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On the application of combined geoelectric weighted inversion in environmental exploration

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Abstract

Geophysical surveying methods are of great importance in environmental exploration. Inversion-based data processing methods are applied for the determination of geometrical and physical parameters of the target model. The use of this geoelectric inversion method is advantageous in environmental research where highly reliable information with large spatial resolution is required. The 2D combined geoelectric inversion (CGI) method performs more accurate parameter estimation than conventional 1D single inversion methods by efficiently decreasing the number of unknowns of the inverse problem (single means that data sets of individual vertical electric sounding stations are inverted separately). The quality improvement in parameter space is demonstrated by comparing the traditional 1D inversion procedure with a 2D series expansion-based inversion technique. The CGI method was further developed by weighting individual direct current geoelectric data sets automatically in order to improve inversion results. The new algorithm was named combined geoelectric weighted inversion, which extracts the solution by a special weighted least squares technique. It is shown that the new inversion methodology is applicable to resolve near-surface structures such as rapidly varying layer boundaries, laterally inhomogeneous formations and pinch-outs.

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Acknowledgments

The described work was carried out as part of the TÁMOP-4.2.1.B-10/2/KONV-2010-0001 Project in the framework of the New Hungary Development Plan. The realization of this project is supported by the European Union, co-financed by the European Social Fund. The authors are also grateful for the support of the research team of the Department of Geophysics, University of Miskolc. The second author thanks to the support of János Bolyai fellowship of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences.

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  1. Department of Geophysics, University of Miskolc, Miskolc-Egyetemváros, 3515, Hungary

    Ákos Gyulai, Mátyás Krisztián Baracza & Norbert Péter Szabó

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  1. Ákos Gyulai
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  2. Mátyás Krisztián Baracza
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  3. Norbert Péter Szabó
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Correspondence to Mátyás Krisztián Baracza.

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Gyulai, Á., Baracza, M.K. & Szabó, N.P. On the application of combined geoelectric weighted inversion in environmental exploration. Environ Earth Sci 71, 383–392 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-013-2441-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-013-2441-9

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