Magnetotelluric inversion for azimuthally anisotropic resistivities employing artificial neural networks

An extension of an artificial neural network (ANN) approach to solve the magnetotelluric (MT) inverse problem for azimuthally anisotropic resistivities is presented and applied for a real dataset. Three different model classes, containing general 1-D and 2-D azimuthally anisotropic features, have been considered. For each model class, characteristics of three-layer feed forward ANNs trained through an error back propagation algorithm have been adjusted to approximate the inverse modeling function. It appears that, at least for synthetic models, reasonable results would be obtained by applying the amplitudes of the complex impedance tensor elements as inputs. Furthermore, the Levenberg–Marquart algorithm possesses optimal performance as a learning paradigm for this problem. The evaluation of applicability of the trained ANNs for unknown data sets excluded from the learning procedure reveals that the trained ANNs possess acceptable interpolation and extrapolation abilities to estimate model parameters accurately. This method was also successfully used for a field dataset wherein anisotropy had been previously recognized.