Identification of three-dimensional electric conductivity changes from time-lapse electromagnetic observations

We present a novel solution algorithm for 3D parameter identification based on low frequency electromagnetic data. With focus on large-scale applications such as monitoring of subsea oil production, CO₂ sequestration, and geothermal systems, the proposed solution algorithm is designed to meet challenges related to low parameter sensitivity, nonuniqueness of the inverse solutions, nonlinearity in the mapping from the data to the parameter space, and costly numerical simulations. Motivated by earlier investigations on the relation between sensitivity, nonlinearity and scale, the proposed solution approach is based on a reduced, composite parameter representation. Though a reduced representation restricts the solution space, flexibility with respect to which parameter functions that can be represented is obtained by facilitating the estimation of the structure and smoothness of the representation itself. Moreover, the resolution of the parameter function is detached from the computational grid and determined as part of the estimation. The performance of the proposed solution algorithm is illustrated through numerical examples for identification of underground electric conductivity changes from time-lapse electromagnetic observations.