Accounting for modeling errors in linear inversion of crosshole
ground-penetrating radar amplitude data: detecting sand in clayey till
Abstract
Mapping high permeability sand occurrences in clayey till is fundamental
for protecting the underlying drinking water resources. Crosshole ground
penetrating radar (GPR) amplitude data have the potential to
differentiate between sand and clay, and can provide 2D subsurface
models with a decimeter-scale resolution. We develop a probabilistic
straight-ray-based inversion scheme, where we account for the forward
modeling error arising from choosing a straight-ray forward solver. The
forward modeling error is described by a Gaussian probability
distribution and included in the total noise model by addition of
covariance models. Due to the linear formulation, we are able to
decouple the inversion of traveltime and amplitude data and obtain
results fast. We evaluate the approach through a synthetic study, where
synthetic traveltime and amplitude data are inverted to obtain slowness
and attenuation tomograms using several noise model scenarios. We find
that accounting for the forward modeling error is fundamental to
successfully obtain tomograms without artifacts. This is especially the
case for inversion of amplitude data since the structure of the noise
model for the forward modeling error is significantly different from the
other data error models. Overall, inversion of field data confirms the
results from the synthetic study; however, amplitude inversion performs
slightly better than traveltime inversion. We are able to characterize a
0.4 - 0.6 m thick sand layer as well as internal variations in the
clayey till matching observed geological information from borehole logs
and excavation.