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    Towards an open-source landscape for 3-D CSEM modelling
    (Oxford : Oxford Univ. Press, 2021) Werthmüller, Dieter; Rochlitz, Raphael; Castillo-Reyes, Octavio; Heagy, Lindsey
    Large-scale modelling of 3-D controlled-source electromagnetic (CSEM) surveys used to be feasible only for large companies and research consortia. This has changed over the last few years, and today there exists a selection of different open-source codes available to everyone. Using four different codes in the Python ecosystem, we perform simulations for increasingly complex models in a shallow marine setting. We first verify the computed fields with semi-analytical solutions for a simple layered model. Then we validate the responses of a more complex block model by comparing results obtained from each code. Finally, we compare the responses of a real-world model with results from the industry. On the one hand, these validations show that the open-source codes are able to compute comparable CSEM responses for challenging, large-scale models. On the other hand, they show many general and method-dependent problems that need to be faced for obtaining accurate results. Our comparison includes finite-element and finite-volume codes using structured rectilinear and octree meshes as well as unstructured tetrahedral meshes. Accurate responses can be obtained independently of the chosen method and the chosen mesh type. The runtime and memory requirements vary greatly based on the choice of iterative or direct solvers. However, we have found that much more time was spent on designing the mesh and setting up the simulations than running the actual computation. The challenging task is, irrespective of the chosen code, to appropriately discretize the model. We provide three models, each with their corresponding discretization and responses of four codes, which can be used for validation of new and existing codes. The collaboration of four code maintainers trying to achieve the same task brought in the end all four codes a significant step further. This includes improved meshing and interpolation capabilities, resulting in shorter runtimes for the same accuracy. We hope that these results may be useful for the CSEM community at large and that we can build over time a suite of benchmarks that will help to increase the confidence in existing and new 3-D CSEM codes.
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    Utilizing pre-polarization to enhance SNMR signals - Effect of imperfect switch-off
    (Oxford : Oxford Univ. Press, 2020) Hiller, Thomas; Dlugosch, Raphael; Müller-Petke, Mike
    Surface nuclear magnetic resonance (SNMR) is a well-established technique for the hydrogeological characterization of the subsurface up to depths of about 150 m. Recently, SNMR has been adapted to investigate also the shallow unsaturated zone with small surface loop setups. Due to the decreased volume, a pre-polarization (PP) field prior to the classical spin excitation is applied to enhance the measured response signal. Depending on the strength and orientation of the applied PP-field, the enhancement can often reach several orders of magnitude in the vicinity of the PP-loop. The theoretically achievable enhancement depends on the assumption of an adiabatic, that is perfect, switch-off of the corresponding PP-field. To study the effect of imperfect switch-off, we incorporate full spin dynamics simulations into the SNMR forward modelling. The affected subsurface volume strongly depends on the chosen PP switch-off ramp and the geometry of the loop setup. Due to the imperfect switch-off, the resulting SNMR sounding curves can have significantly decreased signal amplitudes. For comparison, the signal amplitudes of either a 1 ms exponential or linear switch-off ramp are reduced by 17 and 65 per cent, respectively. Disregarding this effect would therefore yield an underestimation of the corresponding subsurface water content of similar magnitude. © 2020 The Author(s) 2020. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The Royal Astronomical Society.