Combining Geophysical Data with Geological Prior Knowledge in a Geostatistical Framework: The Example of Cross-Well Tomographic Inversion

Abstract

In most geophysical surveys (e.g. seismic, electro-magnetic, or piezometric), inverse modelling is needed: values of model parameters that describe the subsurface have to be inferred from values of some observable parameters. Because of coverage limitations of the surveys but also due to the nature of the physical laws involved, it is often necessary to use a priori information about the model parameters in order to get geologically meaningful results while stabilizing the inversion.