Multi-Line 1D Inversion of Frequency-Domain Helicopter-Borne Electromagnetic Data with Weighted 3D Smoothness Regularization: A Case Study from Northern Iran

An efficient pseudo-3D Occam’s inversion scheme is proposed here to stabilize the traditional 1D inversion for the frequency-domain helicopter-borne electromagnetic (FHEM) data. In this scheme, multiple flight lines are inverted simultaneously for layered 1D models minimizing a common objective function with lateral, vertical, and cross-line in the model regularization function. Applying the lateral, vertical, and cross-line weighting factors into the regularization matrix yields a more stable solution and produces geologically more realistic results. In addition, we investigate how the errors of height measurements obscure the FHEM response and affect recovered resistivity models. In this inversion, attempt is made to recover a correct altitude that deals with distortions caused by the presence of measurement height errors in the reconstructed resistivity models. The comparison among 1D, pseudo-2D, and pseudo-3D Occam’s inversions is made through the analysis of data from two different 3D synthetic models and one field dataset acquired from the north of Iran. The results indicate that pseudo-3D Occam’s inversion provides fewer inversion artifacts, better model recognition, and smoother and more continuous models, while, reduces the effects of data noise in an effective manner.