Exploring the Model Space of Airborne Electromagnetic Data to Delineate
Large-Scale Structure and Heterogeneity within an Aquifer System
Abstract
Airborne electromagnetic (AEM) data can be inverted to recover models of
the electrical resistivity of the subsurface; these, in turn, can be
transformed to obtain models of sediment type. AEM data were acquired in
Butte and Glenn Counties, California, U.S.A. to improve the
understanding of the aquifer system. Around 800 line-kilometers of
high-quality data were acquired, imaging to a depth of
~300 m. We developed a workflow designed to obtain, from
the AEM data, information about the large-scale structure and
heterogeneity of the aquifer system to better understand the vertical
connectivity. Using six different forms of inversion and posterior
sampling of the recovered resistivity models, we produced 6006
resistivity models. These models were transformed to models of sediment
type and estimates of percentage of sand/gravel. Exploring the model
space, containing the resistivity models and the derived models, allowed
us to delineate the large-scale structure of the aquifer system in a way
that captures and communicates the uncertainty in the identified
sediment type. The uncertainty increased, as expected, with depth, but
also served to indicate, as areas of high uncertainty in sediment type,
the location of both large-scale and small-scale interfaces between
sediment type. A plan view map of the integrated percentage of
sand/gravel, when compared to existing hydrographs, revealed the extent
of lateral changes in vertical connectivity within the aquifer system
throughout the study area.