Adama Science and Technology University

Faculty Of Applied Natural Science

Department of Applied Geology

Course Title: Exploration Geophysics (Geol 3322)

Lecturer: Abdela B. (MSc)

Chapter One : Introduction to Geophysics

Date: October 28, 2021

 1.1 Definition
 Geophysics belongs to the group of Earth Sciences, and it
 integrates the knowledge primarily coming from geology,
mathematics and physics,
 uses and develops physical measurement methods, mathematical
tools, data processing and analyzing techniques, as well as special
software packages to solve problems concerning the Earth’s interior
and surrounding space environment
 Geophysical investigations of the interior of the Earth involve taking
measurements at or near the Earth’s surface that are influenced by
the internal distribution of physical properties.
 Analysis of these measurements can reveal how the physical
properties of the Earth’s interior vary vertically and laterally
 Geophysics as a field of science has played a major role in
increasing our knowledge of the earth's properties and physical
processes.
 1.1 Definition

Why is geophysics important

 Mapping large geological areas in order to increase
our knowledge of the Earth's structure
 Locating and recovering resources namely;
hydrocarbons, minerals and groundwater
 Mapping the uppermost meters of the Earth's crust
for tunnel construction
 Assessing the risk of geohazards namely;
earthquakes, tsunamis and landslide
 Archeological surveys
 1.2 Classification of Geophysics Methods
 The two scientific areas of geophysics (by the ranges
and objectives of the investigations):
1. Global Geophysics
2. Applied Geophysics
1.Global Geophysics:
 It deals with large-scale problems and global
observations
 Earth physics deals with the shape of the Earth, the
interior structure of it, plate tectonics
 Gravity, seismology,magnetotellurics, and radiometric
dating are the most important disciplines
 1.2 Classification of Geophysics Methods
2. Applied Geophysics:
 Its main objective is to help in solving different practical
problems connecting to the subsurface by means of
geophysical measurements.
 It tries to provide useful information for mining industry,
hydrological, environmental, geotechnical and archaeological
surveys.
 The investigation depth is limited to the uppermost part of the
crust, which can reach a few 1000 metres below the surface
 A special area of applied geophysics is the so-called near-
surface geophysics, which focuses on the investigation of
small-scale features in the shallow (tens of meters) subsurface.
 1.2 Classification OF geophysical Methods
 The applicability of all methods is based on the fact that the
variations of physical quantities measured as a function of space
(distance) and/or time (frequency and energy may also be the
reference quantity) are the consequence of changes in the
different material properties.
 These changes are principally connected to the boundaries of
different rocks or rock-fluid systems.
 1.3 Exploration Geophysics
 Its primary objective is to discover subsurface
geological objects with which the deposits or
reservoirs of raw materials and energy sources may
associate under favourable conditions (e.g. ores,
coal, natural oil and gas, evaporites, and
geothermal energy).
 It is also used for obtaining qualitative and
quantitative information about the targets of
interest, and the surrounding rock formations
 1.3 Exploration Geophysics
 Applied geophysics can be divided into further fields according to
the specialty of problems to be solved:
 Exploration geophysics (this is the most significant field)
 Hydrogeophysics:
 Engineering geophysics: PR, R, S, M,EM
 Environmental geophysics:
 Archaeological geophysics: Magnetic, Resistivity GPR, EM
 Forensic geophysics: S, E, M, EM methods search, the localization
and the mapping of buried objects or elements beneath the soil or
the water, using geophysics tools for legal purposes
1.3 Exploration Geophysics
 1.3 Exploration Geophysics
 Three branches of exploration or Applied
geophysics according to the site of measurements:
1.SurfaceGeophysics(airborne and marine geophysics)
2. Borehole Geophysics
3.Mining Geophysics
 1.3.1 Surface Geophysics
 Surface geophysical methods include magnetic,
gravity, seismic refraction, seismic reflection,
electrical resistivity, and, ground penetrating radar .
 Major objectives of the surface geophysics:
 Detecting the physical effects of the wanted
geological structures(Exploration perspective point
of view )
 Determining the position and dimensions
(horizontal and vertical) of the indicated object
 supporting the selection of drill sites in each phase
of the exploration.
 1.3.2 Borehole Geophysics
 The geologists and geophysicists carry out
borehole surveys using a wide range of intelligent
tool.
 Borehole Geophysics methods include Natural
gamma ray, Spectral gamma ray, Porosity Logs and
Resistivity logging
 We perform Borehole Geophysics in the areas of:
 Reserve exploration and mining
 Subsoil investigation
 Hydrogeology, Geothermal energy
 1.3.1 Borehole Geophysics
Main objectives of the borehole geophysics
1.Recording the different physical responses of the
formations traversed by the borehole,
2.determining some technical parameters of the
borehole,
3. performing the geological correlation among the
neighboring boreholes by comparing the measured
log curves
3.supporting the reinterpretation of results derived
from former geophysical measurements to create a
more precise and reliable model of the subsurface
 1.4 Introduction to Geophysical Data Processing
 Geophysical surveys measure the variation of some
physical quantity, with respect either to position or to
time
 Data processing is a step between measuring geophysical
data and plotting it.
 During this step, some errors in the measurements can be
corrected.
 Geophysical signal analysis is concerned with the
detection and a subsequent processing of signals.
 Any signal which is varying conveys valuable information.
Hence to understand the information embedded in such
signals, we need to 'detect' and 'extract data' from such
quantities.
 1.4.1 Digitization of Geophysical Data
 Digitization is the Procedure for transform analog
signals to digital data.
 Analog and digital is the representation of the
Sinusoidal Function.
 Digitization of Geophysical Data
 The are two parameters of a  digitizing system are the
sampling precision:
1.Dynamic range
2. Sampling frequency.
 Dynamic range is an expression of the ratio of the largest
measurable amplitude to the smallest measurable
amplitude in a sampled function.
 The unit is decibel and is defined as the ratio of two
power values and power is proportion to amplitude
Square
 Digitization of Geophysical Data
 In digital computers, digital samples are expressed
in binary form (they are composed of a sequence
of digits that have the value of either 0 or 1).
 Each binary digit is known as a bit and the
sequence of bits representing the sample value is
known as a word.
 The number of bits in each word determines the
dynamic range of a digitized waveform
 Digitization of Geophysical Data
 Sampling frequency is the number of sampling
points in unit time or unit distance.
 Intuitively, it may appear that the digital sampling
of a continuous function inevitably leads to a loss
of information in the resultant digital function,
since the latter is only specified by discrete values
at a series of points
Digitization of Geophysical Data
 Signal and Noise
 Almost all signals contain noise
 Signal to noise ratio is very important concept in
geophysics experiments.
 Spectrum analysis
 Spectrum analysis is a basic tool in signal
processing and shows how the signal power is
distributed as a function of spatial frequencies.
1.Fourier analysis
2. Sampling
3. Spectral time and frequency domain
 Fourier analysis
 Fourier analysis is the theory of the representation
of a function of a real variable by means of a series
of sines and cosines.
Fourier analysis
Fourier analysis
Fourier analysis
Fourier analysis
 Waveform Processing
1. Convolution
2. De-convolution
3. Correlation
4. Digital Filtering
 The principles of convolution, deconvolution and
correlation and digital Filtering form the common
basis for many methods of geophysical data
processing.
 Convolution

 It is the mathematical description of the change waveform shape after

pass through a filter(system).

 There is special mathematical symbol for convolution (* ):

y(t) = g(t) * f(t), Where,
g(t): Impulse response function,
f(t) : input function (signal)
y(t) : the output function (signal)
 Deconvolution

 De-convoluation (Inverse filtering) is a inverse

operation to Convolution.
 When is de-convoluation useful?
 It is used to remove convolution distortion effect
and improve vertical resolution.
 Correlation Functions
 Correlation plays central role in the study of time
series
 In general, correlation gives Quantitative estimate
of the degree similarity between two functions.
 The Correlation functions of g and f both with N
samples is defined as:
 Correlation Functions
 Three type of correlation Functions;
1. Aut-correlation
2. Cross-correlation
3. Correlation Coefficient
Correlation Functions
Correlation Functions
Correlation Functions
 Digital Filtering

 Waveform as a combination of signal and noise.

 The signal is that part of the waveform that relates
to the geological structures under investigation.
 The noise is all other components of the waveform
 The noise can be further subdivided into two
components: Random and Coherent noise
 Digital filtering is employed in geophysical data
processing to improve SNR.
 The two main types of digital filter: frequency
filters and inverse (de-convolution) filters
 Frequency Filtering
 Frequency filters discriminate against selected
frequency components of an input waveform and
may be low-pass (LP), high-pass (HP), band-pass
(BP) or band-reject(BR) in terms of their frequency
response.
 Frequency filters are employed when the signal
and noise components of a waveform have
different frequency characteristics.
 Low pass Filter
 When a low-pass filter is applied only frequencies
below the cutoff frequency remain and the
frequencies above the cutoff frequency are
eliminated or attenuated.
 Eliminate high frequencies:
 Low pass filtering technique is often used to
remove noise, clean up signals, and perform data
averaging
 High Pass Filter
 When a high-pass filter is applied, signals below
the cutoff frequency are eliminated or attenuated
and signal above the cutoff frequency (pass band)
are kept.
 High-pass filters technique is often used to clean
up low-frequency noise, and to highlight the high-
frequency trends.
 Band pass Filter
 Band pass filter is the difference between the
higher cut off frequency and the lower cut off
frequency.
 Band-pass filter is considered as a second order
filter and it is usually used for noise cancelation.
 Inverse (de-convolution) Filter
 The main applications of inverse filtering to
remove the adverse effects of a previous filtering
operation lie in the field of seismic data processing.
Geophysical Modeling and Inversion
 Geophysical Modeling and Inversion
 Geophysical inversion refers to the mathematical
and statistical techniques for recovering
information on subsurface physical properties
from observed geophysical data.
Geophysical Modeling and Inversion
Geophysical Modeling and Inversion