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Joint inversion of 2D resistivity and seismic travel time data to image saltwater intrusion over karstic areas

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Abstract

The simultaneous inversion of multiple geophysical data types has been proven to be a powerful tool to both improve subsurface imaging and help in the interpretation process. The main goal of this paper was to develop joint inversion strategies to provide improved resistivity and seismic velocity images for delineating saline water zones in karstic geological formations. The cross-gradient constraint approach was adopted to jointly invert resistivity and seismic first arrival data. The basic idea of this approach is to quantitatively estimate the structural similarity between resistivity and seismic velocity models, using the cross product of their gradients and to achieve a unified geological model which satisfies both data sets. Initially, synthetic data were employed to help develop a joint inversion strategy to be used over such complex geological structures. The proposed strategy uses a weighting factor for the cross-gradient constraints and separate damping factors for the resistivity and seismic data. This strategy was applied successfully on field data from the karstic region of Stilos, Crete, Greece.

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Acknowledgments

The authors are grateful to Dr. Panayiotis Tsourlos and Dr. Pantelis Soupios for providing their codes. They also wish to thank Mr. Nikos Andronikidis, Dr. Nikos Economou and Dr. George Kritikakis, collaborators at TUC, for the great help during the field data acquisition. This paper is part of the 03ED375 Research Project, implemented within the framework of the “Reinforcement Programme of Human Research Manpower” (PENED) and co-financed by National and Community Funds (25 % from the Greek Ministry of Development General Secretariat of Research and Technology and 75 % from E.U. European Social Fund).

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  1. Laboratory of Applied Geophysics, Department of Mineral Resources Engineering, Technical University of Crete, 73 100, Chania, Crete, Greece

    Hamdan A. Hamdan & Antonis Vafidis

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  1. Hamdan A. Hamdan
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  2. Antonis Vafidis
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Correspondence to Hamdan A. Hamdan.

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Hamdan, H.A., Vafidis, A. Joint inversion of 2D resistivity and seismic travel time data to image saltwater intrusion over karstic areas. Environ Earth Sci 68, 1877–1885 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-012-1875-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-012-1875-9

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