Knowledge Bank

The shallow subsurface structure of the Earth is important to understand for many economic and safety reasons. The problem is usually difficult due to complexity of the earth’s subsurface processes especially near the surface. A number of geophysical methods are used for this purpose using different physical characteristics of the Earth materials. A particular geophysical method illuminates part of the problem, but a reliable solution can only be found by combining results of different methods. In order to synthesize information from different geophysical methods, it is important to understand their similarities and differences. The aim of this study is to correlate the basic principles of geophysical methods side-by-side starting from fundamental equations. This study reveals that many analogies exist among these methods both in their mathematical formulation, and sometimes, in ways they are used in the geophysical applications.