, 0 for none
4 0.0,0.0 9.0,0.0 1.0,0.0 2.0,0.0 5.0588 First data point
4 1.0,0.0 10.0,0.0 2.0,0.0 3.0,0.0 5.0724 Second data point
..
.. Same format for other data points
..
4 46.0,0.0 118.0,0.0 78.0,0.0 86.0,0.0 Second last data point
4.2571
4 48.0,0.0 120.0,0.0 80.0,0.0 88.0,0.0 Last data point
4.2258
0,0,0,0,0 Ends with a few zeros.

7.3 Remote electrodes of the pole-pole and pole-dipole arrays

In theory, the pole-pole array has only 2 electrodes, the positive current
electrode C1 and the positive potential electrode P1. In practice such an array
does not exist since all field measurements are made using an array with 4
electrodes (Figure 7.7).

Figure 7.7. A schematic diagram of the arrangement of the electrodes in an

actual field pole-pole measurement.
 24

To minimize the effects of the C2 and P2 electrodes, it is generally

recommended that the distance of these two electrodes from the C1 and P1
electrodes should be at least 10 times (and preferably 20 times) the maximum
C1-P1 spacing r1. In some cases, when large spacings between the C1 and P1
electrodes are used, this requirement is not met for all measurements. This
could lead to distortions in the inversion model (Robian et al. 1997). To
overcome this problem, the RES2DINV program allows the user to incorporate
the effects of the C2 and P2 electrodes in the inversion.

To calculate the apparent resistivity value measured with the non-ideal pole-
pole array, two possible geometric factors can be used. One method is to use
the same equation as the ideal pole-pole array. This gives an approximate
geometric factor since the resulting apparent resistivity value is not the same as
the true resistivity for a homogeneous half-space. Alternatively, the exact
geometric factor that takes into account the positions of the C2 and P2
electrodes can be used.

Approximate Geometric factor (ideal pole-pole array) = 2.π.r1

Exact Geometric factor = 2 π / [ (1/r1) - (1/r2) - (1/r3) + (1/r4) ] (7.4)

The program supports both conventions. A possible arrangement of the

electrodes in a pole-pole survey is shown in Figure 7.8. In this case, the C2 and
P2 electrodes are fixed throughout the survey. The measurements are made by
using different pairs of electrodes along the survey line as the C1 and P1
electrodes. For a survey line with n electrodes, there are n(n+1)/2 possible
combinations. For example, if there are 25 electrodes in the survey line, there
are 300 possible combinations. In practice, not all the possible measurements
are made. Instead a maximum distance between the C1 and P1 electrodes is set
depending on the maximum depth of investigation needed (Edwards 1977). In
many cases, this maximum distance is 6 to 10 times the unit electrode spacing
along the survey line. To avoid the possibility of negative or zero apparent
resistivity values, the distance of the C2 and P2 electrodes must be at least 2.5
times (and preferably 3 times) the maximum C1 to P1 spacing used. For
example, if the unit electrode spacing is 1 meter, and the maximum C1-P1
spacing is 10 meters, then the C2 and P2 electrodes must be at least 25 meters
from the survey line. Note that as the distance of the C2 and P2 electrodes from
the survey line decreases, the effective maximum depth of investigation of the
survey also decreases. It might be significantly less than the depth of
investigation for the ideal pole-pole array (Edwards 1977).
 25

Figure 7.8. A schematic diagram of the arrangement of the electrodes along the
survey line in a pole-pole survey with positions of the C2 and P2 electrodes
specified.

The file POLPOLFX.DAT is an example data file with pole-pole

measurements where the locations of the C2 and P2 remote electrodes are
specified. A description of the format used is given in Table 7.12. Although the
z-locations of the electrodes are also included in the file data format for
completeness, the values are presently not used by the program. The program
at present estimates the heights at the remote electrodes from the heights of the
electrodes along the survey line. However, in future, they might be used to
accommodate extreme cases where slope of the ground at the remote electrodes
is very different from that along the survey line.

Table 7.12. Pole-pole data file with remote electrodes specified.

POLPOLFX.DAT file Comments
Blocks Model Name of survey line
2.0 Unit electrode spacing
2 Array type (2 for pole-pole)
Remote electrodes included Header to indicate position of remote
electrodes included in data file
C2 remote electrode X, Y and Z location Header for C2 electrode location
-50.000,20.000,0.0 x-, y- and z-location of C2 electrode
P2 remote electrode X, Y and Z location Header for P2 electrode location.
120.000,0.000,0.0 x-, y- and z-location of P2 electrode
Exact Geometric factor used Type of geometric factor used
295 Number of data points
1 1 indicates center of array is given
0 0 for no IP
1.00 2.00 10.13 x-location, electrode spacing apparent
resistivity for 1st data point
3.00 2.00 10.18 Second data point
.. The rest follows standard index based
.. format.
..
 26

The data format is the same as that for normal pole-pole surveys except for the
section (after the array number) which contains information about the location
of the second current and potential electrodes. The data line “Exact Geometric
factor used” is used to indicate that the apparent resistivity values in the data
file were calculated used the exact geometric factor. If the approximate
geometric factor was used, this data line should be given as “Approximate
Geometric factor used”. The file POLDPLFA.DAT is an example data file for
a pole-dipole survey where the approximate geometric factor was used in
calculating the apparent resistivity values. Note that in this file, only the
location of the second current electrode C2 is given.

For the pole-pole array, the effect of the C2 electrode is approximately

proportional to the ratio of the C1-P1 distance to the C2-P1 distance. If the
effects of the C2 and P2 electrodes are not taken into account, the distance of
these electrodes from the survey line must be at least 20 times the largest C1-
P1 spacing used to ensure that the error is less than 5%. In surveys where the
inter-electrode spacing along the survey line is more than a few meters, there
might be practical problems in finding suitable locations for the C2 and P2
electrodes to satisfy this requirement. Thus the error in neglecting the effects of
the remote electrodes is greatest for the pole-pole array. As a general guide, if
the distances of the C2 and P2 electrodes from the survey line is more than 20
times the largest C1-P1 spacing used, the array can be treated as an ideal pole-
pole array for interpretation purposes. Otherwise, the coordinates of the C2 and
P2 electrodes should be recorded so that their effects can be determine by this
program. However, it should be noted that as the distance of the P2 electrode
from the survey line increases, the telluric noise picked up by the P1-P2 pair
also increases. This factor should also be taken into account when positioning
the P2 electrode.

For the pole-dipole array, the effect of the C2 electrode is approximately

proportional to the square of ratio of the C1-P1 distance to the C2-P1 distance.
Thus the pole-dipole array is less affected by the C2 remote electrode. If the
distance of the C2 electrode is more than 5 times the largest C1-P1 distance
used, the error caused by neglecting the effect of the C2 electrode is less than
5% (the exact error also depends on the location of the P2 electrode for the
particular measurement). So, as a general guide, if the distance of C2 electrode
from the survey line is more than 5 times the largest C1-P1 spacing, it can be
treated as an ideal pole-dipole array. Otherwise, enter the coordinates of the C2
electrode into the data file. For the pole-dipole array, only the header and
coordinates of the C2 electrodes is required in the data file.
 27

7.4 Cross-borehole data format

The resolution of electrical surveys carried out with electrodes on the ground
surface decreases exponentially with depth. One method to obtain reasonably
good resolution at depth is by making measurements with the electrodes in
boreholes. Cross-borehole surveys are much less frequently carried out
compared to surface based surveys, so unlike surface surveys, there are at
present no common standards with regards to the arrangement of the
electrodes. The cross-borehole option in this program is intended for shallow
surveys with the arrangement of the electrodes placed in a certain general
pattern (Sasaki 1992). The basic arrangement of the electrodes is shown in the
Figure 7.8. The RES2DINVx32 program supports up to 20 boreholes.

Figure 7.9. Arrangement of the electrodes in a cross-borehole survey. (a) The

default Standard Model where the dimensions of the model blocks are equal to
the spacing between the electrodes. (b) An alternative model with finer blocks
with dimensions about half the spacing between the electrodes.

The electrodes are divided into 2 sets with (i) the surface electrodes, (ii)
electrodes in the boreholes. It is assumed that the boreholes do not have a metal
casing which would severely alter the pattern of the current flow. The program
divides the subsurface into a number of quadrilateral blocks (Figure 7.9). Note
that the positions of the surface and borehole electrodes control the manner in
which the subsurface is divided into the model blocks. The file
BOREDIFF.DAT is an example data file with cross-borehole measurements. A
description of the format used is given in Table 7.13. Note that in this example,
the measurements are made with the pole-dipole array where only the C1, P1
and P2 electrodes are used.
 28

Table 7.13. Example borehole data set.

BOREDIFF.DAT file Comments
Borehole electrodes at different depths Name of survey line
1.0 Unit electrode spacing
12 Array number 12 for cross-borehole survey
840 Number of data points
2 2 to indicate XZ location format is used
0 0 for no I.P.
Surface Electrodes Header for surface electrodes
16 Number of surface electrodes
0.0, 0.0 x- and z-location of first surface electrode
1.0, 0.0 Location of second surface electrode
.. Note 0.0 z value for surface electrode
.. Similar format for other surface electrodes
..
15.0, 0.0 Last surface electrode
Number of boreholes Header
2 Two boreholes in this data set
Borehole 1 Electrodes Header for first borehole
10 Number of electrodes in first borehole
4.0, 1.0 x- and z-location of first electrode
4.0, 2.0 x- and z-location of second electrode
4.0, 3.0 Note electrodes are listed from the topmost
.. below the surface downwards
.. Similar format for other borehole electrodes
..
4.0, 10.0 Last electrode in first borehole
Borehole 2 Electrodes Header for second borehole
10 Number of electrodes in second borehole
11.0, 1.5 x- and z-location of first electrode
11.0 2.5 x- and z-location of second electrode
..
.. Similar format for other borehole electrodes
11.0, 10.5 Last electrode in second borehole
Measured data Header for section with the measurements
3 0.0 0.0 1.0 0.0 2.0 0.0 101.5718 The format for each data point is :-
3 0.0 0.0 2.0 0.0 3.0 0.0 99.5150 Number of electrodes used in measurement,
3 0.0 0.0 3.0 0.0 4.0 0.0 99.2303 x- and z-location of C1, C2, P1, P2
3 0.0 0.0 4.0 0.0 5.0 0.0 99.1325 electrodes, apparent resistivity value.
..
.. Same format for other data points
...
3 11.0 11.0 11.0 3.5 11.0 2.50 Last data point
120.8297
0,0,0,0 End with a few zeros.
 29

It is assumed the boreholes are vertical. Thus the x-locations of the electrodes
in the same borehole are the same in Table 7.13. The array number is 12 for
cross-borehole survey data with the measurements given as apparent resistivity
values. You can also enter the data as resistance measurements, in which case
the array number is 13. This might be more convenient as most resistivity
meters give the readings as a resistance value in ohm, and furthermore the
geometric factor for arrays with subsurface electrodes is different from the
geometric factor for conventional surface arrays. The file BORERES.DAT
gives an example where the measurements are given as resistance values. An
interesting field data set where the pole-pole array was used, and the
measurements are also given as resistance values, is BORELUND.DAT from
Lund University, Sweden.

If only two electrodes are used in a measurement, only the x- and z-locations of
the C1 and P1 electrodes are given in the data file (see the file BOREHIP.DAT
which also contains IP measurements). However, if all four electrodes are used,
the x- and z-locations of the C1, C2, P1 and P2 electrodes must be given in this
order. You can combine measurements made with different numbers of
electrodes in the same data file.

When the programs reads in a file with resistance values, you have a choice of
inverting the data set using apparent resistivity values, or directly use the
resistance values. Using resistance values directly in the inversion has the
advantage of allowing you to use readings where the apparent resistivity value
does not exist, or is negative. After reading in a data file, the program will
attempt to filter out suspicious readings with potentially high noise levels if the
measurements are given as apparent resistivity values, or if you had chosen the
option to use apparent resistivity values in the inversion. If you choose to carry
out the inversion using resistance values, the readings are not filtered.

The geometric factor for subsurface electrodes is different from that used for
surface electrodes. As an example, the geometric factor for a measurement
where only two electrodes is used is as follows. If the C1 and P1 electrodes are
located at (x1,z1) and (x2,z2) respectively, the geometric factor k is then given by
1 1
k = 4π /  + '  (7.5)
 r1 r1 
where r1 = dx 2 + dz 2 , dx = x1 − x 2 , dz = z1 − z 2
r1' = Dx 2 + dz 2 , Dz = z1 + z 2
 30

Similar equations for measurements with 3 or 4 electrodes can be easily

obtained by adding the appropriate terms.

The depth of the electrodes in Borehole 1 can be different from the

corresponding electrodes in Borehole 2. In practice, to get the best results the
depths should not differ too much.

This program requires that the number of electrodes in both boreholes must be
the same. In practice, this restriction is not a significant problem. You can be
easily overcome this restriction by inserting dummy electrodes into the data set
if the number of electrodes in one borehole is less (in the section where the x-
and z-location of the electrodes in the borehole are given).

The program also requires that a surface electrode is located at the top of both
boreholes. If they do not physically exist, just insert dummy electrodes at the
appropriate locations in the data file. Also there should be at least a few surface
electrodes between the two boreholes, as well as at least two surface electrodes
to the left of borehole 1, and another two to the right of borehole 2. If such
electrodes were not used in the field survey, just insert dummy electrodes into
the data file to satisfy the requirements of this program.

By default, the program will subdivide the subsurface into quadrilateral blocks
such that the dimensions of the blocks are equal to the spacing between the
electrodes (Figure 7.9a). However, you can also choose to use a model where
the dimensions of the blocks is about half the spacing between the electrodes
(Figure 7.9b). Using the model with a finer discretization could significantly
improve the inversion results in some cases (Sasaki 1992). Please refer to
section 11.3.10 to set the type of borehole model to use. In theory, it is possible
to further subdivide the subsurface into even smaller blocks. However, since
the resolution of electrical measurements decreases rapidly with distance from
the measuring electrodes, this is unlikely to significantly improve the results. In
fact, it could result in unnatural oscillations in the model resistivity values,
particularly near the electrodes. This is as a result of the well known trade-off
between model resolution and model variance in geophysical inversion.

Figure 7.10 shows the model obtained after the inversion of the
BOREHOLE.DAT data set. This is a synthetic data set produced by a forward
modeling program with a high resistivity block in between the two boreholes.
The option to use finer blocks with half the size of the spacing between the
electrodes was used in the inversion of this data set.

Figure 7.11 shows the inversion results from an interesting field data set. This
data set is one from a number that were collected by a survey to study the flow
 31

of fluids through the UK Chalk aquifer in east Yorkshire by using a saline

tracer (Slater et al 1997). There is a low resistivity zone near the surface where
the saline solution was irrigated onto the ground, and also prominent low
resistivity zones below a depth of 7 meters due to the saline tracer that had
flowed downwards. Another interesting feature of this data set is that no
surface electrodes were used. So all the surface electrodes given in the
BORELANC.DAT data file are dummy electrodes; two to the left of borehole
1 and another two to the right of borehole 2.

If I.P. measurements were also made, you need to enter a value of 1 at the 6th
line in the data file, and two more data lines after that which gives the type of
IP measurement used and the two parameters associated with it (see section
7.5). Next, enter the I.P. value after the apparent resistivity value for each data
point. The file BOREHIP.DAT is an example cross-borehole data file with IP
measurements.

Figure 7.10. The model obtained after the inversion of the BOREHOLE.DAT
data set. The option to use finer blocks with half the size of the spacing
between the electrodes was used.
 32

Figure 7.11. Model obtained from the inversion of data from a cross-borehole
survey to map the flow of a saline tracer. Note the low resistivity zones near
the surface (where the tracer was injected) and below a depth of 7 meters. The
locations of the borehole electrodes are shown by small black dots.

The file boreholes_inclined.dat gives an example of the data format with non-
vertical boreholes (Table 7.14). Note the addition of an additional header line
‘Inclined boreholes present’ just before the section with the positions of the
boreholes to indicate that non-vertical boreholes are present. For inclined
boreholes, the subdivision of the subsurface into model blocks is no longer tied
directly to the positions of the electrodes. You can also use this format for
vertical boreholes are where the corresponding electrodes at different boreholes
are at different depths. This avoids inclined or skewed model blocks when
there are significant differences in the borehole electrodes depths.
 33

Table 7.14. Example data set with inclined boreholes.

boreholes_inclined.dat file Comment
Example bipole-bipole configurations Title
4.0 Unit electrode spacing
12 Array number for borehole survey
2555 Number of data points
2 2 to indicate XZ location format used
0 0 for o I.P.
Surface Electrodes Header
26 Number of surface electrodes
0.0, 0.0 x, z location of 1st surface electrode
4.0, 0.0 x, z location of 2nd surface electrode
..
..
100.0, 0.0 Last surface electrode
Inclined boreholes present Extra header to indicate inclined borehles
Number of boreholes Header
2 Two boreholes present
Borehole 1 Electrodes Header for first borehole
20 Number of electrodes in first borehole
20.0, 4.0 x, z location of 1st electrode in borehole 1
20.0, 8.0 x, z location of 2nd electrode in borehole 1
..
.. Same format for other borehole electrodes
..
20.0, 80.0 Last electrode in first borehole
Borehole 1 Electrodes Header for second borehole
20 Number of electrodes in borehole
80.0, 4.0 First electrode in second borehole
80.0, 8.0 Second electrode in second borehole
80.0, 12.0
80.0, 16.0
80.0, 20.0
80.0, 24.0
80.5, 28.4 Note x-location is different, non-vertical
80.0, 32.0
..
.. Other borehole electrodes
..
80.0, 80.0 Last electrode in second borehole
Measured Data Header for start of apparent resistivity data
4 4.0, 0.0 0.0,0.0 8.0,0.0 12.0, First data value
0.0 101.6895
... Format is the same as before
 34

The file BOREHOLE_TOPO.DAT is a field example of a cross-borehole data

set with topography. The initial part of this data file with a description of the
format is given in Table 7.14.

Table 7.15. Example borehole data set with topography

BOREHOLE_TOPO.DAT file Comment
BOREHOLE WITH TOPOGRAPHY Name of survey line
1.0 Unit electrode spacing
12 Array number 12 for cross-borehole survey
570 Number of data points
2 2 to indicate XZ location format used
0 0 for o I.P.
Topography Present Header to indicate topography is present
Topography information mode (0=wrt to Header
surface electrodes)
0 Indicates depths of borehole electrodes are
given with respect to the surface electrode
at the top of the borehole
Type of x-distances Header
2 2 to indicate x-distances are along the
surface
Surface Electrodes Header
31 Number of surface electrodes
-14.0000 0.00 x, z location of 1st surface electrode
-13.0000 0.03 x, z location of 2nd surface electrode
-12.0000 0.05 Note non-zero z value
..
.. Same format for other electrodes
..
16.0000 0.95 Last surface electrode
Borehole 1 electrodes Header for first borehole
17 Number of electrodes in borehole
-14.0000 1.0000 x, z location of 1st electrode in borehole 1
-14.0000 2.0000 x, z location of 2nd electrode in borehole 1
.. Rest of the file follows the usual format
.. for a cross-borehole data file

Note that the topography information is given in the z-coordinates of the

surface electrodes.
 35

7.5 I.P. data format

The data collected from I.P. (Induced Polarization) surveys consists of two
sets, the normal apparent resistivity measurements and an apparent IP data set.

The files IPMODEL.DAT, IPMAGUSI.DAT, IPSHAN.DAT and

IPKENN.DAT are example data files with both resistivity and IP data. This
program supports four different types of IP data; (i) time domain chargeability
measurements, (ii) frequency domain percent frequency effect measurements,
(iii) phase angle measurements and (iv) metal factor IP values.

The file IPMODEL.DAT has the I.P. data as chargeability values using the
index based format for the positions of the electrodes. The first part of the files
with comments are listed in Table 7.16.

Table 7.16. Example data file with I.P. values as chargeability.

IPMODEL.DAT file Comments
Fault and block model Name of survey line
1.0 Unit electrode spacing
3 Array type (3 for dipole-dipole)
432 Number of data points
1 1 indicates center of array is given
1 1 to indicate IP present
Chargeability Type of I.P. data
msec. I.P. unit
0.1,1.0 Delay, integration time
1.50 1.00 1 12.04 7.2038 1st data point : - x-loc., a, n, app. res., app. IP
2.50 1.00 1 12.03 7.1983 2nd data point
..
.. Same format for other data points
..

A value of “1”, instead of “0”, is entered into the sixth line to indicate that I.P.
data is present. This is followed by 3 data lines that gives information about the
nature of the I.P. data. The seventh line with the word 'Chargeability' shows
that the I.P. data is given in terms of chargeability. Many I.P. instruments
measured the chargeability be integrating the area under the I.P. decay curve.
In this case, the unit is in msec (millisecond). The chargeability value obtained
by this method is normally calibrated to the Newmont M(331) standard (Summer
1976) so that the chargeability value in msec has the same numerical value as
the chargeability given in mV/V. The chargeability in mV/V is defined as the
ratio of the secondary voltage immediately after the current is cut off to the
primary DC voltage.
 36

I.P. surveys have traditionally been used in the mineral exploration industry,
particularly for metal sulfides, where generators producing high currents of the
order of 10 Amperes are used. The apparent I.P. values from such surveys are
usually less than 100 msec. (or mV/V). One recent development is the addition
of IP capability to battery based systems used in engineering and
environmental surveys where currents of 1 Ampere or less are normally used.
An accompanying phenomenon is the observation of I.P. values of over 1000
msec. (or less than -1000 msec.) in some data sets. Such values are almost
certainly caused by noise due to a very weak I.P. signal. To check whether
such high I.P. values are real, first check the apparent resistivity pseudosection.
If it shows unusually high and low values that vary in an erratic manner, the
data is noisy. If the apparent resistivity values are noisy, then the apparent I.P.
values are almost certainly unreliable. Next check the apparent I.P.
pseudosection. If the apparent I.P. values show an erratic pattern (frequently
with anomalous values lined up diagonally with an apex at a doubtful
electrode), then the I.P. values are too noisy to be interpretable.

I.P. values that are given in other units are converted into chargeability values
internally by the program during the inversion process. The relevant
conversion equations may be found in the papers by Van Voorhis et al. (1973)
and Nelson and Van Voorhis (1973).

For frequency domain measurements, the I.P. value is usually given in Percent
Frequency Effect (PFE). This is given as

PFE = 100 (ρDC - ρAC) / ρAC (7.6)

where ρDC and ρAC are the apparent resistivity values measured at low and high
frequencies. The file IPSHAN.DAT is an example of a frequency domain I.P.
data set. In the seventh line, the type of I.P. data is given as “Percent Frequency
Effect”. The ninth data line contains the values of the low and high frequencies
used in the measurement. This data set is from a field survey in Burma where
the measurements were made with 20 and 40 meters dipoles (Edwards 1977).
Like many field data sets, it has a very complex distribution of the data points
in the pseudosection. The survey target is a galena deposit in meta-sediments.
The geology is rather complex with massive galena deposits together with
quartz veins, silicified marbles and clay zones. There is a very wide range of
resistivity values.

I.P. values are also given as phase angles. In this case the unit normally used is
milli-radians (mrad). An example of an I.P. data set with phase angles is given
in the file IPKENN.DAT with values from the paper by Hallof (1990). In the
 37

seventh line, the type of I.P. data type is given as “Phase Angle”. The second
parameter in the ninth data line contains the values of the frequency at which
the phase angles were measured. The first parameter is not used and is
normally set to 0. Many modern I.P. survey instruments can measure the phase
angle for several frequencies. In this case, the inversion of is repeated for the
phase angle data at each frequency. This will give an idea of the change of the
subsurface I.P. phase angle with frequency for complex resistivity studies.

I.P. data is sometimes given as a metal factor (MF) value. The MF value can be
calculated from either time domain or frequency domain measurements. In the
time domain, the metal factor is value is given by

MF = 1000 M / ρDC (7.7)

where the chargeability M is given in terms of millisecond (Witherly and

Vyselaar, 1990). In the frequency domain, it is given as

MF = 100000 (ρDC - ρAC) / ρAC 2 (7.8)

The file IPMAGUSI.DAT is from a survey over the Magusi River ore body
(Edwards 1977) where the survey was conducted with 30.5 meters (100 feet),
61.0 meters (200 feet) and 91.4 meters (300 feet) dipoles. Again the resulting
pseudosection has a very complex distribution of the data points. The measured
apparent resistivity and I.P. pseudosections, together with the model sections
obtained are shown in Figure 7.12. The ore body shows up as a distinct low
resistivity body with high IP values near the middle of the survey line in the
model sections. In the inversion of this data set, the robust inversion method
was used (see section 11.2.1) to sharpen the boundary between the ore body
and the surrounding rocks. This program uses the complex resistivity method
(Kenma et al. 2000) for the inversion of I.P. data.

The inversion program tries to minimize the difference between the observed
and calculated equivalent apparent chargeability values. IP values in percent
frequency effect and phase angles are directly proportional to the equivalent
chargeability values. However, the metal factor value also involves a resistivity
value. The model that gives a minimum RMS error for the chargeability values
sometimes does not give a minimum RMS error for the metal factor values.
However, the actual effect on the inversion model is usually very small.

The file IPGENERAL8.DAT is an example I.P. data file using the general
array data format. The I.P. data parameters are also given just before the main
data section with the apparent resistivity and I.P. values.
 38

Figure 7.12. Magusi River ore body resistivity and I.P sections. (a) Apparent
resistivity pseudosection, (b) resistivity model section, (c) apparent metal
factor pseudosection and (d) metal factor model section.

7.6 Time-lapse data files

In studying the changes of the subsurface resistivity with time, two-
dimensional resistivity imaging surveys are often repeated over the same line at
different times. Such studies include the flow of water through the vadose
zone, changes in the water table due to water extraction (Barker and Moore
1998), flow of chemical pollutants and leakage from dams.

For time-lapse experiments, the changes in the subsurface resistivity are

estimated by using changes in the apparent resistivity measurements. Thus
accurate results can only be obtained if the apparent resistivity values
themselves are sufficiently accurate. It is best to avoid using the dipole-dipole
 39

and pole-dipole arrays in such experiments if larger spacings are used due to
the relatively low signal to noise ratios. It might be safer to use the Wenner
array or preferably the Wenner-Schlumberger array.

The file TIMELAPS.DAT is an example data file with 3 sets of apparent

resistivity data. The upper part of the file together with comments about the
data format is listed in Table 7.17.

Table 7.17. Example time-lapse data set with 3 time series.

TIMELAPS.DAT file Comment
Example time-lapse data Title
1.0 Unit electrode spacing
7 Array type, Wenner-Schlumberger in this
example
350 Number of data points
1 Mid-point of x-location of array is given
0 No I.P. data
Time sequence data Header to indicate time-lapse data
Number of time sections Header
3 Number of time series
Time unit Header
Hours Unit used in time measurement
Second time section interval Header
1.0 Time difference for second time data set
Third time section interval Header
2.0 Time difference for third time data set
1.50 1.00 1.0 11.868 11.868 11.868 The format for each datum point is as follows :
2.50 1.00 1.0 11.867 11.867 11.867 x-location, "a" electrode spacing, "n" factor,
3.50 1.00 1.0 11.863 11.863 11.863 apparent resistivity for first data set, apparent
4.50 1.00 1.0 11.859 11.860 11.860 resistivity for second data set,
5.50 1.00 1.0 11.855 11.856 11.856 apparent resistivity for third data set.
6.50 1.00 1.0 11.851 11.851 11.851
... Same format for other data points

The data format is largely similar to the normal data set with only one set of
readings. For a time-lapse data file, the main difference is the extra section just
before the data block with the apparent resistivity values. Here the header
"Time sequence data" is used to indicate the presence of the extra data sets
corresponding to the later time measurements. The following part of this extra
section contains information on the number of time series measurements (3 in
this example). The maximum number of time series data sets allowed is 21 (30
for RES2DINVx64 with 16GB RAM). For each data point, the format for the
initial part is identical to that used for the normal data sets. The only addition is
 40

that after the apparent resistivity value for the first data set, the corresponding
apparent resistivity values for the later time data sets are given.

If a measurement was missing from a time series, enter 0.0 as the value of the
apparent resistivity for that particular time series. The program will assume that
a zero value is an indication of a missing data point.

7.7 Incorporating data noise estimates

Some types of resistivity surveying instruments record an estimate of the
random noise for each measurement. This is usually made by repeating the
same measurement several times or making reciprocal measurements. The data
error estimate is then calculated from the standard deviation in the readings.
This actually gives a measure of the repeatability in the readings, i.e. the
random noise. Note that this data error estimate does not included sources of
systematic errors such as coupling between the cables. A better method to
estimate the data error is by using reciprocal measurements.

To include the data error estimate in a data file, the error values are entered
after the apparent resistivity value. The file MODEL35_N.DAT is an example
of a data file from a surface survey with the error values. Part of the file is
shown below with an explanation of the changes needed.

Table 7.18. Example data file with noise estimates.

MODEL35_N.DAT file Comments
Block Model Title
1.00 Unit electrode spacing
7 Array type, 7 for Wenner-Schlumberger
230 Number of data points
1 Mid-point of x-location of array is given
0 No I.P. data
Error estimate for data present Header to indicate error values present
Type of error estimate (0=same unit as Header for type of error
data)
0 0 to indicate it is same unit as data vaue
1.500 1.000 1.000 10.0145 0.1434 x-loc., ‘a’ value, ‘n’ value, apparent
2.500 1.000 1.000 9.9706 0.1882 resistivity, data point error value
3.500 1.000 1.000 10.3357 0.1761
..
.. Other data points follow same format
..
 41

Note there are two new additions in the data format. Firstly, just before the
section of the file with the measured apparent resistivity data points, there are 3
extra lines. The first line ‘Error estimate for data present’ is a header to indicate
that the data file contains the data error estimates. The second new line is a
header to explain the use of the next line. The third line contains a flag to
indicate to the program the units used in the error estimate. At present, use a
value of ‘0’ to indicate that the error value has the same units as the data value.
For example, if the measurements are given as ohm.m, then the error values
must also be in ohm.m The measurements in most instruments are given as
resistance values (i.e. ohm), or voltage plus current values which can be
converted to resistance values. To calculate the apparent resistivity value, the
resistance value is multiplied by a geometric factor. The error value recorded
by the instrument is probably in the form of a resistance (ohm) value. Thus the
error estimate recorded by the instrument must also be multiplied by the same
geometric factor before it is entered into the DAT file format used by this
program. The file modelip_5%_noise.dat gives an example of an I.P. data set
with noise estimates.

The use of the flag for the unit used by the error value makes it possible for
future versions of the program to allow the use of other units for the error
value, for example the data in ohm.m while the error in ohm. Another
possibility is the error given as a percentage value.

To invert data with noise estimates, the least-squares equation in (4.1) is

modified to the following equation

(J T
)
WdT Wd J + µF d= J T WdT Wd g − µFq k (7.9)
where Wd is a diagonal weighting matrix that incorporates the effect of the
data errors. Data points with a smaller error are given a greater weight in the
inversion process.

In an ideal situation, the noise estimate should be measured (for example by

reciprocal measurements). However, in most field surveys such noise estimates
are not measured due to time constraints. In such a situation, the best option is
probably to use the ‘Robust data constraint’ option (section 11.2.1) so that the
effect of outliers in the data on the inversion model is minimized. With this
option, a linear weight is given to the difference between the measured and
calculated apparent resistivity values. This makes the inversion result less
sensitive to outliers compared to the normal least-squares constraint where the
square of the difference between the measured and calculated apparent
resistivity values is used.
 42

7.8 Fixing resistivities

In some cases, the true resistivity of a section of the subsurface might be
known, for example from borehole resistivity measurements. This program
allows you to fix the resistivity of up to 256 sections of the subsurface. The
shape of the section to be fixed must be rectangular or triangular. The data to
fix the model resistivity values are entered into the input data file after section
with the topography information. As an example, part of the example data file
MODELFIX.DAT is listed Table 7.19.

Table 7.19. Example data file with fixed regions.

MODELFIX.DAT file Comments
25.0 10.0 12.81 Last data point
0 Topography flag, 0 for no topography
2 Number if regions to fix, put 0 if none
R Type of first region, R for rectangular
24,0.7 X and Z coordinates of top-left corner of rectangle
28,2.3 Coordinates of bottom-right corner of rectangle
2.0 Resistivity value of rectangular region
2.0 Damping factor weight
T Type of second region, T for triangular
30,0.0 X and Z coordinates of first corner of triangle
30,3.0 X and Z coordinates of second corner of triangle
45,3.0 Coordinates of third corner of triangle
10.0 Resistivity value of triangular region
2.5 Damping factor weight
0,0,0 Ends with a few zeros for other options

The first item after the topography data section is the number of regions where
the resistivity is to be specified. In the example above, 2 regions are specified.
If a value of 0 is given (default value), then there are no regions where the
resistivity is specified by the user. Next, the shape of the region is given, R for
rectangular or T for triangular. If a rectangular region is specified, then the X
and Z coordinates of the top-left and bottom-right corners of the rectangle are
given, as shown in Figure 7.13.

If a triangular region is chosen, the X and Z coordinates of the 3 vertices of the

triangle must be given in an anti-clockwise order. After the coordinates of the
region to be fixed are given, the next data item is the resistivity of the region.
After that, the damping factor weight for the resistivity of the region is needed.
This parameter allows you control the degree in which the inversion subroutine
can change the resistivity of the region. There is usually some degree of
uncertainty in resistivity of the region. Borehole measurements can only give
the resistivity of a very limited zone near the borehole. Thus, it is advisable that
 43

the program should be allowed (within limits) to change the resistivity of the
region. If a damping factor weight of 1.0 is used, the resistivity of the region is
allowed to change to the same extent as other regions of the subsurface model

The larger the damping factor weight is used, the smaller is the change that is
allowed in the resistivity of the "fixed" region. Normally, a value of about 1.5
to 2.5 is used. If a relatively large value is used, for example 10.0, the change
in the resistivity of the region would be very small during the inversion
process. Such a large value should only be used if the resistivity and shape of
the region is accurately known.

Figure 7.13. Fixing the resistivity of rectangular and triangular regions of the
inversion model.
 44

7.9 Aquatic surveys

The possible situations for aquatic surveys are shown in the following figure.

Figure 7.14. Three possible situations for aquatic surveys.

The information about aquatic survey parameters are entered in the data file
after the main section with the apparent resistivity data and the topography.

7.9.1 Underwater surveys

The data format for surveys with electrodes planted on the water bottom for
both cases 1 and 2 are the same. An example data file is HAT_HEAD.DAT
that uses the index based format is listed in Table 7.20.

While the left and right limits of the water layer are included in the data format,
this is at present not used by the program. It is included for future use for
surveys with some of the electrodes above the water layer, for example a
survey across a river. Note that a flag is included to indicate that the normal
geometric factor (as used for a surface survey) is used to calculate the apparent
resistivity values. If a value of 0 is used for this flag, the exact geometric factor
(which includes the thickness of the water layer) must be used to calculate the
apparent resistivity values.

In the HAT_HEAD.DAT file, some of the electrodes are above the water
(Figure 7.14). In many surveys all the electrodes are underwater, as in the
following LAKELELIA.DAT example (Table 7.21).
 45

Table 7.20. Example data file for aquatic survey with bottom electrodes.
HAT_HEAD.DAT file Comments
LR5 Marine Title
2.5 Unit electrode spacing
1 Array type, Wenner in this example
392 Number of data points
0 First electrode x-location of array is given
0 No I.P. data
0 .0 2.5 20.445599 First data point
7.5 2.5 167.579387 Second data point
..
.. Same format for other data points
..
2.5 40 25.202095 Last data point
2 Topography flag, surface distance used
50 Number of topography points
0.0 2.36 x-location and elevation of 1st topography point
2.5 2.41 x-location and elevation of 2nd topography point
..
.. Same format for other topography points
77.5 0.55
80.0 0.00 A few points below water surface
82.5 0.05
..
122.5 2.51 Last topography point
1 Indicates first electrode is at first topography data point
0 Flag for fixed regions, 0 for no fixed regions in this case
1 Flag to indicate aquatic survey with bottom electrodes
0.18 Resistivity of water layer
0, 122.5 Left and right limits of water layer
1.5 Elevation of water surface
1 1 to indicate normal surface geometric factor used
0,0,0,0 Ends with a few zeros for other options

The program will automatically calculate the thickness of the water layer from
the elevation of the sea or river bottom and the elevation of the water surface.
This format allows for the second situation shown in Figure 7.13 where some
of the electrodes are above the water surface (i.e. on normal dry land) and some
of the electrodes underwater. A common situation where this occurs is a survey
that crosses a river. In this case, the program will assume that an electrode with
an elevation that is less than the elevation of the water surface is underwater.
For the case when some of the electrodes are above the water surface, the
 46

surface geometric factor must be used for calculating the apparent resistivity
values for all the data points.

The topographic modeling is automatically carried out by the program when

you invert the data set. The program will automatically adjust the surface of the
finite-element grid used to model the subsurface so that it matches the surface
of the sediment below the water layer. Figure 7.15 shows the apparent
resistivity pseudosection and inversion model for the LAKELELIA.DAT data
set where all the electrodes are underwater. Mobile surveying systems typically
produce survey lines that are very long compared to the depth of investigation
of the cable array system used.

Figure 7.15. Hat Head land and underwater survey. (a) Apparent resistivity
pseudosection (Wenner array) from the Hat Head tidal creek survey and (b) the
inversion model. Note the creek between the 65 and 95 meters marks where the
electrodes are underwater.

Figure 7.16. Lake Lelia underwater survey apparent resistivity pseudosection

and model resistivity section. Courtesy of Technos Inc., USA.
 47

Table 7.21. Underwater survey data file in general array format.

LAKELELIA.DAT file Comments
LAKE LELIA UNDERWATER SURVEY Title
1.50 Unit electrode spacing
11 General array type
1 Wenner sub-array
Type of measurement (0=app. Header
resistivity.1=resistance)
0 0 to indicate apparent resistivity
given
291 Number of data points
2 Indicates surfaces x-distances
0 No I.P. data
4 82.37,0.0 91.37,0.0 85.37,0.0 88.37,0.0 43.137 First 4 data points in general
4 89.55,0.0 98.55,0.0 92.55,0.0 95.55,0.0 36.599 array data format. Note
4 96.74,0.0 105.74,0.0 99.74,0.0 102.74,0.0 value of 0.0 for electrode
36.458
4 103.92,0.0 112.92,0.0 106.92,0.0 109.92,0.0 elevation as it is listed later.
37.019
.. Similar format for other data
.. points
4 1050.25,0.0 1077.25,0.0 1059.25,0.0 Last 2 data points
1068.25,0.0 93.072
4 1056.35,0.0 1083.35,0.0 1065.35,0.0
1074.35,0.0 95.383
Topography in separate list Header to indicate elevation is
given separately
2 2 to indicate surface x-distances
38 Number of topography data points
26.12 999.09 Topography x and z values
..
..
1127.76 999.09
1 First electrode coincides with first
topography data point
0 Put 0 here in place of usual
topography data
0 0 for no fixed regions
1 1 indicates underwater survey
58.00 Resistivity of water layer
-2000.00,2000.00 Left and right limits of water layer
1000.0 Elevation of water surface
1 Indicates surface geometric factor
used for apparent resistivities
0,0,0,0 End with a few zeros
 48

7.9.2 Surveys with floating electrodes

Another possible arrangement for an aquatic survey is a boat dragging a cable
with the electrodes are floating on the water surface. The main disadvantage of
this arrangement is that a large part of the current flows within the water layer,
compared to the portion of the current that flows into the material below the
water bottom. The main advantage is that the survey is easier and faster to
carry out and avoids problems such as the cable being snagged by obstacles on
the river bottom. It could be an efficient method in shallow areas where the
screening effect due to the water layer is not too large.

One possible way of interpreting such a data set is to treat it as a standard

surface data set where the water layer is included as part of the model. This
probably gives acceptable results where there is a strong contrast between the
water layer and the topmost layer of the sub-bottom materials, and where the
data has a low noise level.

However if the depth of the water bottom was measured during the course of
the survey (usually with an echo sounder), and the water resistivity was also
measured, the effect of the water layer could be calculated and included in the
model. The file WATER_FLOAT.DAT is a synthetic data set which gives an
example of the data format. The initial part of the file is identical with that used
for normal surface surveys or surveys with electrodes on the water bottom. The
difference is in the final section of the file where the water layer parameters are
given in Table 7.22. While this example gives the data in the general array
format (section 7.2), the program can also accept data in the index based
format (see section 7.1).

Most systems for surveys with floating electrodes take measurements at a finer
spacing compared to the spacings between the electrodes takeouts on the cable.
Please refer to section 8.2 for methods to handle such data from mobile survey
systems.

As a final note, it has been observed that in some data sets there is mismatch
between the coordinates of the electrodes for the measurements and the bottom
topography as measured using a profiler and a GPS system. This shows up
when using the option to incorporate the water layer in the inversion model by
a horizontal shift (usually of 5 to 10 meters) between the bottom topography
and steep structures in the inversion model such as small gullies and peaks.
This is probably due to differences in the locations of the depth sounder system
and the cable with the electrodes.
 49

Table 7.22. Survey data file with floating electrodes.

WATER_FLOAT.DAT file Comments
Survey on water layer and floating electrodes Title
2.0 Unit electrode spacing
11 General array type
0 Non-specific sub-array
Type of measurement (0=app. Header
resistivity.1=resistance)
0 0 to indicate apparent resistivity
given
942 Number of data points
1 Indicates true horizontal x-
distances
0 No I.P. data
4 2.0,0.0 0.0,0.0 4.0,0.0 6.0,0.0 1.86738 First 3 data points in general
4 4.0,0.0 2.0,0.0 6.0,0.0 8.0,0.0 1.86843 array data format. Note water
4 6.0,0.0 4.0,0.0 8.0,0.0 10.0,0.0 1.87070 surface at 0.0 meter elevation
..
.. Similar format for other data
.. points
4 46.0,0.0 34.0,0.0 94.0,0.0 106.0,0.0 14.91776 Last 2 data points
4 48.0,0.0 36.0,0.0 96.0,0.0 108.0,0.0 15.51526
0 No topography information
0 No fixed regions
3 3 indicates floating electrodes
survey
Water resistivity Header
1.5 Water resistivity value
Water elevation Header
0.0 Elevation of water surface
18 Number of water bottom depth
points
0 -1.5 x-location and elevation of water
10 -1.5 bottom below water surface given
20 -1.5 for each point
26 -1.5
28 -2.0
30 -2.5
..
.. Similar format for other points
..
108 –1.5 last depth point
1 Indicates first electrode is at first
depth point
0,0,0,0 End with a few zeros
 50

7.10 Incorporating boundaries of known layers

In some cases, the depth profile of a boundary between two layers with very
different resistivity values is known from other sources; such as borehole data
or seismic refraction surveys. Very frequently, there is a rapid and sharp
change across the boundary, such as between a clay and sand layer. If the depth
to the boundary is known, this information can be incorporated into the
inversion so that the resistivities of the layers can be more accurately
determined.

The file CLIFLAYER4.DAT is an example data file where the boundary

between a gravel and underlying clay layer is known from a seismic refraction
survey (Scott et al. 2000). Part of the file is shown in Table 7.23 with an
explanation of the changes needed.

In this example, there are two boundaries. If there is more boundaries, the
section with ‘Boundary 3 parameters’ until the x-location and depth of the last
point along the second boundary is repeated. The file
MODEL_BOUNDARY_GENERAL.DAT gives an example of a data file with
the general array format with only one boundary.

Figure 7.17 shows the inversion of the CLIFLAYER4.DAT data set using
different inversion options. The first model using the smooth inversion method
(section 11.2) shows a gradational transition between the sand and underlying
lower resistivity clay layer (Figure 7.17b). The depth to the boundary is not
well determined. The use of the blocky or robust inversion method (section
11.2) gives a much sharper boundary (Figure 7.17c). The addition of the
boundary from the seismic refraction survey helps to further sharpen the
boundary (Figure 7.17d).

The greatest limitation of this option at present is that the depths to the layers
are fixed throughout the inversion. An option to allow the depths to be
automatically changed might be added in a future update.
 51

Table 7.23. Example survey data file with known boundaries.

CLIFLAYER4.DAT file Comments
Clifton Title
2 Unit electrode spacing
1 Indicates Wenner array
392 Number of data points
1 Type of x-location (center)
0 No I.P.
3 2 58.63305 First data point in index based format
5 2 56.77204 Second data point
..
.. Other data points
50 32 17.94035 Last data point
0 No topography
0 No fixed regions
0 No aquatic survey
Sharp layers present Header to indicate sharp boundaries present
Number of boundaries Header
2 Number of boundaries, two in this case
Boundary 1 parameters Header for first boundary
Boundary type Header for type of boundary
Layer Layer type
Group weight Header for weight, for future use
1.0 Enter 1.0 here, not used at present
Number of points on boundary Header
16 16 points for this boundary
x and z coordinates of pts Header
0.0 2.3 x-location and depth of 1st point
18.0 2.3 x-location and depth of 2nd point
..
.. x-location and depth of other points
..
92.0 3.2 x-location and depth of last point
Boundary 2 parameters Header for second boundary
Boundary type Header for type of boundary
Layer Layer type
Group weight Header for weight, for future use
1.0 Enter 1.0 here, not used at present
Number of points on boundary Header
3 3 points for this boundary
x and z coordinates of points Header
0.0 6.7 x-location and depth of 1st point
45 6.7 x-location and depth of 2nd point
92 6.7 x-location and depth of 3rd point
0,0,0,0 End with a few zeros
 52

Figure 7.17. Models for the Clifton survey from the different inversion
methods are shown together. Note the boundary between the high resistivity
sand layer and the underlying low resistivity clay layer is much better resolved
in the blocky and sharp boundary inversion methods.
 53

7.11 Global or GPS coordinates

Two-dimensional resistivity surveys are carried out with the electrodes
arranged along a straight line. The coordinates of the electrode positions, and
thus the subsurface model resistivity values, are given with respect to the ends
of the line in the form of local coordinates. In order to incorporate the results in
a map, the true coordinates (in terms of latitudes and longitudes, or northings
and eastings) are required. The positions of points along the line can now be
easily obtained using the Global Positioning System (GPS) receivers. In order
the obtain the true coordinates of the model values, the GPS coordinates must
first be entered into the data file read by the RES2DINV program. The results
can later be extracted from the XYZ file generated from the data inversion file.

The information concerning the GPS coordinates is given in the section

immediately after the topography information in the data file.

An example for a data file (without topography) using the index based format
for the resistivity data is given in the file BETA_GLOBAL.DAT. The section
of the file containing the GPS information is shown below.

Table 7.24. Example data file with global coordinates.

BETA_GLOBAL.DAT file Comments
8.750 4.500 10.132 Last
7.500 5.000 9.601 three
8.000 5.000 9.601 data points
0 Topography flag, 0=no topography
Global Coordinates present Header to indicate GPS information present
Number of coordinate points Header
3 Number of coordinate points
Local Longitude Latitude Header
0.0 20.0 10.0 First coordinate point given as
Local position along line, GPS Longitude, GPS
Latitude
8.0 26.93 14.0 Second coordinate point
15.5 33.42 17.75 Third coordinate point
0 Zeros to indicate other options,
0 such as fixed regions etc.
0 not present

An example for a data file with topography using the index based format is
given in the file RATCHRO_GLOBAL.DAT. The section of the file
containing the GPS information given after the topography section is shown in
Table 7.25.
 54

Table 7.25. Example data file with index based format and topography and
global coordinates.
RATHCRO_GLOBAL.DAT file Comments
.. Initial section with main data section and
.. topography
..
92,-3.207 Last
94,-3.27 Three topography
96,-3.34 data points
1 First topography point same as first electrode
Global Coordinates present Header to indicate GPS information present
Number of coordinate points Header
3 Number of coordinate points
Local Longitude Latitude Header
-36.0 80100.0 200300.0 First coordinate point given as
Local position along line, GPS Longitude, GPS
Latitude
20.0 80148.1 200327.8 Second coordinate point
96.0 80213.3 200365.4 Third coordinate point
0 Zeros to indicate other options,
0 such as fixed regions etc.
0 not present

The file IP_MAGUSI_MF_GLOBAL.DAT is an example of a data file with IP

values as well the GPS information.

The file MIXED_GLOBAL.DAT and RATHMIX_GLOBAL.DAT are

examples of data files using the general array format containing GPS
coordinates. Both data sets have the topography information within each data
point line. The section of the RATHMIX_GLOBAL.DAT with the GPS
information is shown in Table 7.26.

The file LAKELELIA_GLOBAL.DAT is an example with data in the general

array format for an underwater survey with GPS coordinates. It also has the
topography information in a separate list from the apparent resistivity data
lines. Part of this file is shown in Table 7.27.

To make use of the GPS coordinates, you need to first run an inversion of the
data set. Next read the inversion file in the ‘Display’ window, and then save the
model values in an XYZ file using the ‘File - Model export - Save data in XYZ
format’ option (section 14.1.2). The model values with the GPS coordinates
will be listed in the last section of the XYZ file.
 55

Table 7.26. Example data file with general array format, topography and global
coordinates.
RATHMIX_GLOBAL.DAT file Comments
.. Initial part with main data section
4 60.0 -0.093 96.0 -3.34 72.0 -2.274 Last apparent resistivity data point
84.0 -2.914 1680.0
0 Put zero for topography flag
Global Coordinates present Header to indicate GPS information present
Number of coordinate points Header
3 Number of coordinate points
Local Longitude Latitude Header
-36.0 80100.0 200300.0 Local position along line, GPS Longitude,
GPS Latitude
20.0 80148.1 200327.8 Second coordinate point
96.0 80213.3 200365.4 Third coordinate point
0 Zeros to indicate other options,
0 such as fixed regions etc.
0 not present

Table 7.27. Example aquatic survey data file with global coordinates.
LAKELELIA_GLOBAL.DAT file Comments
.. Initial part with main data section
4 1056.62,0.0 1083.62,0.0 Last data point
1065.62,0.0 1074.62,0.0 95.383
Topography in separate list Header for topography information
2 Topography flag
38 Number of topography points
26.12 999.09 First topography point
….. Other topography data points
1127.76 999.09 Last topography point
1 1st topography point at 1st electrode
Number of coordinate points Header
4 Number of coordinate points
Local Longitude Latitude Header
26.0 100000.0 200000.0 First coordinate point given as local position
along line, GPS Longitude, GPS Latitude
126.0 100086.6 200086.6 Second coordinate point
500.0 100410.5 200237.0 Third coordinate point
1092.0 100923.2 200533.0 Last coordinate point
0 Zeros to indicate other options,
0 such as fixed regions etc. not present
1 Indicates water layer present
58.00,-2000.00,2000.00,1000,1 The water layer information
0,0,0 End with a few zeros
 56

8 File menu options

This covers the list of sub-options under the 'File' menu option, as shown
below.

8.1 Read data file

This option reads in a data file which is in the RES2DINV DAT format (see
section 7). It assumes the data is arranged in the format used by this program.

8.2 Round up positions of electrodes

This option is intended for data from long survey lines, particularly those
collected using a mobile measuring system such as the Geometrics
OhmMapper system or an aquatic surveying system such as the Iris
Instruments Syscal Pro Deep Marine system. Such mobile surveying systems
have a fixed spacing between the electrodes nodes in the cable, typically 5
meters or more. However, measurements are usually made at irregular intervals
depending on the speed at which the cable is towed. Thus the spacing between
consecutive measurements do not have a fixed value and is usually less than
the spacing between the electrode nodes on the cable. The positions of the
measurements are usually measured with a GPS system. The processing
software for some systems digitize the raw data collected to a fixed interval
such as to the nearest 1 meter (i.e. rounds up the position of the electrodes to
the nearest 1 meter), compared to the electrode takeouts on the cable that are 5
meters or more apart. The array probably cannot resolve such fine structures. A
 57

coarser discretization, such as to every 1.25 to 2.5 meters (i.e. one-quarter to

half the spacing between the electrodes takeouts), is probably sufficient. This
reduces the number of electrode positions in the inversion model, and
consequently greatly reducing the inversion time without significantly affecting
the results. Another situation arises when the data conversion program supplied
with the survey system does not have an option to change the data
discretization interval, and records the positions as measured by the GPS
system. You can set the electrode position discretization interval by changing
the unit electrode spacing value in line 2 of the data file (eg. from 1.0 to 2.5).
Before reading in the data file, select the ‘File – Round up positions of
electrodes’ option where the following dialog box will be shown.

Select the 'Shift the electrodes' option, and then read in the data file. The
program will automatically adjust the positions of the electrodes so that the
distance of each electrode from the first electrode position is an integer
multiple of the unit electrode spacing. In the process of shifting the positions of
the electrodes, some measurements might end up having the same electrode
positions. When this occurs, the program will display the following dialog box.
 58

If the 'Remove repeated data points now' option is selected, the program will
combine readings with the same electrode positions into a single data point.

8.3 Automatically switch electrodes

Clicking this option will bring up the following dialog box. This option has two
functions.

Firstly, it allows the user to automatically switch the positions of the C1 and
C2 electrodes for dipole-dipole array data given in the general array format
(section 7.2). The positions of the electrodes are frequently listed in the C2-C1-
P2-P1 order although this will result in a negative geometric factor. Selecting
the 'Automatically switch electrodes' option will swap the positions of the C1
and C2 electrodes so that the array configurations will have a positive
geometric factor.

The second option deals with data in the general array format where the
measurements are given as resistance values. One common mistake of
measurements in resistance values is that the sign of the measurement is
sometimes not recorded, i.e. it is always listed as positive. This will result in
the sign of the resistance value being inconsistent with the arrangement of the
electrodes for cases with a negative geometric factor. If the option to force the
apparent resistivity to be positive is chosen, the program will change the sign
 59

of the measurements so that when multiplied with the geometric factor a

positive apparent resistivity values is always obtained.

8.4 Cut-off factor to remove data

This option is used to filter data with very high geometric factors (and
consequently low potentials) that are likely to be noisy. Selecting the menu
option will bring up the following dialog box. If the option is enabled, data
values below the threshold will be filtered out.

8.5 Calculate errors from repeated readings

Clicking this option will bring up the following dialog box.
 60

This option calculates an estimated of the data error using repeated or

reciprocal measurements.

8.5 Data Import

Clicking this option will show the following list of sub-options.

Use this option to read in the raw data file from different instruments, and
convert the data into the format used by RES2DINVx32.

8.6 Collate data into RES3DINV format

Ideally, a 3-D survey should be carried out using a rectangular grid of
electrodes with measurements in different directions (Loke and Barker 1996).
However, for practical reasons, most commercial 3-D surveys use a number of
parallel 2-D survey lines with possibly some tie lines in a perpendicular
direction. This option enables the user to combine the 2-D lines with data in the
RES2DINV format into a single data file in the format used by the RES3DINV
program. The file COLLATE_2D_3D.TXT is an example script file used to
combine the 2-D files. The contents of this file together with a description of
the format used is given in Table 8.1.
 61

Table 8.1. Example script file to combine 2-D data files into a 3-D data file.
COLLATE_2D_3D.TXT file Comments
Conversion of RES2DINV data files Title
Number of files to collate Header for no. of data files
3 Number of data files
File 1 parameters Header for first file
Name of data file in RES2DINV format Header for name of file
d:\test\FILE2D_1.DAT Full name plus path of file
X and Y location of first electrode along this Header
line
0.0,0.0 Coordinates of the first electrode
Line direction (0=X,1=Y) Header
0 Number specifying line direction
Line sign (0=positive,1=negative) Header
0 Specify whether electrode coordinates
increase or decrease along line
File 2 parameters Same set of parameters for second file
Name of data file in RES2DINV format
d:\test\FILE2D_2.DAT
X and Y location of first electrode along this
line
0.0,-0.5
Line direction (0=X,1=Y)
0
Line sign (0=positive,1=negative)
0
..
.. Similar information for third file
..
Name of output file in RES3DINV format Header
d:\test\FILE_3D.dat Name of 3-D data file
End of file Header for end of file

The format used allows for the possibility that the survey has lines in two
perpendicular directions.

A 2-D survey line has only one horizontal direction, and the coordinate of an
electrode along the survey line is given as the distance along the line, starting
from the first electrode. To determine the coordinate of the electrode in the X-
Y plane for a 3-D survey, we need to determine the coordinate of the first
electrode in the 2-D survey line within the X-Y survey grid. This gives a
reference point for which the coordinates of the other electrodes along the same
survey line can be calculated.
 62

Secondly, it is necessary to know the orientation of the line, i.e. whether is

along the x-direction or y-direction in the x-y grid. Note that diagonal lines are
not allowed.

In a 2-D survey line, it is always assumed that the coordinate of the electrode
always increases starting from the first electrode (i.e. from left to right in a
typical pseudosection). However, the direction of increasing coordinate value
along the 2-D survey line might not always be the same as the positive x or y
direction in the 3-D survey x-y grid. The ‘Line sign’ parameter allows for the
possibility that the direction of the 2-D survey line is opposite to the direction
of the positive x or y axis in the x-y grid.

While it is possible to combine a number of 2-D lines into a 3-D data set, it
might not always be worthwhile to do so. Firstly, it is recommended that there
should be at least 5 parallel lines. The separation between the lines should not
be more than twice the unit electrode spacing along the lines. For further
details, please refer to Chapter 8 of the free “Tutorial : 2-D and 3-D electrical
imaging surveys” (Loke 2011). It can be downloaded from the
www.geoelectrical.com web site. The RES3DINV program will carry a true 3-
D inversion (in that the resistivity values are allowed to vary in all 3 directions
simultaneously during the inversion process). A discussion on the inversion of
such 3-D data sets is found in Loke and Dahlin (2010).

8.7 Concatenate data into RES2DINV format

This option enables the user to combine roll-along data files measured along
the same line into a single data file. All of the electrodes used in the survey
lines are along a single straight line. The file CONCATENATE_2D.TXT an
example script file. The contents of this file together with a description of the
format used is given in Table 8.2. In some resistivity meter multi-electrode
systems, each new record starts with a zero location for the first data
electrodes. In order to combine different data files, the x-locations of the data
points in some of the files will have to shifted so that all of them have a
common origin. In the above script file format, this is done by entering the
coordinate of the first electrode for the survey line. In most cases, the direction
of the lines are the same, for example the x-locations increase from the left to
the right. However, an option is provided where the survey lines were
measured in different directions.
 63

Table 8.2. Example script file to concatenate 2-D data files.

CONCATENATE_2D.TXT file Comments
Concatenation of several data files in Title
RES2DINV
Number of files to concatenate Header for no. of data files
3 Number of data files
File 1 parameters Header for first file
Name of data file in RES2DINV format Header for name of file
c:\data\file1.DAT Full name plus path of file
X location of first electrode along this line Header
0.0 Coordinates of the first electrode
Line sign (0=positive,1=negative) Header
0 Specify whether electrode coordinates
increase or decrease along line
File 2 parameters Same set of parameters for second file
Name of data file in RES2DINV format
c:\data\file2.DAT
..
.. Similar information for 2nd and 3rd
files
..
Name of output file in RES2DINV format
c:\data\file_123.DAT Name of file to store combined data
End of file Header for end of file

8.8 Change buffer drive

The program will automatically select the hard-disk drive with the largest
amount of free space as the buffer drive to store temporary files used in the
inversion routine. This option allows the user to change the buffer drive, such
as to a faster SSD drive.
 64

8.9 Save sorted data after reading in data file

Selecting this option will bring up the following dialog box.

When the program reads in a data file, it will sort the data according to depth of
investigation of the array. For index based data, it will group the data points
according to the 'a' and 'n' values used. If the first option is selected, the
program will saved the data after sorting into a separate data file. If the original
data file is in a general array format, but s standard array was used, the second
option allows the user to save the data in a file using the index based format.
This makes it easier to detect problems with the data, such as the use of large
'n' values with the Wenner-Schlumberger, pole-dipole and dipole-dipole arrays.

8.10 Trace program execution

When this option is enabled, the program will dump information into a
R2DTRACEX32.TXT file during the inversion process. This is mainly used to
trace problems in the program if it is unable to read or invert a data file. The
file will be saved in the buffer drive.
 65

9 Edit menu options

This section covers a few data editing options to remove bad data points, trim
very long profiles, reverse the direction of a data set and to change the location
of the beginning of the line. Clicking this option will show the following list of
sub-options.

9.1 Exterminate bad data points

In this option, the apparent resistivity data values are displayed in the form of
profiles for each data level. This can only be used for data collected using
conventional arrays. You can use the mouse to remove any bad data point. The
main purpose of this option is to remove data points that have resistivity values
that are clearly wrong. Such bad data points could be due to the failure of the
relays at one of the electrodes, poor electrode ground contact due to dry soil, or
shorting across the cables due to very wet ground conditions. These bad data
points usually have apparent resistivity values that are obviously too large or
too small compared to the neighboring data points. The best way to handle
such bad points is to drop them so that they do not influence the model
obtained. Figure 9.1 shows an example of a data set with a few bad points. To
remove a bad data point, move the cross-shaped cursor with the mouse to the
data point and click the left mouse button. The color of the data point should
change from black to purple. If you click the same data point again, it will not
be removed from the data set. To quit from this option, just press the Q key or
click the Exit option.

9.2 Splice large data sets

This option enables you to choose a section of the full data set (which is too
large to be processed at a single time) to invert. For data given in the index
based format (section 7.1), the distribution of the data points in a pseudosection
will be displayed such as in Figure 9.2. You can select a section of the data set
to invert by using the arrow keys. Instructions on the keys to use are displayed
on the screen.
 66

Figure 9.1. Example of a data set with a few bad data points. The data is
displayed using the "Exterminate bad data points" option.

You can also display the list of editing keys used by selecting the 'Help' menu
option that will display the following information box.

The data points selected will be marked by purple crosses or dots, whereas the
remaining data points are black. At the top of the display, the left and right
limits of the section selected are marked by yellow vertical lines. If there are
too many data points in the lower levels, you can reduce the number of data
points by selecting only odd or even points in a level. To do this, move the
horizontal yellow marker on the left side of the display up or down to the level
you want to decimate using the up and down arrow keys. Then press D to
decimate the data points in that level. Using this option, you can select a
 67

section of the data set to invert. The entire data set can then be inverted by
inverting successive subsections of the data set. After selecting the data set
subsection you want invert, will need to save it to a new file.

Figure 9.2. Example of a display using the splice data option for a data set in
the indexed base format.

For data is given in the general array format, you can trim the data by changing
the left and right limits of the data set, as in the following dialog box.

In general, it is recommended that you try to invert the entire data set at one go.
In most cases, this can be easily done by adding more RAM and free hard disk
 68

space to your computer. If the data is from a long survey line with more than
500 electrode position, you can select the ''Sparse inversion' option to
significantly reduce the calculation time and computer memory required (see
section 11.2.6).

9.3 Trim large data set

This option is similar to the previous option, except the dialog box to set the
left and right limits of the data set is always shown, even for data given in the
index based format.

9.4 Reverse pseudosection

This option flips the pseudosection horizontally from left to right. This is
helpful when you have parallel survey lines but the surveys were started from
different ends.

9.5 Change location of first electrode

This allows you to change the location of the first electrode in the survey line.
It is basically intended for plotting purposes, so that overlapping survey lines
have the same x-locations for electrodes that coincide.
 69

10 Change Settings menu options

This menu contains a number of options that control the parameters used in the
inversion of the data set. This option shows the following menu.

10.1 Inversion Damping Parameters

This covers a list of options that control the damping factor, λ in equation
(4.1), used in the smoothness-constrained least-squares inversion equations.
The following list of sub-menu options is displayed when this option is
selected.

10.1.1 Damping factors

In this option, you can set the damping factor λ used in equation 4.1. Selecting
this option will bring up the following dialog box.
 70

You can set the initial value for the damping factor in equation (4.1), as well as
the minimum damping factor. The inversion program automatically reduces the
damping factor by about half after each iteration until it reaches the selected
minimum value. If the data set is very noisy, you should use a relatively larger
damping factor (for example 0.3). If the data set is less noisy, use a smaller
initial damping factor (for example 0.1). The inversion subroutine will
generally reduce the damping factor in equation (4.1) after each iteration.
However, a minimum limit for the damping factor must be set to stabilize the
inversion process. The minimum value should usually set to about one-tenth to
one-fifth the initial damping factor value. For some data sets, particularly when
the 'Model refinement' option is used to select a model with narrower blocks
(section 11.3.8), the first few layers can show a rippling effect. This can be
reduce by using a higher damping factor for the first layer.
 71

10.1.2 Change of damping factor with depth

Since the resolution of the resistivity method decreases exponentially with
depth, the damping factor used in the inversion least-squares method is
normally also increased with each deeper layer in order to stabilize the
inversion process. Normally, the damping factor is increased by 1.05 times
with each deeper layer, but you can change it. Use a larger value if the model
shows unnatural oscillations in the resistivity values in the lower sections. This
will help to suppress the oscillations. You can also select the choice to allow
the program to determine the value to increase the damping factor with depth
automatically. This might be a good choice if the thickness of the layers is
much thinner than the default values, for example if you had reduced the unit
electrode spacing by half in the data file in order to produce a model with
smaller model blocks.

10.1.3 Limit range of model resistivity

When you select this option, the following dialog box will be shown.
 72

This option allows you to limit the range of resistivity values that the inversion
subroutine will give. In the above example, the upper limit for is 20 times the
average model resistivity value for the previous iteration while the lower limit
is 0.05 times (i.e. 1/20 times). The program uses “soft” limits that allow the
actual resistivity model values to exceed the limits to a certain degree.
However, this option will avoid extremely small or large model resistivity
values that are physically unrealistic. The user can also choose to use the
inversion model obtained at the first iteration as the reference model instead of
the average apparent resistivity value.

10.1.4 Vertical to horizontal flatness filter ratio

You can select the ratio of the damping factor for the vertical flatness filter (fz)
to the horizontal flatness filter (fx). By default, the same damping factor is used
for both. However, if the anomalies in the pseudosection are elongated
vertically, you can force the program to produce models that are also elongated
vertically by selecting a higher value (for example 2.0) for the ratio of the
vertical to horizontal flatness filter. For anomalies that are elongated
horizontally, choose a smaller value (e.g. 0.5).

10.1.5 Reduce variations near borehole

In some field cross-borehole data sets, large resistivity variations are obtained
in the inversion model near the borehole electrodes (Ellis and Oldenburg
1995). This option uses higher damping factors for the model cells near the
boreholes to reduce such artifacts. Selecting this sub-option will bring up the
following dialog box. You can set the degree at which the variations near the
borehole are reduced, and also the rate at which the additional damping value is
reduced with distance from the boreholes.
 73

10.1.5 Use diagonal filter

The normal roughness filter used has components in the x and z directions only
(Figure 10.1a). Thus it has a tendency to produce structures aligned along the x
and z directions. To reduce this effect, the roughness filter used can be
modified so that it has components in the diagonal directions (Farquharson
2008) as well (Figure 10.1b).

Figure 10.1. Types of roughness filters. (a) Horizontal and vertical components
only. (b) Diagonal components as well.
 74

10.2 Forward modeling settings

This option sets the parameters used for finite-difference or finite-element
forward modeling subroutine used to calculate the apparent resistivity values.

10.2.1 Horizontal mesh size

You can choose a mesh grid used by the forward modeling program to have 2
or 4 nodes between adjacent electrodes (Figure 10.2). With 4 nodes per
electrode spacing, the calculated apparent resistivity values would be more
accurate (particularly for large resistivity contrasts). However, the computer
time and memory required are correspondingly larger. By default, the program
will use the 2 nodes option if the data set involves more than 90 electrodes.

10.2.2 Vertical mesh size

This option allows you to use a finer mesh (in the vertical direction) for the
finite-difference or finite-element method (Figure 10.2). The model for a
survey line on the surface normally uses a finer mesh for the top two layers,
and a single mesh line for the deeper layers. This option allows the use of a
finer mesh for he deeper layers. The apparent resistivity values calculated will
 75

be more accurate with a finer mesh, but the computer time and memory
required will be greater. The use of a finer mesh can give better results for
cases where subsurface resistivity contrasts of greater than 20:1 is expected.
This is particularly useful in areas where a low resistivity layer lies below a
high resistivity layer.

Figure 10.2. Schematic diagram of mesh and model blocks used by forward
modeling routine. This example has 4 nodes between adjacent electrodes.

10.2.3 Type of forward modeling method

This program allows you to use either the finite-difference or finite-element
method to calculate the apparent resistivity values. By default, the program will
use the finite-difference method, which is faster, if the data set does not contain
topography. If the data set contains topography, the default choice is the finite-
element method.

10.3 Inversion progress settings

The following set of options control the path the inversion subroutine takes
during the inversion of a data set. The sub-options menu is shown below.
 76

10.3.1 Line search local optimization

The inversion routine determines the change in the model parameters ∆q from
solving equation (4.1). It attempts to find the optimum amplitude for the
parameter change vector ∆q using quadratic interpolation if this option is
enabled.

10.3.2 Convergence limit

The program has two methods to test for convergence. The first is the relative
change in the RMS error between 2 iterations. By default, a value of 5% is
used. This is used to accommodate different data sets with different degrees of
noise present. The second is the RMS data misfit itself. This sets the
percentage RMS error in the inversion of the apparent resistivity data where the
program will stop after the model produce has an RMS error less than this
limit. Normally a value of between 1% and 5% should be used, depending on
the quality of the data.

10.3.3 Number of iterations

This allows the user to set the maximum number of iterations for the inversion
routine using the following dialog box. By default the maximum number of
iterations is set to 5. For most data sets, this is probably sufficient. When the
inversion routine reaches this maximum limit, it will ask the user for the
number of additional iterations if you wish to continue with the inversion
process. It is usually not necessary to use more than 10 iterations.
 77

10.3.4 Model resistivity values check

The program will display a warning if after an iteration in the inversion of the
data set, a model resistivity value becomes too large (more than 20 times the
maximum apparent resistivity value) or too small (less than 1/20 the minimum
apparent resistivity value). This option allows you to disable the warning using
the dialog box below.
 78

10.4 Data/Display Selection

This section has options for display of the sections during the inversion. The
following sub-options will be shown on selecting this option.

10.4.1 Option for contour intervals

By default, the program will use logarithmic contour intervals for the
pseudosections and model sections when displaying the results in the
“Inversion” option in the Main Menu. This is usually the best choice for most
data sets. However, you can choose to use the linear or the user defined contour
intervals options if you wish.

10.4.2 Show pseudosections during inversion

You can choose to display the pseudosections during the data inversion, or just
display the model RMS values. It is recommended that you display the
sections.

10.4.3 Type of gradient array plot

There is currently no standard method to plot the apparent resistivity data from
surveys with gradient array. There are probably two types of surveys with the
 79

gradient array. The first and traditional type survey use very few different C1-
C2 positions (usually only one with C1 and C2 located at the two ends of the
line), but many different P1-P2 positions. This was mainly used in mineral
exploration surveys. The second and modern type, mainly used with multi-
channel multi-electrode resistivity meter systems, uses many different C1-C2
positions (a multiple gradient array). To accommodate both possibilities, two
types of data plotting options are available. As most surveys will likely to be
carried out using the second type of survey with multiple C1-C2 positions, this
is described in more detail. The papers by Dahlin and Zhou (2004, 2005) have
some information about such surveys. On selecting the ‘Type of gradient array’
sub-option, the following dialog box is shown.

The ‘Use exact pseudodepth’ choice is the default option. However, the
program will automatically change to the approximate pseudodepth method if
it finds the exact pseudodepth method is not suitable for the data file, such as
for surveys with the traditional type of gradient arrays where only a few C1-C2
positions are used. Figure 10.3 shows a plot of the data from a survey using the
multiple gradient array by Aarhus University (for the Danish Road and
Highway Association) in the form of profiles. Note that each pseudodepth is
split into two profiles shown in different colors. There are two arrangements
with the same pseudodepth for non-symmetrical configurations of the gradient
array (Figure 10.4). The distance between the C1 and C2 electrodes are the
same, but the offset of the P1-P2 dipole from the C1 electrode in (a) is the
same as the dipole offset from the C2 electrode in (b). However, the two
configurations are sensitive to different parts of the subsurface (Dahlin and
Zhou 2005). To provide a smooth plot for the profile, the data from the ‘right’
and ‘left’ configurations are plotted in different profiles.
 80

Figure 10.3. Plot of a multiple gradient array data set in the form of profiles
using exact pseudodepths for the CROMER2.DAT file.

Figure 10.4. Two different configurations of the gradient array with the same
pseudodepth but with the potential electrodes at different sides of the array.
Gradient array configuration with (a) right parity and (b) left parity.

If the program finds that it is not practical to plot the profiles using the exact
pseudodepth, it will automatically switch to the approximate pseudodepth
method. For each C1-C2 spacing, the data is split up into several profiles that
are plotted using different colors (Figure 10.5). Figure 10.6 shows the inversion
model of the CROMER02.DAT data and the apparent resistivity
pseudosections.
 81

Figure 10.5. Plot of a CROMER2.DAT multiple gradient array data set in the
form of profiles using the approximate pseudodepth method.

Figure 10.6. The inversion result of the CROMER02.DAT data set with the
apparent resistivity and model sections.
 82

10.5 Inversion parameters

You can save the inversion settings used in a text file so that the same settings
can be used for different data sets. Note when the program starts up, it will
automatically read the inversion parameters in a file RES2DINV.IVP located
in the same folder as the RES2DINVx32 program which stores the default
settings. You can change the default settings by changing this file.

10.5.1 Save inversion parameters

This option saves the inversion parameters into a file with the IVP.

10.5.2 Read inversion parameters

This option reads back the parameters stored in a file with the IVP extension
and uses them in the program. RES2DINV_NEW.IVP is an example file that
contains more inversion parameters. These files can also be used by the ‘Batch
mode” option.
 83

11 Inversion menu options

This option enables you to carry out the inversion of the data set that you had
read in using the "File - Read data file" option. You can also display the
arrangement of the blocks used by the inversion model, as well as to change
some of the parameters that control the inversion process. On selecting this
option the following menu will be displayed.

11.1 Carry out inversion

This option will start the least-squares inversion routine. You will be asked for
the name of the output data file in which to store the results, and the contour
intervals for the pseudosections if you had chosen the user defined option for
the contour intervals.

11.2 Inversion Methods and Settings

These set of options allow you to select the type of regularized inversion
method to use. The following list of sub-options will be shown on selecting this
option.
 84

11.2.1 Select robust inversion

This allows you to select the smooth (L2 norm) or the robust/blocky (L1 norm)
inversion method. Selecting this menu sub-option will bring up the following
dialog box.

The conventional least-squares method ('standard data constraint') will attempt

to minimize the square of difference between the measured and calculated
apparent resistivity values. This method gives reasonable results if the data
contains random or “Gaussian” noise. However if the data set contains
“outlier” data points (where the noise comes from non-random sources such
mistakes or equipment problems), this criteria is less satisfactory. Such
“outlier” data points could have a great influence on the resulting inversion
model. To reduce the effect of such “outlier” data points, the L1 norm method
('robust data constraint') inversion method where the absolute difference (or
 85

the first power) between the measured and calculated apparent resistivity
values is minimized can be used (Claerbout and Muir 1973). There is a cut-off
factor which controls the degree in which this robust data constrain is used. If a
value of 0.05 is used, this means the effect of data points where the differences
in the measured and calculated apparent resistivity values are much greater
than 5 percent will be greatly reduced.

The conventional smoothness-constrained least squares method (deGroot-

Hedlin and Constable 1990) also attempts to minimize the square of the
changes (L2 norm) in the model resistivity values. This will produce a model
with a smooth variation in the resistivity values. Such a model is more suitable
where subsurface resistivity also changes in a smooth manner (Loke et al.
2003). However if the subsurface bodies have sharp boundaries, such as the
soil-bedrock interface or massive homogeneous bodies, the conventional least-
squares smoothness-constrain method tends to smear the boundaries. If the
robust model constrain inversion method is used, the program will attempt to
minimize the absolute changes in the resistivity values. This constraint tends to
produce models with sharp interfaces between different regions with different
resistivity values, but within each region the resistivity value is almost
constant. This might be more suitable for areas where such a geological
situation exists, such as the soil-bedrock interface.

As an example, Figure 11.1 shows the inversion results for a synthetic model
with a faulted block (with a resistivity of 50 ohm.m) in the bottom-left side and
a small rectangular block (1 ohm.m) on the right side within a surrounding
medium with a resistivity of 10 ohm.m. A test data set was generated for the
Wenner array (Figure 11.1a). The model produced by the standard least-
squares method has a gradational boundary for the faulted block (Figure
11.1b). In comparison, the model produced by the robust model inversion
method has sharper and straighter boundaries (Figure 11.1c). A field example
with sharp boundaries was shown earlier in Figure 7.11 for the Magusi River
resistivity and IP data set. The main structure, the massive sulphide ore body,
by nature has a distinct and sharp resistivity/IP contrast with the surrounding
igneous/metamorphic country rocks. In the RES2DINV program, this robust
model option can be selected by clicking the “Robust model constraint” option
in the “Select robust inversion” dialog box. There is a cut-off factor which
controls the degree in which this robust model constrain is used. If a large
value is used, for example 1.0, the result is essentially that of the conventional
smoothness-constrained least-squares inversion method. If a very small value is
used, for example 0.001, the result is close to the true L1-norm inversion
method.
 86

Figure 11.1. Example of inversion results using the smooth and robust
inversion model constraint. (a) Apparent resistivity pseudosection. The
inversion models produced by (b) the conventional least-squares smoothness-
constrained method and (c) the robust inversion method.

11.2.2 Modify smoothness-constrained least-squares method

Selecting this option will bring up the following dialog box.
 87

The first option in the dialog box allows the user to apply the smoothness
constraint on the model change vector alone, or also on the model resistivity
values. Applying the smoothness constraint on the model change vector alone
modifies equation (4.1) to the following form which is used by some
researchers (Sasaki 1992)
(J T
J + λ F ) ∆q k = J T g k , (11.1)

where ∆q k is the model change vector. This second option, combining the
damped least squares method with the smoothness-constrained method, is
intended for use in unusual situations where the data sensitivity values of the
model blocks are significantly distorted by large resistivity variations. It
modifies the least-squares equation to the following form.
(J T
J +λ (F + I ))∆q k = J T g − λFq k , (11.2)
In some situations, such as a survey over a very low resistivity body, the
current paths could be distorted such that parts of the subsurface are not well
mapped and have very low data sensitivity values in the inversion model. This
could lead to large distortions just below the low resistivity body. By
combining the Marquardt (or ridge regression) and Occam (or smoothness-
constrained) inversion methods, the distortions in some cases might be
reduced. This option should be used as a last resort if everything else fails! It
seems to give better results in resolving compact structures where the width
and thickness are slightly smaller than the depth, such as a cave or ore-body
whose size is just slightly less than its depth.

11.2.3 Choose logarithm of apparent resistivity

By default, the program will use the logarithm of the apparent resistivity values
as the data parameter when carrying out the inversion. For most cases, this
gives the best results. In some cases, for example with negative or zero
apparent resistivity, this is not possible. This option enables the apparent
resistivity value by itself to be used for such situations.
 88

11.2.4 Type of method to solve least-squares equation

This option allows you to choose two different methods to solve the least-
squares equation (4.1). On selecting this menu option, the following dialog box
will be shown.

The ‘Standard Gauss-Newton’ least-squares method, that calculates an exact

solution of the least-squares equation, should be used if the number of data
points and/or model cells is small (less than a few thousand),. If the number of
data points and/or model cells is large (more than a few thousand), the time
taken to solve the least-squares equation could be the most time-consuming
part of the inversion process. To reduce the inversion time, an alternative
method that calculates an approximate solution of the least-squares equation
using the ‘Incomplete Gauss-Newton’ method can be used. This uses an
iterative method to solve the least-squares equation. The user can set the
accuracy of the solution. For most data sets, an accuracy of about 1% (i.e. a
convergence limit of 0.01 in the above dialog box) seems to provide a solution
that is almost the same as that obtained by the ‘Standard Gauss-Newton’
method. Setting a higher accuracy, for example 0.5%, will in theory give a
result that is even closer to the ‘Standard Gauss-Newton’ method but this is at
the expense of a longer inversion time. The incomplete Gauss-Newton method
has an option to scale the matrices in order to improve the convergence of the
iterative method used.
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11.2.5 Use reference model in inversion

The least-squares equation (4.1) minimizes a combination of the model
smoothness and the data misfit. Sometimes, an additional constraint is used
where the model must be 'close' to some reference model as shown below.

(J T
)
J +λ (F + µI ) ∆q k = J T g − λFq k − λµ (q k − q m ) (11.3)

An additional damping factor µ that controls the degree where the inversion
model is 'close' to a reference model qm is used. The reference model is
usually a homogeneous half-space model. The following dialog box shows the
settings that can be selected by the user.

The user can set the damping factor as well as the resistivity for the reference
model. Be default, the program will use the average of the apparent resistivity
values as the constant resistivity reference model. However, this reference
resistivity value can be changed by the user.
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11.2.6 Fast inversion of long survey lines

The 'Fast inversion of long survey lines’ menu option which will display the
following dialog box.

The first option is to use an optimized method to calculate the Jacobian matrix.
This can significantly reduce the calculation time without affecting the
accuracy of the values, and should give the same inversion model as the default
method. The second method is to use a fast method to calculate the Jacobian
matrix. The Jacobian matrix values and thus inversion model will be slightly
different from that obtained using the standard method, but the difference is
normally small (less than 5%) and does not affect the model interpretation. The
third method, using sparse inversion techniques, is intended for long survey
lines of 500 electrodes positions or more. This method will still produce a
contiguous model along the entire survey line, but takes advantage of the
sparse nature of the Jacobian matrix to reduce the number of calculations
needed. The results will be marginally different (usually less than 5%) from
that obtained using the standard method and will not affect the interpretation of
the results.
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11.2.7 Set time-lapse inversion settings

To study the changes of the subsurface resistivity with time, 2-D surveys are
repeated over the same line at different times. Such studies include the flow of
water through the vadose zone, changes in the water table due to water
extraction (Barker and Moore 1998), flow of chemical pollutants and leakage
from dams. The settings used by the inversion method are shown below.

The time-lapse inversion equation (Kim et al. 2009) is given by

[J T
i ( )] ( )
J i + λ F + αM T R t M ∆q k = J Ti g i − λ F + αM T R t M q k (11.4)

The relative importance given to minimize the difference between models at

different times is controlled by the time lapse damping factor α. A larger value
of the time-lapse damping factor will force the different time models to be
more similar but at the expense of a larger data misfit (Rucker et al. 2011). The
user can also modify the time-difference roughness filter to select smooth or
blocky differences between the time models (Kim 2010).
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11.2.8 Select method to handle missing data points

One common problem with time-lapse data set is that some data points might
be missing when the measurements are repeated at different times. The
program has two options in handling such missing data points, an 'implicit' or
an 'explicit' method as shown by the following dialog box.

11.2.9 Floating electrodes survey inversion method

This set of options is for data from a survey with floating electrodes where the
thickness and resistivity of the water layer was measured during the survey.
There are two methods that can be used to invert such data. On clicking this
sub-option, the following dialog box is displayed.
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There are two methods that can be used for the inversion of the data set. The
first method (Use fixed water layer) is more suitable when the maximum
thickness of the water layer is small (less than 20%) compared to the maximum
depth of investigation of the survey configuration. Figure 11.2 below shows the
inversion of the WATER_FLOAT.DAT data set using this method. A distorted
finite-element grid is used to model the water layer. The maximum thickness of
the water layer in this example is 2.5 meters that is small compared to the
maximum depth of investigation at about 15 meters for the data set.

Figure 11.2. Example of inversion model with a fixed water layer. The
inversion results of the WATER_FLOAT.DAT data is shown where the
resistivity water layer (represented by the top blue layer in the model section)
is fixed and model extends from below the water bottom.

In cases where the thickness of the water layer is significant, a second

inversion method (Incorporate the water layer into the model) is more suitable.
The water layer section is included into the inversion model. This method has
two inversion settings. In most cases, the resistivity of the water layer does not
vary significantly along the survey line or with depth. Thus normally the option
‘Minimize variation of water resistivity’ is selected. However to accommodate
cases where there are significant variations in the water resistivity (such as in a
mixing zone between fresh and saline water), the option ‘Allow water layer
resistivity to vary freely’ can be used.

The subsurface material below the water layer frequently has a much higher
resistivity than the water. The option ‘Select a sharp change across the water
bottom boundary’ can be used so that a sharp contrast is allowed between the
water layer and the subsurface. This option uses the method described in
section 7.10. The program automatically adjusts the thickness of the model
layers and divides the model cells into those belonging to the water layer and
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the subsurface. Figure 11.3 shows the arrangement of the model cells for one
of the survey lines along the São Francisco River, divisor of Bahia (BA) and
Pernambuco (PE) states, neighborhoods of the Santa Maria da Boa Vista city
(PE), northeast of the Brazil (Rodrigo Machado pers. Comm.). In this survey, a
dipole-dipole type of configuration was used with 5 meters dipoles. However,
the readings were taken every meter that gives a data set with a nominal unit
electrode spacing of 1 meter. To reduce the number of model cells, and taking
in consideration that the resolution of such a survey is very unlikely to be better
than half the dipole length, the width of the model cells were set at 3 times the
unit electrode spacing (section 11.3.7), i.e. basically 3 meters for almost the
entire section. Also note that the depth of the water at some places is greater
than maximum median depth of investigation (as indicated by the data points
markers). However, the program sets the depth of the layers such that there is
at least one model layer below the water bottom (represented by the dark blue
line). The cells below the water layer are marked as light blue in the figure
below. A sharp resistivity variation is allowed in the inversion method used
between the two sections.

Figure 11.3. Arrangement of model blocks and the water bottom boundary for
an arrangement with the water layer incorporated into the inversion model.

The apparent resistivity pseudosection and inversion model for this data set is
shown in Figure 11.4. In this inversion, the resistivity variation within the
water layer was minimized. Thus the water layer resistivity is generally
uniform except towards the left end of the survey line where there is not much
data. There is also an indication that between the 190 and 220 meters marks,
the near-surface riverbed material consists of low resistivity sediments.
 95

Surveys with floating electrodes are frequently carried out using a cable with a
number of electrodes pulled behind a boat, usually with a multi-channel
resistivity-meter system controlled by a computer link to a GPS system. A 5
meters spacing between the electrodes takeouts is commonly used together a
dipole-dipole type of array configuration (not necessary symmetrical). The boat
is moving continuously and the measurements can be made at arbitrary
intervals although the dipole length is 5 meters. Frequently, the measurements
are digitized to every 1 meter position. Thus, the active electrode positions are
1 meter apart that is much smaller than the dipole length of 5 meters. This can
results in very long survey lines, and very large inversion models with the
default settings of the inversion program. A number of options have been
added to the program to reduce the inversion time for such data sets.

Figure 11.4. Inversion model for the survey with floating electrodes along the
along the São Francisco River in Brazil. The thin black line indicates the water
bottom boundary.

The resolution of the survey setup is unlikely to be very much better than the
dipole length particularly if there is water layer of significant thickness
between the cable and the subsurface. The program normally uses a model
where the widths of the model blocks are set to be the same (or half) as the
distance between the electrode positions along the line. This is reasonable for
normal land surveys with a static cable setup. For floating electrodes survey,
since the distance between the electrode positions (1 meter) is much smaller
than the dipole length (5 meters), this results in a model that is too fine. To
avoid this, use the option under the ‘Inversion – Model Discretization –
Change width of blocks ‘ menu described in section 11.3.7. Since the
horizontal resolution of the data is unlikely to be better than half the dipole
length, it is recommended that the width of the model cells be set at 3 times the
unit electrode spacing (for the situation with 5 meters dipoles and 1 meter data
spacing). This will greatly reduce the number of model cells in the inversion
 96

model. The time taken to calculate the apparent resistivity (and the
corresponding Jacobian matrix) can be greatly reduced by using the ‘sparse
inversion’ method described in section 11.2.6.

11.3 Model discretization

These options allow you to modify the way the program subdivides the
subsurface into cells that is used as the inversion model. The following list of
sub-options will be displayed when this option is selected.

11.3.1 Display model blocks

This option will display the distribution of the model blocks and data points.
The data points will be plotted at the median depth of investigation (Edwards
1977) for the array used. Figure 11.5 shows three possible arrangements of the
model blocks for the same data set.

11.3.2 Change thickness of layers

In this option you can set the thickness of the layers used in the inversion
model by setting the thickness of the first layer and the rate at which the
thickness of each successive deeper layer increases, as shown by the following
dialog box.
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When the program reads in a data file, it will normally set the first layer
thickness using the minimum pseudodepth of the data points. For surface
surveys, since the resolution decreases with depth, the thickness of the layers is
normally increased by between 5 to 15 % with each deeper layer. The program
normally uses a model where the depth to the deepest layer does not exceed the
maximum pseudodepth in the data set. To use a model that spans a deeper
depth range, you can change the factor to increase model depth range, for
example from 1.0 to 1.30 to increase the model depth range by 30%.

Figure 11.5. Different possible arrangement of model blocks for the same data
set. (a) Using wider blocks at sides and bottom, (b) blocks of equal width, (c)
model blocks extended to ends of survey line.
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11.3.3 Modify depths to layers

This option allows you to change the depth of each individual layer used by the
inversion model. You can adjust the depths manually so that some of the
boundaries coincide with known depths from borehole or other data. The
following dialog box will be displayed when this option is selected. In the box,
the depths to the layers are listed. The depths listed can be changed manually.

11.3.4 Use extended model

By default, the program uses the arrangement of the data points in the
pseudosection as an approximate guide in discretizing the subsurface into
rectangular blocks. (Figure 11.5a). This option extends the model cells to the
edges of the survey line (Figure 11.5c) using the following dialog box.
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11.3.5 Use model with blocks of same widths

The model shown in Figure 11.5a have model cells that are wider at the edges.
The first option in the dialog box shown below will ensure that all the cells
have the same width that is equal to the unit electrode spacing (Figure 11.5b).

The second option is intended for data sets created from a series of overlapping
1-D sounding lines. Such data sets can have great variations is the distances
between the electrode positions. This option allows the user to use a model
with model cells of more uniform width.
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11.3.6 Reduce effect of side blocks

This option affects the calculation of the Jacobian matrix values for the model
blocks located at the sides and bottom of the model section. Normally, for a
block located at the side, the contributions by all the mesh elements associated
with the model block are added up right to the edge of the mesh. This gives a
greater weight to the side block compared to the interior blocks. In some cases,
particularly when the robust inversion option is used, this can result in
unusually a high or low resistivity value for the side block. This option limits
the contribution of the mesh elements outside the ends of the survey line to the
Jacobian matrix values for the side blocks. The following dialog box shows the
different degrees the contribution of the cells outside the survey line to the
Jacobian matrix values are truncated.

11.3.7 Change width of blocks

This option allows the user to force the program to use model cells that are
wider than one unit electrode spacing for all the layers. It is mainly intended
for data collected from mobile surveys where a cable with fixed electrode
positions are dragged along during the survey. The distance between the
measurement points are often much less than the spacing between the electrode
takeouts. In the following dialog box the model blocks widths can be set to 1
to 15 times the unit electrode spacing.
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11.3.8 Use model refinement

The RES2DINV program by default uses a model where the width of the
interior model blocks is the same as the unit electrode spacing. This works well
in most cases. In some situations with large resistivity variations near the
ground surface better results can be obtained by using narrower model cells.
There are two possible ways to reduce the width of the model cells. The first is
by using the “Use model refinement” option on the ‘Inversion” menu. Clicking
this option will show the following dialog box.
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This allows you to choose model cells with widths of half the unit electrode
spacing. In almost all cases, this gives the optimum results. After selecting this
option, you must read in the data file. The program will then automatically
reduce the unit electrode spacing it uses by half of that given in the data file.
The second method is to modify the data file directly using a text editor. The
unit electrode spacing is given in the second line of the apparent resistivity data
file. For example, the first few lines of the PIPESCHL.DAT file are reproduced
in Table 11.1.

Table 11.1. Data file with standard unit electrode spacing.

PIPESCHL.DAT file Comments
Underground pipe survey Title
1.00 Unit electrode spacing
7 Wenner-Schlumberger array
173 Number of data points
1 Mid-point given for x-location
0 No I.P.
1.50 1.00 1 641.1633 First data point
0.0 Coordinates of the first electrode
.. The rest follows the usual data format

In the second data line, the unit electrode spacing is given as 1.0 meter that is
the actual spacing used in this survey. When the RES2DINV reads in this data
file, it will set the width of the model cells to 1.0 meter. The file
PIPESCHL_HALF.DAT has the same data except that the unit electrode
spacing is now defined as 0.5 meter. The upper part of this file is shown in
Table 11.2.

Table 11.2. Data file with half the standard unit electrode spacing.
PIPESCHL_HALF.DAT file Comments
Underground pipe survey Title
0.50 Half the actual unit electrode spacing
7 Wenner-Schlumberger array
173 Number of data points
1 Mid-point given for x-location
0 No I.P.
1.50 1.00 1 641.1633 First data point
0.0 Coordinates of the first electrode
.. The rest follows the usual data format

When the RES2DINV program reads this file, it will set the model blocks to a
0.5 meter width. Figure 34 shows the inversion models for this data set using
cells with widths of 1.0 and 0.5 meter. The model with the 0.5 meter block
 103

width is able to more accurately model the high resistivity anomalies near the
surface between the 3 and 12 meter marks above the pipe, and thus has a
slightly lower apparent resistivity RMS data misfit.

In most cases with large resistivity variations near the surface, using a model
with a cell width of half the actual unit electrode spacing is sufficient. In some
cases, using a narrower cell width of one-third or one-quarter the unit might be
justified, particularly if the survey was carried out using a pole-dipole or
dipole-dipole array with very high ‘n’ factors. If the cell width is one-quarter
the true unit electrode spacing, or less, oscillations in the model resistivity
values in the first few layers can occur. Thus the use of a cell width of less than
one-quarter the true unit electrode spacing is not advisable. It is recommended
that you refer to section 4.9 of the free notes “Tutorial : 2-D and 3-D electrical
imaging surveys” that can be downloaded from the www.geoelectrical.com
web site. This section has a discussion on the effect of using high ‘n’ factors
with the pole-dipole array on the sensitivity of the array to near-surface
anomalies.

Figure 11.6. Example of inversion models using the standard and half-sized
model blocks. (a) The apparent resistivity pseudosection for the
PIPESCHL.DAT data set. The inversion models using (b) blocks with a width
of 1.0 meter that is the same as the actual unit electrode, and (c) using narrower
blocks with a width of 0.5 meter.
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11.3.10 Type of cross-borehole model

There are two choices for the type of model you can use for the inversion of
cross-borehole data. You can choose to use the Standard Model where the
dimensions of the model blocks are the same as the spacing between the
electrodes on the ground surface and in the boreholes. Alternatively, you can
use a model with smaller blocks where the size of the blocks is half that of the
Standard Model (see Figure 7.9).

11.4 Model Sensitivity Options

This covers a few options related to the sensitivity values of the data set and
model. Clicking this option will display the following list of sub-options.

11.4.1 Display blocks sensitivity

This will show a plot of the sensitivity of the blocks used in the inversion
model (Figure 11.7b). The sensitivity value is a measure of the amount of
information about the resistivity of a model block contained in the measured
data set. The higher the sensitivity value, the more reliable is the model
resistivity value. In general, the blocks near the surface usually have higher
sensitivity values because the sensitivity function has very large values near the
electrodes. The blocks at the sides and bottom also have high sensitivity values
due to the much larger size of these blocks that are extended to the edges of the
finite-difference or finite-element mesh. If you had carried out an inversion of
the data set before calling this option, the program will make use of the
Jacobian matrix of the last iteration. Otherwise, it will calculate the Jacobian
matrix for a homogenous earth model.

11.4.2 Display subsurface sensitivity

This shows a plot of the sensitivity of the subsurface for blocks of equal size
(Figure 11.7a). This basically eliminates the effect of changes in the model
block size so that it shows more clearly the change of the subsurface sensitivity
with depth and location.
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Figure 11.7. Two arrangements of model blocks using the extended model and
sensitivity values methods. The arrangement of the model blocks used by the
program for the inversion of the MIXEDWS.DAT data set using (a) the default
extended model and (b) a model generated so that any single block the does not
have a relative sensitivity value that is too small.

11.4.3 Normalize sensitivity values

By default, the calculated sensitivity values are normalized by dividing with
the average sensitivity value. In this option, you can choose not to normalize
the sensitivity values.

11.4.5 Generate model blocks

This option allocates the arrangement of the blocks in the model using the
sensitivity values as a guide. Figure 11.7 shows the sensitivity values of the
MIXEDWS.DAT data set using the default extended model (Figure 11.7a), and
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for the "Generate model blocks" option (Figure 11.7b). Note that the model
created using the sensitivity values increases the width of the blocks near the
sides in the deeper parts of the model section in order to increase the sensitivity
values of the blocks. By default, the program uses a heuristic algorithm partly
based on the position of the data points to generate the size and position of the
model blocks. The "Generate model blocks" uses a more quantitative approach
based the sensitivity values of the model blocks. However, in practice, the
simpler and faster heuristic algorithm gives reasonably good results for most
data sets.

11.4.6 Calculate model resolution

The model resolution matrix is given by
(
R = J T J +λF )−1
J TJ (11.5)
The model resolution of the model blocks are given by the diagonal elements
of this matrix. The model resolution matrix R may be viewed as a filter
through which the inversion method attempts to resolve the subsurface
resistivity (Day-Lewis et al. 2004). In the ideal case with perfect resolution, the
elements of the main diagonal (Rjj) are 1 while the off-diagonal elements are 0.
In practice, the model resolution values for most model blocks are much less
than 1.0. The time taken to calculate the model resolution matrix is
proportional to the cube of the number of model blocks, so it is probably only
practical to carry out the calculations for models with less than about 7000
blocks. It is probably not practical to calculate the resolution values due to
computer time and memory limitations for very large data sets and models.
You can enable the calculation of the model resolution values using the
following dialog box.
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11.5 I.P. Options

This cover a number of options for the inversion of data wets with I.P.
measurements. Clicking this option will display the following list of menu sub-
options.

11.5.1 I.P. data and model weights

This sub-option sets the weights given to the I.P. data and model in the joint
resistivity-I.P. inversion method using the following dialog box.

This program uses the complex resistivity method (Kenma et al. 2000) where
the inversion of the apparent and I.P. data are inverted jointly. In most data
sets, the data misfit for (the logarithm of the) apparent resistivity values have a
 108

much larger range than the apparent I.P. values. This causes the program to
give a greater weight to reducing the data misfit for the apparent resistivity
compared to the apparent I.P. The first parameter (weight for I.P. data) enables
the user to compensate for this effect by giving a greater weight to the I.P. data
misfit. The second parameter (I.P. damping factor) controls the amplitude of
the change in the model I.P. values allowed after each iteration. A smaller I.P.
damping factor can be used can be used to allow a greater change in the I.P.
model values (which is normally much smaller than the change in the model
resistivity values in the joint inversion method). If a value of 1.0 is used, then
the same damping factors will be used for both the resistivity and IP inversion
routines. Normally a much smaller value of about 0.10 to 0.25 is used.

11.5.2 Cutoff for valid I.P. values

Many modern resistivity meter systems used in engineering and environmental
surveys now have I.P. measurement capability as well. However, the I.P. data
from most multi-electrode systems is probably of limited use for electrode
spacings of more than a few meters. Most systems use a battery power source
that cannot deliver enough current (usually less than 1 Amp) for reliable I.P.
signals, so the I.P. data is often extremely noisy. Although in theory the
magnitude of measured apparent I.P. values can range up to 1000 mV/V, in
practice natural I.P. effects produce much smaller values of usually less than
100 mV/V. This option sets an upper limit on acceptable apparent I.P. values
above which the values are not used by the program to calculate the I.P.
inversion model.
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11.5.3 Change range of model I.P. values

This sets the limits of the model I.P. values that the inversion routine can use.
While negative apparent I.P. values are frequently observed, it is not
commonly realized that the intrinsic I.P. can also have a negative value
(Brandes and Acworth 2003). This program allows the model to have negative
I.P. values.

11.5.4 Select type of I.P. transformation

This option will bring up the following dialog box.

The ‘Square-root’ or ‘Range bound’ is normally used to ensure the model I.P.
values produced by the inversion program do not exceed the allowed limits.
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11.5.6 Use I.P. model refinement

This program uses the complex resistivity method for the inversion of I.P. data
(Kenma et al. 2000). The effective conductivity is treated as a complex
quantity with real and imaginary components. The complex conductivity is
given by
σ = σDC – i mσDC (11.6)
The DC conductivity σDC forms real part, while mσDC forms the imaginary
part. A complex potential is then calculated for this complex model.
φ = φr + i φi (11.7)
The complex potential has two components, φr and φi. The real (resistivity) and
complex (I.P.) potentials are calculated simultaneously. This inversion method
calculates the optimum resistivity and I.P. models simultaneously using the
same least-equation (4.1). In many data sets, the resistivity data misfit has a
much larger range than the I.P. data misfit. This causes the inversion routine to
determine a more accurate resistivity model at the expense of the I.P. model
that might show a much smaller change with each iteration. To overcome this
problem, after calculating the optimum resistivity and I.P. model through a
joint inversion, a separate inversion to minimize the I.P. data misfit alone by
changing the model I.P. values only (and keeping the model resistivity values
fixed) is commonly carried out in each iteration. This option allows the user to
select the I.P. model refinement step via the following dialog box.

It is recommended that the I.P. refinement step to be used for most data sets.
 111

11.6 Batch mode options

There are two sub-options under this category.

11.6.1 Batch mode inversion

In this option, you can invert a number of data sets automatically. The name of
the input data files, and other information, is provided through a script file. It
must be emphasized that before inverting the data sets, you should check the
data for bad data points using the 'Edit - Exterminate bad data points' option
(section 9.1) discussed earlier. When you select this option, the program will
ask for a script file with a BTH extension. The file RESIS_IVP.BTH is an
example script file. The format of the file is listed in Table 11.3.

Table 11.3. Example script file for the batch mode inversion.
RESIS_IVP.BTH file Comments
3 Number of files to invert
INVERSION PARAMETERS FILES USED Header
DATA FILE 1 Header for first file
C:\RES2DINV\RATHCRO.DAT Name of first data file to invert
C:\RES2DINV\RATHCRO_L2.INV Output file name with inversion results
C:\RES2DINV\RES2DINV_L2.IVP File containing the inversion settings
DATA FILE 2 Header for second file
C:\RES2DINV\RATHCRO.DAT Name of second data file to invert
C:\RES2DINV\RATHCRO_L1.INV Output file with inversion results
C:\RES2DINV\RES2DINV_L1.IVP File with different inversion settings
DATA FILE 3 Header for third file
C:\RES2DINV\LANDFILL.DAT Third data file to invert
C:\RES2DINV\LANDFILL_L2.INV Output file with inversion results
C:\RES2DINV\RES2DINV_L2.IVP File containing the inversion settings

Since the IVP files are created by the RES2DINV program, it is not necessary
for the user to deal with the details about the file format. To create them, you
 112

just need to click the appropriate inversion options within the RES2DINV
program, and then select the “Save inversion parameters’ option under the
“Change Settings” menu to save the parameters into an IVP file.

A command line batch mode option is also available for users who might wish
to invert a large number of data sets at one go by remote control. It allows you
to launch the batch mode from another Windows program, or from a command
line. In Windows, you can access the command line option by clicking the
“Start” button, followed by the “Run” option. If the RES2DINV program is
located in the C:\RES2DINV folder, and the batch script file RESIS_IVP.BTH
is located in the D:\DATA folder, the following command is typed into the
‘Run” dialog box.

C:\RES2DINV\RES2DINV D:\DATA\RESIS_IVP.BTH

This command will launch the RES2DINV program that will automatically
process the list of data files in the RESIS_IVP.BTH. After the program has
processed all the data files, it will automatically shut down. You can process up
to 40 data files using a single batch script file.

11.6.2 Save XYZ files in batch mode

This option allows the user to automatically create the XYZ files containing the
inversion model values after the inversion of each data file in the batch mode.

11.7 Topography options

If there is significant topographical relief along the survey line, the effect of the
topographical effects can be accounted for if the horizontal and vertical
coordinates of a number of points along the survey line are known. When the
program reads in a data file with topography data (please refer to section 7 for
the data format), it will automatically select the finite-element method that
incorporates the topography into the modeling mesh used. In this case, the
topographic modeling will be automatically carried out by the program when
you invert the data set. When you select the “Topography Option” menu, the
following submenu will be displayed.
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11.7.1 Display topography

This option simply plots the topography, such as in Figure 11.8.

11.7.2 Select type of trend removal

You can choose to remove the average elevation, a least-squares linear trend,
or a straight line joining the first and last topography data points. If the ground
surface along the survey line is generally flat except for a few points, use the
option to subtract a constant value from the heights of the electrodes locations.
If the survey points are on a slope, choose either a least-squares or an end-to-
end straight line for the linear trend. Figure 11.8 shows an example with
topography where the end-to-end straight line trend was removed.

Figure 11.8. Topography linear trend removal for the Rathcrogan mound data
set.

11.7.3 Type of topographic modeling

Selecting this option will show the following dialog box where you can choose
three different topographic modeling methods.
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Distorted finite-element grid with uniform distortion : This method, and the
next two methods, use a distorted finite-element grid such that the surface
nodes of the mesh match the actual topography. This gives more accurate
results than the older method of using the correction factors for a homogeneous
earth model calculated with the finite-element method (Fox et al. 1980) which
can cause distortions in cases where large resistivity variations occur near the
surface (Tong and Yang 1990, Loke 2000). In this particular option, the nodes
below the surface (and thus also the model layers) are shifted to the same
extent as the surface nodes.

Distorted finite-element grid with damped distortion : In this option, the

subsurface nodes are shifted to a lesser extent compared with the surface
nodes, i.e. the effect of the topography is “damped” with depth. This option is
probably a reasonable choice if the amplitude of the curvature of the
topography is less than the depth of the deepest model layer. A damping factor
that controls the degree of damping with depth (Figure 7) can be modified by
the user.

S-C transformation with distorted finite-element grid : This method uses

the Schwarz-Christoffel transformation method to calculate the distortion in the
subsurface layers. It is probably the best method that produces a more ‘natural’
looking model section in cases with a comparatively large topography
curvature. In such cases, the damped topography approach might produce
unusually thick model layers under areas where the topography curves
upwards. In some unusual cases where the topography has very sharp acute
peaks and sparse topography data points, the Schwarz-Christoffel
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transformation method might not work. If this happens, add a few extra
topography data points near the peak.

Figure 11.9 Different methods to incorporate topography into a 2-D inversion

model. (a) Schematic diagram of a typical 2-D inversion model with no
topography. Model mesh discretizations with a distorted grid to match the
actual topography where (b) the subsurface nodes are shifted vertically by the
same amount as the surface nodes, (c) the shift in the subsurface nodes are
gradually reduced with depth or (d) rapidly reduced with depth, and (e) the
model obtained with the inverse Schwartz-Christoffel transformation method.
 116

Figure 11.10 shows an example of an inversion model for the Ratchrogan

Mound (Waddell and Barton 1995) data set that has topography from Ireland.
The burial chamber is the prominent high resistivity region a few meters below
the surface below the 20 meters mark. The L1-norm inversion method was
used to sharpen the burial chamber and the surrounding soil. A unit electrode
spacing of 2 meters was used during the survey, but the inversion model uses
model blocks of 1 meter width due to significant lateral variations near the
surface.

Figure 11.10. Example of inversion model for the Rathcrogan Mound data set
with topography. (a) Measured apparent resistivity pseudosection. (b) Inversion
model section with topography.
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12 Print menu
Clicking this menu will display the following option.

Save screen as BMP file: This option located under the ‘Print’ menu makes a
screen dump of the sections drawn on the screen.

13 Help menu
Clicking the Help menu option will display the following list of sub-options.

Program info - This will display the copyright notice and website address for
downloading program updates.

System info - This will display the computer resources and ID number of the
program USB dongle.

Help - This will launch the help file for the program.

Technical support - This will display the email address for technical support
as well as the customer information required.
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14 Displaying and exporting inversion model results

Selecting the 'Display' menu option will create a new window with a number of
options to read the INV files produced from the inversion of the data sets, and
to display and export the information to other programs.

14.1 File menu options

Clicking the 'File' menu will display the following list of sub-options.

14.1.1 Read file with inversion results

This option is used to read in a file with an INV extension produced by the
Res2dinvx32 program that contains the inversion results.

14.1.2 Model export

Selecting this option will display the following list of sub-options to export the
inversion model values to different file formats.

Save data in XYZ format - This saves the data and model values into a text
based XYZ type of format used by many contouring programs, such as by
Geosoft. These are separate programs sold by GEOSOFT Inc. and other
companies that enables you to use more sophisticated contouring techniques
than those used by the RES2DINV program.
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Save data in Surfer format - This option allows the user to save the apparent
resistivity pseudosections and model sections in the format used by the
SURFER graphics 2-D plotting program by Golden Software. After reading in
an INV file containing the in inversion results in the 'Display' window, it is
recommended that you display the pseudosections at least once before using
the option to save the results in SURFER format. If the inversion file contains
topographical data, such as the example RATCHRO.INV file provided with
this software package, you will need to use select option 'Include topography in
model display' to display the model section with the topography. After that,
you can click 'Save data in SURFER format' option under the File menu. As an
example the following dialog box is displayed for the RATCHRO.INV file.

In this dialog box, you can select the iteration number for which you want to
save the inversion results. Also, you can choose to save the resistivity values
directly, or the logarithm of the resistivity values which might be more suitable
if the resistivity values have a large range. SURFER will plot the sections as a
rectangular section. In many cases, especially a model section with topography,
this might not be appropriate. To remove the sections outside of the model
section, SURFER provides two methods of blanking part of the displayed
contoured section. The default and normally better method is to use the Base
Map Overlay feature in SURFER. In the bottom half of the dialog box, all the
various possible data or model sections are displayed. For a particular inversion
file, not all the possible sections are available. For example, the
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RATHCRO.INV file does not have I.P. data, so the buttons to the right of the
dialog box are not checked. As an exercise, click the 'Model resistivity with
topography' option for the RATHCRO.INV file. After clicking the OK button,
the program will then save the various sections. For a particular section, the
program will save 5 different files that are used for different functions in
SURFER. As an example, follow the following steps to plot the resistivity
(logarithm) model section with topography for the RATHCRO.INV file. The
different files are provided in the RES2DINV software package.

1). Create contour file. Click 'Grid' on the top menu bar, and then 'Data' to read
in the RATCHRO_TOPRESLOG.DAT file. After reading in the data file,
SURFER will show the 'Scattered Data Interpolation' dialog box. In the 'Grid
Line Geometry' section, the number of lines that SURFER uses to interpolate
the data values into a rectangular grid is shown. For this data set, the default
values are probably 50 lines in the X direction and 6 lines in the Y direction. In
most cases, you should increase the default values by a factor of 4 to 10 times
to improve the accuracy of the interpolation. For this example, try changing the
number of lines in the X and Y directions to 250 and 30 respectively (i.e.
increase the default values by a factor of 5). The SURFER program will create
a corresponding RATCHRO_TOPRESLOG.GRD file. Next click 'Map' on the
top menu bar and then 'Contour'. In the 'Contour' option, read in the
RATCHRO_TOPRESLOG.GRD file. Next the 'Contour Map' dialog box will
be shown. In this dialog box, click the 'Fill Contours' option. Next click the
'Load' button, and then read in the RATCHRO_TOPRESLOG.LVL file to set
the contour values and colors. If you wish to display the color scale and smooth
the contours, click the 'Color Scale' and 'Smooth Contours' options. Next click
OK.
2). Next you need to mask out sections of the contour display. In the 'Map'
menu, click 'Load Base Map'. Choose the RATCHRO_TOPRESLOG.BLN as
the base map file. In the 'GS Blanking Import Options', just click OK. Do not
use the 'Areas to Curves' option. Next press F2, and then click the 'Overlap
Maps' option in the 'Map' menu. This will combine the contour map and the
base blanking map into a single map. Select the overlay by clicking near one of
the corners of the rectangle containing the contour map, and then select the
'Edit Overlays' command from the 'Map' menu. In the 'Edit Components' dialog
box, click the 'Base' and then click 'Move to Front' button. Next hold down the
CTRL key on the keyboard and click the overlay until the base map is
selected (as shown by the status indicator 'Map:Base' near the bottom left
corner of the screen). Next click the 'Draw' menu, and then choose the 'Fill
Attributes' option. Select the blank or white color as the color for the fill
attributes. Next click the 'Line Attributes', and also select the white color so
that the overlay lines are not visible in the display.
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3). Click the 'Post' command in the 'Map' menu, and then read in the
RATCHRO_TOPRESLOG_POST.DAT file (which contains the location of
the electrodes) in the 'Open Data' dialog box. After reading in this file, the 'Post
Map' dialog box will be shown. In this dialog box, select the symbol shape and
size and other options you want to use, and then click OK. After that, press F2,
and then click the 'Overlay Maps' command in the 'Map' menu. Next click the
figure and then the 'Edit Overlays' command in the 'Map' menu. Click 'Post'
and the 'Move to Front' , and the electrodes will be drawn on top of the model
section.

After drawing the section in the SURFER window, you can use other options
within SURFER to improve the model section, such as changing the font,
labels, titles etc., before printing the results or exporting it to another format.
SURFER supports a large variety of formats, including bit-mapped graphics
formats such as PCX, BMP, GIF etc.; and well as vector-based formats such as
the AUTOCAD DXF format.

For model sections without topography, step (3) where the post data map is
read is probably not necessary. However, you might need to adjust the tick
marks on the vertical scale on the left side of the contour plot. The depths are
given as negative values so that SURFER will plot the figure in the correct
orientation with the ground surface on top.

There will be slight differences in the contour sections drawn by SURFER and
RES2DINV due to the differences in the interpolation methods used. SURFER
does not use the original data points, but an interpolated rectangular grid of
points to draw the contours. The differences will probably be more obvious in
areas with very rapid changes in the resistivity. One way to reduce the
differences is to increase the number of grid lines used by SURFER for the
interpolation grid.

Model output in Lund format - This is a data format used by the LUND
Imaging System produced by ABEM. You can save the model resistivity
values in the .RHO and .RMS files used by the MODSEC program.
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14.2 Display sections menu options

This cover several options to display the model sections.

14.2.1 Display data and model sections

Clicking this option will bring up the following list.

Display data and model sections - Select this option to plot the model and
apparent resistivity pseudosections on the screen. After selecting this option,
you will be prompted for the iteration number to use, and the type of contour
intervals. The following dialog box will be shown for resistivity data where all
the values are positive.
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The 'Linear contour intervals' option will automatically set the contour
intervals that are linearly spaced out. This is usually not the best option for
resistivity data if it has a large range, but is more suitable for I.P. data that have
a more limited range. The 'Logarithmic contour intervals' will space out the
contours on a logarithmic scale and should normally be used for resistivity
sections. The 'User defined linear contour intervals' option will bring up the
following dialog box.

You should select the initial contour value and spacing such that it covers the
range of resistivity values. Choosing the 'User defined logarithmic contour
intervals' option will bring up the following dialog box.
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There are two sets of the automatic factors to increase the contour values
starting from the minimum value. The first set doubles the contour values after
every 1 to 4 contours. The second set increases the contour value by a factor of
ten after every 4 to 8 contours. A user defined factor to increase the contour
value is also available. Selecting the 'User defined contour intervals' option will
bring up the following dialog box.
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A set of default contour values using a logarithmic or linear scale will be

displayed. The user can change the contour values manually. The last option
'Read contour values from file' enable the user to reuse contour values that was
saved earlier into a file using the 'Save contour values' menu option.

Include topography in model display - For inversion results where

topographic modeling were earlier carried out, you can incorporate the
topography into the model section by calculating that the true depth and
location of the model blocks below the surface. Figure 11.10 shows an example
of a model section with the topography.

For both display options, you will be asked to enter the iteration number and
the contour intervals. After the section is displayed, you can display the results
for the next iteration by pressing the PgDn key. Similarly, pressing the PgUp
key will display the results for the previous iteration.

Choose resistivity or I.P. display - If the data set has I.P. data as well, this
option allows you to choose to display the resistivity or I.P. sections. You can
also display both the resistivity and IP model sections at the same time.

Save contour values - This option saves the values used to draw the contours
in the pseudo and model sections into a file.
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14.2.2 Sensitivity displays

This set of options display the model sections with the sensitivity or resolution
values.

Display blocks sensitivity - This displays a section with the sensitivity value
associated with each model block. This actually gives the integrated sensitivity
value associated with each model block as given by the following equation.
1 m
Si = ∑ J ij
m j =1
(14.1)

It sums up the Jacobian matrix values associated with the model block for all
the data points. It is a very crude measure of the information the data set has on
the resistivity value of a model block. A better measure is the model resolution
value.

Display blocks uncertainty, minimum and maximum models - This displays

an estimate of the uncertainty in the model resistivity values, and the lower and
upper limits of the resistivity values based on the estimated uncertainty. If the
model resolution was calculated, the uncertainty value is calculated from the
diagonal elements of the (J T
J + λF )
−1
matrix. If the model resolution was
not calculated, an approximation of the uncertainty is used. The maximum and
minimum sections are calculated from the inversion model values and the
estimated uncertainty in the model values.

Display model resolution - If the option to calculate the model resolution

values was selected (section 11.4.6), the model resolution values will be saved
in the INV file. This option displayed the saved model resolution values in the
form of a model section. You can either the model resolution values, or the
model resolution normalized by the cross-sectional area of the model block. As
an example, Figure 14.1 shows the inversion model for the LANDFILL.DAT
data set together with the model resolution sections. Note the model resolution
values (Figure 14.1c) show a slight increase towards the bottom of the section
 127

particularly at the bottom-left and bottom-right corners which might be

misleading. This is due to the large sizes of the model blocks at the sides and
bottom. The model resolution normalized by the area of the blocks (Figure
14.1d) avoids this artifact.

Figure 14.1. Model resolution sections for the LANDFIL.DAT data set. (a)
Apparent resistivity pseudosection. (b) Inversion model section. (c) Model
resolution section. (b) The model resolution normalized by the cross-section
area of the model block.
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14.2.3 Time-lapse displays

This shows the inversion results for time-lapse data sets. Time lapse files have
the resistivity values for two or more inversion models. The following option
displays the change in the model resistivity values between the initial model
and a later time model.

Display percentage change in resistivity - This option will display the change
in the model resistivity obtained from the inversion of a later time data set
compared with the reference model from the inversion of the first data set.
After displaying the sections with the percentage change in the model
resistivity values, you can change the time-lapse data set selected by using the
'Home' and 'End' keys. By default the results for the last time-lapse data set will
be shown. You can show the results of an earlier data set by pressing the
'Home' key.

As an example of a field experiment of time-lapse measurements, Figure 14.2

shows the results from a test on the flow of water through the unsaturated zone
conducted in Birmingham (Barker and Moore, 1998). Forty thousand liters of
water was poured on the ground surface near the 24 meters mark along the
survey line over a period of 10 hours. The initial data set collected before the
water irrigation began together with the corresponding inversion model are
shown in Figures 14.2a and 14.2b. The subsurface consisting of sand and
gravel is highly inhomogeneous. As a comparison, Figures 14.2c and 14.2d
shows the data collected and inversion after the irrigation of the ground surface
was completed. The distribution of the water is not very clear from a direct
comparison of the inversion models alone. The water distribution is more
easily determined from a plot of the percentage change in the subsurface
resistivity in the inversion models for the data sets taken at different times
(Figure 14.3) when compared with the initial data set model. The data set
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collected at 10 hours after the pumping began shows a significant reduction in

the resistivity (of more than 60 percent) near the ground surface in the vicinity
of the 24 meters mark where the near-surface low resistivity zone has reached
its maximum extent and amplitude (Figure 14.3a). Six hours after the pumping
was stopped, the low resistivity plume has spread downwards and slightly
outwards due to infiltration of the water through the unsaturated zone into the
water table (that is at a depth of about 3 meters). There causes a decrease in the
maximum percentage reduction in the resistivity values near the surface
(Figure 14.3b).

Figure 14.2. Apparent resistivity and inversion model sections from the
Birmingham time-lapse experiment. (a) The apparent resistivity and (b)
inversion model sections from the survey conducted at the beginning of the
 130

Birmingham infiltration study. This shows the results from the initial data set
which forms the base model in the joint inversion with the later time data sets.
The data and model after 10 hours of irrigation are shown in (c) and (d).

Figure 14.3. Sections showing the change in the subsurface resistivity values
with time obtained from the inversion of the data sets collected during the
infiltration and recovery phases of the study.

Display resistivity ratio - This option will display the ratio of resistivities of
the later time model compared with the reference model.

Display percentage desaturation - Archie's Law that gives the relationship

between the resistivity of a porous rock and the fluid saturation factor is
applicable for certain types of rocks and sediments, particularly those that have
a low clay content. In the case, the electrical conduction is assumed to be
through the fluids filling the pores of the rock. Archie's Law is given by
ρ = aρ wφ − m (14.2)
where ρ is the rock resistivity, ρw is fluid resistivity, φ is the fraction of the
rock filled with the fluid, while a and m are two empirical parameters (Keller
and Frischknecht 1966). For most rocks, a is about 1 while m is about 2. Under
certain special conditions, the above equation can be used to determine the
change in the fluid saturation or fluid resistivity with time. If initially the
subsurface material is saturated with water, and the change in the resistivity is
caused by withdrawal of water (i.e. a reduction in the fraction per unit volume
of the rock which is filled with water), the desaturation factor (Keller and
Frischknecht 1966) can be calculated from the change in the subsurface
 131

resistivity. To calculate the desaturation factor, the value of the m parameter in

Archie's Law is needed. By default it is set to 2.0 but this value can be changed
by the user. On the other extreme, consider a case where the fluid saturation
factor does not change but the resistivity of the fluid changes (for example in
tracer experiments with a conductive salt below the water table). The ratio of
the resistivity of the fluid at the later time to the initial resistivity can be
calculated directly from the model resistivities. It must be emphasized that the
above two situations are ideal cases. The results are only valid if Archie's Law
holds for the subsurface medium. In many cases, the relationship between the
medium resistivity and water content is much more complicated (Olivar et al.
1990).

Change factor in Archie's Law - This option allows the user to change the
exponent m in equation (14.1) used to calculate the desaturation value.

Display time sections with topography - This option display the sections with
the percentage change or resistivity ratio with topography included.

14.3 Change display settings

This cover a number of parameters that control the display of the sections as
listed in the following menu.

14.3.1 Color settings

This cover a number of options to change the colors used in drawing the
sections. The program uses 17 colors in the contour scale used in drawing the
sections. You can adjust the colors using the options in the following menu list.
 132

Default color scheme - This will reset the color scheme used for coloring the
sections to a default system used by the program.

Reverse color scheme - The default color scheme uses blue for low resistivity
values, and red for high values. This enables the user to reverse the colors used.

Customize color scheme - This option can be used to manually change the
colors used. After changing the values, the color scheme can be saved into a
file so that it can be reused.

Read customize color scheme - You can change the color scheme to a set of
customized colors that was earlier saved in a file.

Color/Grey Scale display - By default, the program will display the

pseudosections and model section in color. This option allows you to display
the sections using a grey scale, possibly for making printouts on normal laser
printers. Different shades of grey, ranging from pure white to pure black, are
used.

14.3.2 Display sections settings

This set of options change the number of sections displayed, the horizontal and
vertical scales. The various options are listed in the following menu.
 133

Number of sections displayed - You can choose to display 1, 2 or 3 sections

on the screen. By default, all the 3 sections (the observed and calculated
apparent resistivity pseudosections and the model section) are displayed.

Apparent resistivity difference - You can choose to display either the

calculated apparent resistivity pseudosection itself, or the percentage difference
between the logarithms of the calculated and observed apparent resistivity
values.

Vertical display scaling factor - This option allows you to specify the ratio of
the vertical scale to the horizontal scale, i.e. the vertical exaggeration factor, in
the display. Convenient values to use are 2.0, 1.5 and 1.0. If you enter a value
of 0.0, the program will use a default scaling factor so that the display can fit
into the display screen.

Horizontal plotting scale - This allows you to change the horizontal scale, in
terms of number of pixels per unit electrode spacing. This option is useful
when you want to plot the results from different survey lines with different
numbers of electrodes, with the same scale.

Use linear depth scale - The program normally displays the depths to the
centers of the model layers when it displays the model section. The thickness
of the layers usually increase with depth, so the corresponding depth markers
 134

are not equally spaced. This option can be used to display the depth markers
with a constant spacing.

Show locations of data points - By default, the location of the data points (and
centers of the model blocks) will be shown by white dots in the color
pseudosection display. You can choose not to display the dots with this option.

Resistivity or conductivity display - The resistivity pseudosections and model

sections are normally displayed. However, you can display the sections using
conductivity values (i.e. the reciprocal of the resistivity) which is more
commonly used in certain fields, such as hydrogeology.

Display pseudodepth values - For the apparent resistivity pseudosections, you

can display the pseudodepth values on the vertical scale, or display the
electrode spacing and “n” factors (where applicable).

Type of model display - In this option, you can display the resistivity values in
the model section in the form of contours (the default choice), or in the form of
rectangular blocks which constitute the inversion model. The contoured section
makes it easier to visualize geological structures, while finer features might be
more easily detected in the rectangular blocks section.

Leave contour lines in display - This option will draw the contour lines as
black lines.

Type of pole-dipole display - This option is only relevant for pole-dipole data
sets with measurements with the “forward” and “reverse” pole-dipole arrays
(see Appendix A). Here you can choose to display the apparent resistivity
values measured with the array in the “forward” or “reverse” configuration.

Interpolate pseudosection levels - Certain types of non-conventional array

measurement sequences can results in an arrangement of the data points in the
pseudosection with only one data point at some data levels. This results in a
very jagged appearance in the outline of the pseudosection. This option will
interpolate the pseudosection contour plot to reduce the jagged appearance for
cases with data levels with only one point.
 135

Blank out part of model using sensitivity values - This option will allow you
to blank out parts of model that have low sensitivity values using the following
dialog box.

Blank out part of model using resolution values - This is similar to the
previous option expect the model resolution per unit area values is used to
select areas of the model to blank out. This option can only be used if the
option to calculate the model resolution values was enabled before running the
inversion of the data file (see section 11.4.6).
 136

Underwater display options - This covers the display of model sections for a
survey with the electrodes on the river, lake or sea bed (section 7.9.1). The
first option in the following dialog box extends the model section drawn to the
surface boundary of the water bottom. What a contoured display is used,
normally the centers of the model blocks are used which in the case of the
topmost layer is slightly below the water bottom boundary. Thus in the normal
display there is a slight gap between the top of the model section and water
bottom. Figure 14.4 shows an example of a plot with both options enabled.
Note this gap does not appear if the model section is drawn with rectangular
blocks. In the second option, the color of the water layer can be changed to
match the resistivity values in the contour scale used for the model display.

Figure 14.4. Example of underwater survey plot. (a) Apparent resistivity

pseudosection. (b) Model section with topography. Note the contoured model
plot has been extended upwards to the water bottom interface, and the color of
the water layer matches the contour scale used for the resistivity sections. This
example is from an underwater riverbed survey by Sage Engineering, Belgium.
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14.3.3 Select fonts and units

These options can be used to change the font of the characters used in labeling
the sections, and to use feet instead of meters. The following list of sub-options
is displayed when this menu option is selected.

Choose font - This option is used to select the font used to display text in the
model sections.

Use Omega symbol - This option allows the user to select the word 'ohm' or
the Greek symbol Ω to label the resistance or resistivity values in the model
sections display.

Display distances in feet - This allows the user to display distances in feet in
stead of the default meters.
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14.4 Edit data

The following option is displayed on selecting this menu option.

14.4.1 RMS error statistics

This displays the data misfit between the measured and calculated apparent
resistivity values in the form of a histogram as shown in Figure 14.5. This
option can be used to filter out data outliers. Data with random noise will
shown an exponential decrease in the number of data points with increasing
data misfit, as in the initial part of Figure 14.5. Data outliers are likely to have
much higher data misfit values which can be used to separate them from the
other data points, as shown by a few points on the right side of Figure 14.5.

Figure 14.5. Histogram of the data misfit from an inversion of the

BLUERIDGE.DAT data set.
 139

In this option, the user selects a data misfit cutoff value. When the user exits
from this option, the data will be saved in a new data file with data points
having a higher data misfit than the cutoff value removed from the data set.

14.5 Print menu

Clicking this menu will display the following option.

Save screen as BMP file: This option located under the ‘Print’ menu makes a
screen dump of the sections drawn on the screen.

15 Other resources
You can download the free guide "Tutorial : 2-D and 3-D electrical imaging
surveys" from the www.geoelectrical.com website. It contains a description of
the basic principles of the electrical imaging survey method, some of the
mathematical background and many field examples. The website also has link
to other resources such as research papers and other literature. If you had
purchased the software with a CD, the CD will contain a copy of the guide as
well as a number of research papers.
 140

Acknowledgements
Dr. Torleif Dahlin of Lund University in Sweden provided the interesting and
challenging Odarslov Dyke, Gladkvarn and Knivsas data sets. The Grundfor
and Cromer data sets were kindly provided by Dr. Niels B. Christensen of the
University of Aarhus in Denmark and Dr. Torleif Dahlin. The Rathcroghan
data set was kindly provided by Dr. Kevin Barton and Dr. Colin Brown from
data collected by the Applied Geophysics Unit of University College Galway,
Ireland. Dr. Andrew Binley of Lancaster University kindly provided the cross-
borehole field data set. Mr. Ernst Neiderleithinger of Buro Fur Geophysik
Lorenz (Germany) supplied the Landfill data set that provided the initial
motivation to write this program to handle large 2-D data sets. I am also
grateful to Prof. Douglas Oldenburg of the University of British Columbia in
Canada for pointing out the some of the possible advantages of using equation
(2). The Bauchi data was provided by Dr. Ian Acworth of School of Civil and
Environmental Engineering, The Un. of New South Wales, Australia. Many
thanks to Richard Cromwell and Rory Retzlaff of Golder Assoc. (Seattle) for
the survey example to map holes in a clay layer. Bill Seaton of ATS, Virginia
kindly provided the BLUERIDGE.DAT data set. I would also like to thank
Ron Kaufman of Technos Inc. for his permission to use the Lake Lelia
underwater field survey example. I would like to acknowledge Michel Ritz of
IRD, France for kindly providing the BOREHOLE_TOPO.DAT example data
set. The data set for the floating electrodes survey along the São Francisco
River in Brazil was kindly provided by Rodrigo Machado. Finally, a special
thanks to Rob Barker of The University of Birmingham (U.K.) for the
Birmingham time-lapse, Stud Farm bedrock survey and the Clifton (with
Julian Scott) data sets, and his advice through the years.
 141

References
Acworth, R. I., 1987. The development of crystalline basement aquifers in a
tropical environment: Quarterly Journal Engineering
Geology, 20, 265-272.
Barker, R. and Moore, J., 1998. The application of time-lapse electrical
tomography in groundwater studies. The Leading Edge, 17, 1454-
1458.
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Appendix A Array types in RES2DINV

A list of the arrays supported by the RES2DINV program together with their
number codes are given below.

Table A.1. Array types and their number codes.

Array name Number Number of
code electrodes
Wenner (Alpha) 1 4
Pole-Pole 2 2
Inline Dipole-Dipole 3 4
Wenner (Beta) 4 4
Wenner (Gamma) 5 4
Pole-Dipole 6 3
Wenner-Schlumberger 7 4
Equatorial dipole-dipole 8 4
Offset pole-dipole (only used as sub-array number 10 3
with data in the general array format)
Non-conventional or general array 11 2 to 4
Cross-borehole survey (apparent resistivity values) 12 2 to 4
Cross-borehole survey (resistance values) 13 2 to 4
Gradient array (only used as sub-array number with 15 4
data in the general array format)

A description of the different arrays types is given in the free tutorial notes on
electrical imaging (Loke 2011). Figure A.1 shows the arrangement of the
electrodes for some commonly used arrays. In general for an array with four
electrodes, there are three possible arrangements for the electrodes. The
Wenner array has three different variations (Figure A.1). The "normal" Wenner
array is actually the Wenner alpha array.

The Wenner beta array is a special case of the dipole-dipole array where the
"n" factor is always 1. The RES2DINV program will automatically convert a
Wenner beta array data file into a dipole-dipole array data set.

The general array with number code 11 is always given with a secondary sub-
array number code. If the arrays are actually one of the conventional arrays, the
number code for the conventional array is used as the sub-array number (for
example if it is a dipole-dipole array the sub-array number is then 3). If it is not
one of the conventional arrays, or if it is a mixture of different arrays (such as
the dipole-dipole and gradient), the sub-array number is given as 0.
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The different variations of the pole-dipole array are shown in Figure A.2. If an
offset dipole-dipole array is used, the general array data format should be used
with a sub-array type of 0.

Figure A.1. Arrangement of the electrodes for some commonly used arrays.

Figure A.2. Normal, reverse and offset pole-dipole array arrangements.

 147

Appendix B Special OhmMapper Note

Data collected by the OhmMapper system can be converted into the format
used by the RES2DINV program using the 'DataMap for OhmMapper'
program provided by Geometrics, Inc. This is a Windows 95/98/2000/NT
based program. After starting the program, please click the EXPORT option to
carry out the data conversion. For futher details, please refer to the
OhmMapper manual provided by Geometrics.

The figure below shows an example of a data set collected by the OhmMapper
system together with the inversion model produced by the RES2DINV
program. The survey was conducted over an area with weathered granite. The
data set is given in the file OHMMAPPER.DAT. The measurements were
made using the dipole-dipole array with a dipole length "a" spacing of 10
metres and with n values of 0.5 to 3.5 (Appendix A). The data set has 732 data
points while the inversion model consist of 1240 cells.

Figure B.1. Example OhmMapper data set and inversion model. (a) Apparent
resistivity pseudosection measured with an OhmMapper mobile resistivity
surveying system. (b) Model section obtained by RES2DINV program.
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DISCLAIMER
This software is provided "as is" without any express or implied warranties
including its suitability for a particular purpose. Neither this company nor the
subagent will assume responsibility for any damage or loss caused by the use
of this program. In the event of program bugs, every effort will be made to
correct the bugs. Faulty dongles or CDs will be replaced free of charge within
the first year from the date of purchase to registered users. Registered users are
entitled to free software updates and support for the first year. After the first
year, there is an annual fee for software updates and technical support. Please
contact Geotomo Software ([email protected]) for the annual fee that is
applicable to your dongle.

SUPPORT
Please contact your distributor if you have any questions concerning this
program. A frequent source of queries is when the results obtained are not what
you expect, or the program refuses to accept your data file. In such a case,
support will only be provided if a copy of the data file is sent together as an
attachment with your email, preferably compressed into a ZIP file. The most
common causes of problems are (a) the data in the DAT file is not given in the
correct RES2DINV format (b) excessive noise in the data set (particularly for
dipole-dipole surveys and/or IP data sets) (c) instrument malfunction or field
survey errors. It is only possible to trace the source of the problem if a copy of
the data file is provided. Please note that support is only available for
registered users of the full version of the program. It is not possible to provide
technical support for users of the demo version of this software. For technical
support, you can contact the software provider by email at the following
addresses. Please attach a copy of your data file to your email.
[email protected], [email protected], [email protected]
The following information will be required before technical support is
provided.
1). Your dongle ID number. This ID number is displayed near the middle of the
initial information box when the RES2DINV program starts up if the dongle is
attached to the computer.
2). The name of your company or institution.
3). Approximate date your company/institution purchased the software.

If you purchased the software more than one year ago, please contact Geotomo
Software on renewing the support.
 149

What’s New

Version 3.00 - Major upgrade to Windows 3.1 and 95. Maximum number of
electrodes increased to 500. Multi-tasking support for Windows 95. Support for
any Windows compatible graphics card and printer.

Version 3.01 - Improvements to finite-difference subroutine to calculate the

Jacobian matrix which is now about twice as fast as the earlier versions.

Version 3.10 - Support for underwater surveys. Direct incorporation of

topography into inversion model using a distorted finite-element grid.

Version 3.11 - The time taken by the finite-element subroutine to calculate the
Jacobian matrix is reduced. An option to use a finer mesh for the finite-
difference or finite-element forward modelling method is added.

Version 3.12 - Non-integer values for the “n” factor for the dipole-dipole, pole-
dipole and Wenner-Schlumberger arrays supported (please refer to Appendix
A). The maximum limits for the number of data levels and model layers
increased to 52 and 17 respectively.

Version 3.13 - The ratio of the largest electrode spacing to unit electrode
spacing for the Wenner and pole-pole array was increased from 32 to 64. The
maximum number of data levels is now 64. The maximum number of model
layers was also increased to 18.

Version 3.20 - Support for IP data added.

Version 3.21 - The maximum number of electrodes was increased to 650.

Improvements has been made to the disk-memory swapping subroutines so that
for a given amount of RAM the number of datum points the program can
handle is increased. For computer systems with more than one hard-disk drive,
the program will automatically select the drive with the most free disk space to
store the temporary disk swap files.

Version 3.22 - Slight improvements to the use of memory in the IP inversion

section. The size of the IP data set that can be handled for a given amount of
memory was increased. An option to optimise the damping factor
automatically during the inversion process was added. Support for the
“reverse” pole-dipole array added (see Appendix A). Support for a command
line batch mode included (see Appendix I). An option to plot the model section
in the form of rectangular blocks was also added.
 150

Version 3.30 - Support for cross-borehole surveys added. An option to allow

the number of model parameters to exceed the number of datum points was
also added.

Version 3.31 - An option for a used defined model added. In this model, the
user specifies the thickness of the first layer and the factor to increase the
thickness for each subsequent deeper layer. The program will also
automatically update the directory used for the input data files and the output
inversion files listed in the RES2DINV.INI file.

Version 3.32 - An option to extend the subdivision of the subsurface into

blocks to the edges of the survey line was added. Option to display the
uncertainty in the model resistivity values was also added. Version 3.33 - An
option to incorporate the effects of the remote electrodes used in surface
resistivity surveys with the pole-pole and pole-dipole arrays was added.

Version 3.34 - A few bug fixes. The user can now scale the depths of the model
layers so that the depth to the last layer can be much greater than the default
limit allowed by the program. When the program saves the model values in the
XYZ format, it will now also save the coordinates of the corners of the blocks
in the model. An option to use a very fine mesh in the vertical direction for
resistivity contrasts of greater than 250:1 was added, as well as an option for 6
nodes in the horizontal direction between adjacent electrodes.

Version 3.35 - The user can now set the maximum number of electrodes, from
150 to 1500, via the JACOBWIN.EXE program. Drawing of colour contour
sections is now significantly faster on most computers.

Version 3.36 - A robust least-squares inversion option was added. For very
noisy data with ‘outliers’, the resulting model will be less sensitive to such
datum points when the robust data inversion method is selected. For areas
where the subsurface geology has sharp interfaces, the robust model inversion
method will give better results.

Version 3.40 - Support for non-conventional arrays for resistivity surveys.

Version 3.41 – Two new methods for topographic modelling using a damped
distorted grid and the inverse Schwartz-Christoffel transformation added.

Version 3.42 - Support for remote electrodes for IP surveys.

 151

Version 3.43 - Support for the Wenner Gamma array, and underwater surveys
with non-conventional arrays. Maximum number of electrodes increased to
2000. The program has also been optimised for data sets where the unit
electrode spacing has been reduced by half of the actual value so as to get a
model where the width of the blocks is half the usual size. This helps in cases
where there are very large lateral resistivity variations near the surface.

Version 3.44 - Support for IP surveys with non-conventional arrays. This

feature is useful in some cases where data from a series of overlapping
collinear 1D sounding survey lines can be combined into a single 2-D data set
to obtain a 2-D model.

Version 3.45 - Option to save results in SURFER format added. Also support
for surveys with some electrodes underwater and some electrodes above the
water surface level added.

Version 3.46 - Minor additions for data in general array format. Option to use a
model with half the unit electrode spacing for data in general array format is
added (see the file RATCMIX2.DAT for an example). It is now possible to
carry out the inversion of data in the general array format with the demo
version, but the results will only be displayed temporarily on the screen during
the inversion. The damped distorted grid finite-element method is set as the
default method for topographic modelling.

Version 3.47 – An option to carry out the inversion of IP data sequentially was
added. Slight changes in the menu structure.

Version 3.48 – Support for up to 4 boreholes in cross-borehole option.

Version 3.49 – Incomplete Gauss-Newton inversion option added. Maximum

number of electrodes increased to 4000, and maximum number of data points
to 20000. Option to combine a number of 2-D data files in RES2DINV format
into a single 3-D data file in RES3DINV format added.

Version 3.50 – Bedrock edge detection and time-lapse options added.

Version 3.51 – Option to include data noise estimates included.

Version 3.52 – Option for surveys with floating electrodes added. Support for
topography in cross-borehole surveys included.
 152

Version 3.53 – Sparse inversion option for very long survey lines (2000 to
16000 electrode positions) added. This method inverts the entire data set and
model at a single time to produce a continuous and seamless model. New
format for batch mode option script file which makes use of the files
containing the inversion parameters produced by the RES2DINV program.

Version 3.54 – Option to include boundaries of layers from seismic or borehole

surveys added.

Version 3.55 – Support for the multiple gradient array added.

Version 3.56 – Support for the offset pole-dipole array added.

Version 3.57 – Support to incorporate water layer into the inversion model for
surveys with floating electrodes added.

Version 3.58 – Support for global coordinates added.

Version 3.59 – Support for time-lapse cross-borehole data added. Support for
inclined boreholes added.

Version 3.70 Beta - Trial version with support for multi-core PCs. New
inversion algorithm for time-lapse data. Complex resistivity inversion method
for I.P. data.

Version 3.71 - Option to calculate model resolution values. New time-lapse

method support for cross-borehole data.

Version 4.00 - 64-bit version that can more than 4 GB RAM. This greatly
increases the maximum size of the data set and model that can be handled.
Supports up to 30 time series for time-lapse surveys.