Cooperative Inversion: A Review

Abstract

Cooperative inversion has the potential to significantly improve subsurface imaging. However, success or failure can be highly dependent on knowledge of underlying site specific geological and petrophysical relationships. Combinations of structural or textural seismic attributes can be integrated into geostatistical clustering to provide a framework able to carry inversion of lower resolution EM or potential field data to an outcome with improved detail and accuracy. Cross-gradient type methods link direction of change of different physical parameters within inversion. Outcomes will be dependent on the presumption that the direction of change of petrophysical parameters like velocity, density and electrical conductivity are indeed linked. Cooperative and joint inversion need to be validated by information harvested at drill sites. Here new low cost multi-scale, multi-parameter logging while drilling technologies could be designed to feed real time imaging based on cooperative inversion. We will; (i) examine theoretical possibilities, (ii) give examples of practical successes and failures, and (iii) consider the future of cooperative inversion.