Open AccessA Technique for Improving the Accuracy of Finite Element Solutions for Magnetotelluric Data
Author(s) -
Rodi William L.
Publication year - 1976
Publication title -
geophysical journal of the royal astronomical society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.302
H-Index - 168
eISSN - 1365-246X
pISSN - 0016-8009
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-246x.1976.tb03669.x
Subject(s) - magnetotellurics , finite element method , polygon mesh , computation , extended finite element method , mixed finite element method , matrix (chemical analysis) , component (thermodynamics) , inverse , mathematical analysis , mathematics , algorithm , computer science , geometry , physics , electrical resistivity and conductivity , structural engineering , engineering , materials science , quantum mechanics , composite material , thermodynamics
Summary This paper develops a finite element method which gives accurate numerical approximations to magnetotelluric data over two‐dimensional conductivity structures. The method employs a simple finite element technique to find the field component parallel to the strike of the structure and a new numerical differentiation scheme to find the field component perpendicular to strike. Examples show that the new numerical differentiation scheme is a significant improvement over the standard finite element procedure when meshes of poor quality are used. Algorithms for incorporating the differentiation scheme into the finite element matrix equation and for computing partial derivatives of magnetotelluric data with respect to mesh parameters are derived in order to simplify the computation needed to do the inverse problem.