Cooperative Inversion Based On Fuzzy C-Means Cluster Analysis – Application To Field Data

In many near-surface geophysical applications it is now common praxis to collect co-located disparate geophysical data sets. The advantage of such multi-method based exploration strategies is the potential to reduce ambiguities and uncertainties in data analysis and interpretation. To reconstruct the underlying physical parameter distributions, usually requires the application of tomographic reconstruction techniques. To improve the reliability of the tomographic parameter models, the information content of all co-located data sets should be considered during the model-generation process. In this study, we apply a novel approach based on fuzzy c-means cluster analysis and conventional single-input data set inversion algorithms for the cooperative inversion of crosshole seismic P-wave and S-wave traveltimes. The approach results in a single zoned two-parameter model outlining the major subsurface units in terms of the P-wave and S-wave velocity fields.