Studio

TUTORIAL # 2
ERT Data processing

www.geostudiastier.com
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 WORKFLOW CHART FOR ERT DATA PROCESSING

1) IMPORT DATA 2) DATA CHECK 3) DATA CLEANING

1.1 LOAD .BIN FILE 2.1 ELECTRODES CHECK 3.1 ELIMINATION OF

1.2 PRELIMINARY PROJECT 2.2 LOAD TOPOGRAPHY DUPLICATE ELECTRODES
TRANSLATION AND DUPLICATE AND
2.3 POSTPONED PROJECT
1.3 SAVE .DATA FILE RECIPROCAL
TRANSLATION
MEASUREMENTS
3.2 DATA FILTERING

4) MESH AND MODEL 5) INVERSION 6) DISPLAY OF

SETUP INVERTED MODEL
4.1 MESH SETUP 5.1 SETTING OF INVERSION
4.2 MODEL SETUP PARAMETERS
4.3 MESH GENERATION 5.2 INVERSION PROGRESS
CONTROL
 WORKFLOW CHART FOR ERT DATA PROCESSING

1) IMPORT DATA 2) DATA CHECK 3) DATA CLEANING

1.1 LOAD .BIN FILE 2.1 ELECTRODES CHECK 3.1 ELIMINATION OF

1.2 PRELIMINARY PROJECT 2.2 LOAD TOPOGRAPHY DUPLICATE ELECTRODES
TRANSLATION AND DUPLICATE AND
2.3 POSTPONED PROJECT
1.3 SAVE .DATA FILE RECIPROCAL
TRANSLATION
MEASUREMENTS
3.2 DATA FILTERING

4) MESH AND MODEL 5) INVERSION 6) DISPLAY OF

SETUP INVERTED MODEL
4.1 MESH SETUP 5.1 SETTING OF INVERSION
4.2 MODEL SETUP PARAMETERS
4.3 MESH GENERATION 5.2 INVERSION PROGRESS
CONTROL

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 STEP 1: IMPORT DATA
1.1 Load .BIN file
This tutorial shows the basic steps for processing a single 2D line. ERTLab Studio, however, also optimally manage
multi-line 3D acquisitions and unconventional electrodic configurations (for example, loop configuration). The
process shown in this guide is valid even in these more complex cases.

1
Load a previous Load .wDat file (MPT-
2 project (file .DATA) Multisource)

Load .BIN file

(formato IRIS Syscal)

Load a recently Load two projects and make operations

opened project 4D Project Empty Project
between them (useful for time lapse
Creation Creation
evaluations)

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 STEP 1: IMPORT DATA
1.1 Load .BIN file
Each Syscal .BIN file can be associated to a CONVERSION TABLE to assign the electrodes to the
coordinates (absolute or relative) to which the measurements are associated. Without the conversion table,
data will be loaded with the coordinates used for the sequence acquisition.
The conversion table is a 7-column .txt file:
ELECTRODE SEQUENCE REAL COORDINATES
NUMBER COORDINATES (absolute or relative)
ERTLab Studio automatically reads the conversion
table when the .BIN file is load, provided that the
two files have the SAME NAME:

Example
File .BIN Example Line .BIN
Associated Conversion Table Example Line.TXT

In case of acquisition with REMOTE POLE it is possible to:

• When project is loaded, check in REM coloumn of the coorresponding electrode (in electrodes table,
Paragraph 2.1)
OR
• Insert it in the conversion table, associating it at the ELECTRODE NUMBER = -1; in this case, ERTLab
Studio will automatically identify it as a remote pole:

Random coordinates
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 WORKFLOW CHART FOR ERT DATA PROCESSING

1) IMPORT DATA 2) DATA CHECK 3) DATA CLEANING

1.1 LOAD .BIN FILE 2.1 ELECTRODES CHECK 3.1 ELIMINATION OF

1.2 PRELIMINARY PROJECT 2.2 LOAD TOPOGRAPHY DUPLICATE ELECTRODES
TRANSLATION AND DUPLICATE AND
2.3 POSTPONED PROJECT
1.3 SAVE .DATA FILE RECIPROCAL
TRANSLATION
MEASUREMENTS
3.2 DATA FILTERING

4) MESH AND MODEL 5) INVERSION 6) DISPLAY OF

SETUP INVERTED MODEL
4.1 MESH SETUP 5.1 SETTING OF INVERSION
4.2 MODEL SETUP PARAMETERS
4.3 MESH GENERATION 5.2 INVERSION PROGRESS
CONTROL

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 STEP 1: IMPORT DATA
1.2 Preliminary Project translation
If the loaded file includes electrodes with geographic coordinates (UTM), ERTLab Studio suggests to switch to a
Local Reference System, shifting the system closer to the origin of the reference axes (near X=0, Y=0); this allows a
good manage of data display even using not particularly performing calculators.

The optimal TRANSLATION values are automatically calculated and suggested by ERTLab Studio.

At the end of the processing, it is

necessary to perform the
-245
ANTITRANSLATION (X and Y
-47181 values with inverted sign, in this
case +245 e +47181) to return the
system to the exact coordinates.

If a TOPOGRAPHY file has to be upload to the project, it must also be subject to the same translation. In this
case, there are two ways to do this:

• Apply automatic translation to the project at this step and subsequently translate the topography using the
proper tool, setting the SAME X and Y translation values (Paragraph 2.3);
• DO NOT apply automatic translation to the project at this step (click CANCEL) and translate topography
and project together subsequently (Paragraph 2.3)

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 STEP 1: IMPORT DATA
1.2 Preliminary Project translation

When .BIN file is open, an information window summarizes the main features of the file.

Opening information
message

The loaded .BIN file contain

73 electrodes and 8400
measurements.
No TOPOGRAPHY files have
been uploaded yet and the
MESH has not generated
yet.

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 WORKFLOW CHART FOR ERT DATA PROCESSING

1) IMPORT DATA 2) DATA CHECK 3) DATA CLEANING

1.1 LOAD .BIN FILE 2.1 ELECTRODES CHECK 3.1 ELIMINATION OF

1.2 PRELIMINARY PROJECT 2.2 LOAD TOPOGRAPHY DUPLICATE ELECTRODES
TRANSLATION AND DUPLICATE AND
2.3 POSTPONED PROJECT
1.3 SAVE .DATA FILE RECIPROCAL
TRANSLATION
MEASUREMENTS
3.2 DATA FILTERING

4) MESH AND MODEL 5) INVERSION 6) DISPLAY OF

SETUP INVERTED MODEL
4.1 MESH SETUP 5.1 SETTING OF INVERSION
4.2 MODEL SETUP PARAMETERS
4.3 MESH GENERATION 5.2 INVERSION PROGRESS
CONTROL

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 STEP 1: IMPORT DATA
1.3 Save .DATA file
From this point on, it is possible to save the file as .DATA File. To reopen this file later, use Load on the file
upload screen and no longer Load Bin.

1
2
2D LINE display (with electrodes and measurements shown)

From .BIN File to .DATA

File

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 WORKFLOW CHART FOR ERT DATA PROCESSING

1) IMPORT DATA 2) DATA CHECK 3) DATA CLEANING

1.1 LOAD .BIN FILE 2.1 ELECTRODES CHECK 3.1 ELIMINATION OF

1.2 PRELIMINARY PROJECT 2.2 LOAD TOPOGRAPHY DUPLICATE ELECTRODES
TRANSLATION AND DUPLICATE AND
2.3 POSTPONED PROJECT
1.3 SAVE .DATA FILE RECIPROCAL
TRANSLATION
MEASUREMENTS
3.2 DATA FILTERING

4) MESH AND MODEL 5) INVERSION 6) DISPLAY OF

SETUP INVERTED MODEL
4.1 MESH SETUP 5.1 SETTING OF INVERSION
4.2 MODEL SETUP PARAMETERS
4.3 MESH GENERATION 5.2 INVERSION PROGRESS
CONTROL

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 STEP 2: DATA CHECK
2.1 Electrodes check
Before proceeding with the next steps, it is advisable to check the electrodes and modify any incorrect
information.

Table for managing inside the

ELECTRODES green rectangle to
display all columns

1 2

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 STEP 2: DATA CHECK
2.1 Electrodes check

• Group: cable name.

• ID: it is a counter that is used to identify each element of the group. It is a not editable column. It's not
possible to associate the same 'ID' to more than one electrode of the same group, but two or more electrodes
of different groups can have the same 'ID'.

• X,Y,Z: Coordinate of the electrodes in the space. It is possible to change the value of X/Y/Z by double-
clicking the proper box.

• Zsurf: Z coordinate of the surface (if electrodes are positioned on the surface of the investigated area the Z
and the Zsurf have the same value). It is possible to change the value by double-clicking the proper box.

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.
STEP 2: DATA CHECK
.
2.1 Electrodes check

• TX: if it is flagged with it means that the relative electrode work as transmitter. If it is flagged with ,
instead, the electrode works just as receiver. This occurs especially with not-polarizable electrodes, which would be
damaged if they sent current.

• RX: : if it is flagged with it means that the relative electrode work as receiver. If it is flagged with ,
instead, the electrode works just as transmitter.

Generally, the electrodes works both as transmitters that as receivers, so both flags are by default. During the
sequence generation, it is possible to choose which electrodes must work as transmitters and/or receivers (double
click in the proper box to switch between flag and flag, and vice versa).

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 STEP 2: DATA CHECK
.
2.1 Electrodes check

• REM: flag of remote electrode. All electrodes have the symbol, except the electrode relative to the
remote pole, which is instead identified by the . It is possible to change the flag by double-clicking the
proper box.
If the remote pole was not inserted in the conversion table file (Paragraph 1.1), check the proper box with the
flag before proceeding with the measurements filtering.

• BOR: during sequence generation, it is possible to identify electrodes that work in hole and those placed on
the surface. If the Bor flag is with the symbol, it means that the relative electrode belongs to a borehole survey
(and Zsurf is different from Z); if it is flagged with the symbol, instead, the electrode is on the surface.

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 STEP 2: DATA CHECK
.
2.1 Electrodes check

• Skip: If one or more electrodes did not work during the acquisition, it is possible to delete the proper
measurements following the steps described here:
o Mark the Skip box of the electrodes with the flag, double-clicking the proper box (in the example,
electrodes 3, 6 and 7);
o Right-click anywhere inside the electrodes table;
o Click on Skip Measurements using skipped electrodes; with this function the measurements involving the
electrodes marked by the flag are not used for inversion, but they are still in the dataset (they are not
used for the inversion but they are not deleted, so it is possible to retrieve them later).

The same procedure, if applied during the sequence generation, allows to exclude some electrodes already
during data acquisition.
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 STEP 2: DATA CHECK
.
2.1 Electrodes check

 ROLL: if during the acquisition the roll-along method was adopted, the electrode commons at two
consecutive lines are marked with symbol , otherwise they are marked as . Electrodes that remain in
place (in blue in the figure below) are marked by the Roll tag during the sequence generation.

Example of Roll-Along Method acquisition

After the L1 line is acquired, the L2 line is positioned moving the

electrodes from 1 to 7 and leaving the other electrodes in place.
So the electrodes 8, 9 and 10 of Line 1 become the electrodes 1,
2 and 3 for line 2 (here, L1 and L2 are represented apart but they
are actually on the same line and the electrodes in blue are not
moved).

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 WORKFLOW CHART FOR ERT DATA PROCESSING

1) IMPORT DATA 2) DATA CHECK 3) DATA CLEANING

1.1 LOAD .BIN FILE 2.1 ELECTRODES CHECK 3.1 ELIMINATION OF

1.2 PRELIMINARY PROJECT 2.2 LOAD TOPOGRAPHY DUPLICATE ELECTRODES
TRANSLATION AND DUPLICATE AND
2.3 POSTPONED PROJECT
1.3 SAVE .DATA FILE RECIPROCAL
TRANSLATION
MEASUREMENTS
3.2 DATA FILTERING

4) MESH AND MODEL 5) INVERSION 6) DISPLAY OF

SETUP INVERTED MODEL
4.1 MESH SETUP 5.1 SETTING OF INVERSION
4.2 MODEL SETUP PARAMETERS
4.3 MESH GENERATION 5.2 INVERSION PROGRESS
CONTROL

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 STEP 2: DATA CHECK
2.2 Load Topography

It is possible to add a topography file, which allows a more correct reconstruction of the 3D volume and
processing of data, especially in non-flat contexts.

topography file must be a .txt file with 3 columns :

Coordinate X Coordinate Y Coordinate Z

Example of Topography
file (in local coordinates)

2
1

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 STEP 2: DATA CHECK
2.2 Load Topography

It is possible to manage the display of the topography through the tools in the Surface sub-node.

Panel for managing the

display of topographical
points

Panel for managing the display of

the surface which interpolates
the topographic points.

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 STEP 2: DATA CHECK
Topography with gray surface with
medium transparency and 2.2 Load Topography Topography with gray surface
with smooth and medium
topographical points displayed
transparency
Examples

Topography with green surface, with Topography with black wireframe surface,
smooth and medium level of transparency with smooth applied and medium level of
transparency
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 WORKFLOW CHART FOR ERT DATA PROCESSING

1) IMPORT DATA 2) DATA CHECK 3) DATA CLEANING

1.1 LOAD .BIN FILE 2.1 ELECTRODES CHECK 3.1 ELIMINATION OF

1.2 PRELIMINARY PROJECT 2.2 LOAD TOPOGRAPHY DUPLICATE ELECTRODES
TRANSLATION AND DUPLICATE AND
2.3 POSTPONED PROJECT
1.3 SAVE .DATA FILE RECIPROCAL
TRANSLATION
MEASUREMENTS
3.2 DATA FILTERING

4) MESH AND MODEL 5) INVERSION 6) DISPLAY OF

SETUP INVERTED MODEL
4.1 MESH SETUP 5.1 SETTING OF INVERSION
4.2 MODEL SETUP PARAMETERS
4.3 MESH GENERATION 5.2 INVERSION PROGRESS
CONTROL

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 STEP 2: DATA CHECK
2.3 Post-poned project translation
After the topography is loaded, if it is in geographic coordinates (UTM), ERTLab Studio suggests the transition
to a local reference system, shifting the system closer to the origin of the reference axes (near X=0, Y=0); this
allows a reactive management of data even with the use of a not very performing calculators.

Enter the SAME X and Y

translation values that ERTLab
Studio automatically calculates at
• IF during the loading of the .BIN the .BIN file opening.
File has been chosen to apply the
AUTOMATIC TRANSLATION of
the system, it is necessary to apply
1
the SAME TRANSLATION also to 2
TOPOGRAPHY.

• IF during the loading of the .BIN file has been chosen to NOT apply the AUTOMATIC TRANSLATION of
the system, now it is possible to move the entire project jointly. To do that:
o SAVE the current project (with electrodes check and the topography loading done);
o CLOSE the project;
o LOAD again the project at this point, ERTLab Studio suggests the AUTOMATIC TRANSLATION again, based
on the coordinates of the project and the topography loaded together;
o APPLY THE SUGGESTED AUTOTRANSLATION.

Whatever the translation mode is perform, at the end of processing it is possible to make an
ANTITRANSLATION (values of X and Y with inverted sign) to return the system to the original coordinates.

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 WORKFLOW CHART FOR ERT DATA PROCESSING

1) IMPORT DATA 2) DATA CHECK 3) DATA CLEANING

1.1 LOAD .BIN FILE 2.1 ELECTRODES CHECK 3.1 ELIMINATION OF

1.2 PRELIMINARY PROJECT 2.2 LOAD TOPOGRAPHY DUPLICATE ELECTRODES
TRANSLATION AND DUPLICATE AND
2.3 POSTPONED PROJECT
1.3 SAVE .DATA FILE RECIPROCAL
TRANSLATION
MEASUREMENTS
3.2 DATA FILTERING

4) MESH AND MODEL 5) INVERSION 6) DISPLAY OF

SETUP INVERTED MODEL
4.1 MESH SETUP 5.1 SETTING OF INVERSION
4.2 MODEL SETUP PARAMETERS
4.3 MESH GENERATION 5.2 INVERSION PROGRESS
CONTROL

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 STEP 3: DATA CLEANING
3.1 Elimination of duplicate electrodes and duplicate and reciprocal measurements

DUPLICATED ELECTRODES  Electrodes with same coordinates.

They can result from a repetition during the record of the electrode positioning by the topographer (with a
small difference between the two measurements) or from two 2D lines that intersect not at the same electrode.
Tolerance of the distance between two
electrodes (in meters). At values higher
than those indicated, electrodes are
considered as two individual entities. At
lower values, the two electrodes are joined
into a single electrode.

1 2

Do not delete duplicate electrodes does not cause

errors in the inversion process, but it can make it more No duplicate electrodes
time consuming. were found in this case

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 STEP 3: DATA CLEANING
3.1 Elimination of duplicate electrodes and duplicate and reciprocal measurements

RECIPROCAL MEASUREMENTS Measurements with Tx and Rx reversed. Theoretically, they should

give the same measure

AB MN = MN AB  RECIPROCAL MEASUREMENTS
AB MN = BA MN
DUPLICATE AB MN = NM AB
AB MN = BA NM
MEASUREMENTS AB MN = MN BA DUPLICATE OF RECIPROCAL
AB MN = AB NM
AB MN = NM BA MEASUREMENTS Information about the number of
reciprocal quadrupoles and the %
average of Apparent Resistivity

1 2

Export .CSV file with information about duplicate/reciprocal measurements

Removes reciprocal measurements from the dataset

Value that ERTLab will attribute to Rho noise

% for the inversion (Paragraph 5.1)

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 WORKFLOW CHART FOR ERT DATA PROCESSING

1) IMPORT DATA 2) DATA CHECK 3) DATA CLEANING

1.1 LOAD .BIN FILE 2.1 ELECTRODES CHECK 3.1 ELIMINATION OF

1.2 PRELIMINARY PROJECT 2.2 LOAD TOPOGRAPHY DUPLICATE ELECTRODES
TRANSLATION AND DUPLICATE AND
2.3 POSTPONED PROJECT
1.3 SAVE .DATA FILE RECIPROCAL
TRANSLATION
MEASUREMENTS
3.2 DATA FILTERING

4) MESH AND MODEL 5) INVERSION 6) DISPLAY OF

SETUP INVERTED MODEL
4.1 MESH SETUP 5.1 SETTING OF INVERSION
4.2 MODEL SETUP PARAMETERS
4.3 MESH GENERATION 5.2 INVERSION PROGRESS
CONTROL

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 STEP 3: DATA CLEANING
3.2 Data Filtering
It is possible to clean data following different approaches:
• STATISTICAL ANALYSIS OF MEASURES  By graphical representation of measurements (Histograms);
• NUMERICAL ANALYSIS OF MEASURES  By sorting measuremnts (increasing values, decreasing values,
absolute value..);
• GRAPHICAL ANALYSIS OF MEASURES  Plotting data in 2D charts.

The first type is the most commonly used.

1 2

Choice of the type of measure Setting of mode and values

to filter for data filtering

Setting of histogram display

Statistical summary of data
mode

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 STEP 3: DATA CLEANING
3.2 Data Filtering_Statistical Analysis

Example filtering Apparent Resistivity:

I. Select App Res (Ohm*m) from the drop-down menu.

II. Optionally increase the

number of bars of the
histogram and set the Min Max
logarithmic display mode for a
better representation of data
distribution.

III. Select Outside Limits to filter

data external to cut limits values
(areas highlighted in red in the
histogram) and preserve the
INTERNAL data (area highlighted in
green in the histogram);

IV. Write cut values, maximum, and

minimum, basing on histogram
trend;

V. Click Apply

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 STEP 3: DATA CLEANING
3.2 Data Filtering_Statistical Analysis

VI. Check the quantity of deleted data after the application of filtering, in the Statistical Summary panel.

In this case, the

.
values<0 were deleted
because in a 2D line
negative Apparent
Resistivity values
constitute noise

13.77% of
measures
filtered

Repeat the steps for the other voices to filter, selecting them from the drop-down menu.

To filter the Quality Factor q, clean the percentage standard deviation data (StdDev V/I %)

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 STEP 3: DATA CLEANING
3.2 Data Filtering_Statistical Analysis

The filtered data has NOT been deleted from the dataset, but they will not be used for inversion. However,
it is possible to delete them from the project.

. Opening the
measurements table,
the filtered measures
are grayed out.
1 2

Select and click Ok to

delete the filtered
measurements from the
dataset

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 WORKFLOW CHART FOR ERT DATA PROCESSING

1) IMPORT DATA 2) DATA CHECK 3) DATA CLEANING

1.1 LOAD .BIN FILE 2.1 ELECTRODES CHECK 3.1 ELIMINATION OF

1.2 PRELIMINARY PROJECT 2.2 LOAD TOPOGRAPHY DUPLICATE ELECTRODES
TRANSLATION AND DUPLICATE AND
2.3 POSTPONED PROJECT
1.3 SAVE .DATA FILE RECIPROCAL
TRANSLATION
MEASUREMENTS
3.2 DATA FILTERING

4) MESH AND MODEL 5) INVERSION 6) DISPLAY OF

SETUP INVERTED MODEL
4.1 MESH SETUP 5.1 SETTING OF INVERSION
4.2 MODEL SETUP PARAMETERS
4.3 MESH GENERATION 5.2 INVERSION PROGRESS
CONTROL

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 STEP 4: MESH AND MODEL SETUP
4.1 Mesh Setup
MESH  discretization of the subsurface in cells that define the domain under investigation and the space around it.

Filtered the data, before proceeding with

the inversion it is necessary to discretize
the investigated volume in cells.

Setting limits and size of Setting size and limits of

Mesh Setting 'Foreground’ area 'Background’ area

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 STEP 4: MESH AND MODEL SETUP
4.1 Mesh Setup_Automatic Configuration
By clicking Compute Optimal Value, ERTlLab Studio automatically calculates the optimal parameters for the creation
of the mesh.

• If the shape of the investigated volume does not follow the main axes (X and Y), a System Rotation is
suggested, to optimize the creation of the Mesh.

Rotation value (in

degrees) automatically
calculated by the system

At the end of processing it is possible to

perform the ANTIROTATION (angle
value with inverted sign, in this case +18.4)
to return the system to the original
1 coordinates.

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 STEP 4: MESH AND MODEL SETUP
4.1 Mesh Setup_Automatic Configuration

Example
NOT optimized Mesh Optimized mesh

ROTATION
Area with cells where
no measure were
recorded. It causes a
slowing down of the
inversion process and
data management.

If the automatic configuration does not meet expectations, it is possible to manually set the properties, as it shown
in the following pages.

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 STEP 4: MESH AND MODEL SETUP
4.1 Mesh Setup_Customized Configuration
SCHEMATIC EXAMPLE REAL EXAMPLE

CASE A

I. Select the role of the Topography in the Mesh generation

It is possible to make:
CASE B
• A Mesh with flat top and bottom (CASE A)

• A Mesh with a surface that follows the topography

and a flat bottom (CASE B)

CASE C

• A Mesh where both the surface and the bottom

follow the topography (CASE C)

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 STEP 4: MESH AND MODEL SETUP
4.1 Mesh Setup_Customized Configuration
II. Define the role of the Z-coordinate in the Mesh generation.

• IF the Mesh has topographic information, the Z-coordinates

of one or more electrodes may not be consistent with the
topography file; in this case the electrodes appears suspended
over the ground or buried.
•

o It is necessary to adapt the Z-Coordinate of the

Electrodes to the Mesh or, on the contrary, the Mesh
ELETTRODES Coordinates to the Electrodes.

o In most cases, the Topography Z information is more

accurate than the Z of the electrodes, so it is convenient
to adapt the Z electrodes to the Mesh:
Adapt Z of Mesh to Electrodes Adapt Z of Electrodes to
(add electrodes to toography) the Mesh

• IF the Mesh does NOT contain topographical information or

the Z coordinates of the electrodes are more consistent (for
example, if there is not a DEM file - Digital Elevation Model -
but just few topographical scattered points):
•

Schematic example of Mesh reconstruction based only o Adapt the Z of the mesh to the topography:
on topographical electrode information

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 STEP 4: MESH AND MODEL SETUP
4.1 Mesh Setup_Customized Configuration

III. Define the role of the X and Y coordinates

of the electrodes in Mesh generation.

It is possible that the position of one or more electrodes does not match any node of the Mesh:

In this case, it is possible:

o MOVE THE ELECTRODES TO THE o DEFORM THE MESH SO THAT EACH ELECTRODE
NEAREST MESH NODE MATCHES A MESH NODE

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 STEP 4: MESH AND MODEL SETUP
4.1 Mesh Setup_Customized Configuration
V. Definire i limiti del Foreground Region e del Background Region

FOREGROUND REGION  Portion of the mesh that includes the

FOREGROUND REGION
investigated area, defined by the geometry of the electrodes on the
ground (volume actually investigated).
BACKGROUND REGION
BACKGROUND REGION  Theoretically infinite area, necessary
to define boundary conditions (edge effects).

X and Y minimum and maximum values are determined by the coordinate of the
rergg
electrodes
The ideal cell size corresponds to half the electrodic
distance (so 0.5m in case of electrodes spaced 1m apart). It is
possible to choose other values, but it is recommended to use
values corresponding to multiples and sub-multiples of the
electrodic distance.

IF the bottom of the Mesh is flat  Z Depth

(thickness) is NOT editable, because the thickness
is not constant; define a minimum and maximum Z IF the bottom of the Mesh follows the topography  the
value thickness is constant, so it is sufficent to set the Z-Depth
(and the Z row becomes NOT editable)

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 STEP 4: MESH AND MODEL SETUP
4.1 Mesh Setup_Customized Configuration
V. Define the limits of the Foreground and theBackground Region

FOREGROUND REGION

BACKGROUND REGION

The dimension of the Background Region is defined by pads: each

number manages the location of one Background node. The number n
indicates n times the size of the Foreground cell.

Example

. If the cell size in X is 0,5 m:

Pad 1 is equivalent to a background cell of 0,5 m (1x0,5);
Pad 2 to a 1m background cell (2x0,5);
Pad 4 to a 2m background cell (4x0.5);
Pad 8 to a 4m background cell (8x0,5).

If it is changed the number of pads in the Background region compared to the

automatically calculated pads, make sure that the REMOTE POLE is included in the Mesh.
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 WORKFLOW CHART FOR ERT DATA PROCESSING

1) IMPORT DATA 2) DATA CHECK 3) DATA CLEANING

1.1 LOAD .BIN FILE 2.1 ELECTRODES CHECK 3.1 ELIMINATION OF

1.2 PRELIMINARY PROJECT 2.2 LOAD TOPOGRAPHY DUPLICATE ELECTRODES
TRANSLATION AND DUPLICATE AND
2.3 POSTPONED PROJECT
1.3 SAVE .DATA FILE RECIPROCAL
TRANSLATION
MEASUREMENTS
3.2 DATA FILTERING

4) MESH AND MODEL 5) INVERSION 6) DISPLAY OF

SETUP INVERTED MODEL
4.1 MESH SETUP 5.1 SETTING OF INVERSION
4.2 MODEL SETUP PARAMETERS
4.3 MESH GENERATION 5.2 INVERSION PROGRESS
CONTROL

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 STEP 4: MESH AND MODEL SETUP
4.2 Model Setup
After setting the Mesh, it is necessary to set the Resistivity value of the model from which the inversion process
will start.

By clicking on Compute Optimum Value,

the background resistivity optimal value
1 will be calculated automatically basing
Se sono presenti misure di IP on the median value of the Statistical
verrà automaticamente calcolato Apparent Resistivity curve (Paragraph
2 anche il relativo valore di 3.2).
partenza per l’inversione

It is possible to enter the desired value in the proper box, considering the average and median values of the Apparent
Resistivity of the filtered dataset.

APPARENT
RESISTIIVITY
HISTOGRAM
PANEL
(Paragraph 3.2)

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 STEP 4: MESH AND MODEL SETUP
4.2 Model Setup

It is also possible to start from a non-homogeneous model by inserting one or more anomalies, or a known stratigraphy:

Example of Mesh with 3 anomalies

inserted, from two points of view.

Define spatial limits and the

Resistivity value of the anomaly

Repeat for each anomaly to add

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 WORKFLOW CHART FOR ERT DATA PROCESSING

1) IMPORT DATA 2) DATA CHECK 3) DATA CLEANING

1.1 LOAD .BIN FILE 2.1 ELECTRODES CHECK 3.1 ELIMINATION OF

1.2 PRELIMINARY PROJECT 2.2 LOAD TOPOGRAPHY DUPLICATE ELECTRODES
TRANSLATION AND DUPLICATE AND
2.3 POSTPONED PROJECT
1.3 SAVE .DATA FILE RECIPROCAL
TRANSLATION
MEASUREMENTS
3.2 DATA FILTERING

4) MESH AND MODEL 5) INVERSION 6) DISPLAY OF

SETUP INVERTED MODEL
4.1 MESH SETUP 5.1 SETTING OF INVERSION
4.2 MODEL SETUP PARAMETERS
4.3 MESH GENERATION 5.2 INVERSION PROGRESS
CONTROL

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 STEP 4: MESH AND MODEL SETUP
4.3 Mesh Generation
After setting the Mesh and the Model, generate the Mesh using the Run Mesh Generation button. Manage the display
mode using the Mesh and Model node.

Examples of Mesh from different points of view

Mesh Display Setting

Panel

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 WORKFLOW CHART FOR ERT DATA PROCESSING

1) IMPORT DATA 2) DATA CHECK 3) DATA CLEANING

1.1 LOAD .BIN FILE 2.1 ELECTRODES CHECK 3.1 ELIMINATION OF

1.2 PRELIMINARY PROJECT 2.2 LOAD TOPOGRAPHY DUPLICATE ELECTRODES
TRANSLATION AND DUPLICATE AND
2.3 POSTPONED PROJECT
1.3 SAVE .DATA FILE RECIPROCAL
TRANSLATION
MEASUREMENTS
3.2 DATA FILTERING

4) MESH AND MODEL 5) INVERSION 6) DISPLAY OF

SETUP INVERTED MODEL
4.1 MESH SETUP 5.1 SETTING OF INVERSION
4.2 MODEL SETUP PARAMETERS
4.3 MESH GENERATION 5.2 INVERSION PROGRESS
CONTROL

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 STEP 5: INVERSION
5.1 Setting of inversion parameters
Generated the Mesh, the last step is to set the parameters of data inversion. Clicking Compute Optimal Value,
ERTLab Studio automatically calculates the optimal parameters for the inversion.

Noise setting Inversion-type setting

Setting of PC
Elaboration of Induced Setting of the folder for
resources to dedicate
Polarization (IP) Data saving Temporary Files
to the inversion

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 STEP 5: INVERSION
5.1 Setting of inversion parameters

If the automatic configuration does not meet expectations, it is possible to manually set the various properties.

I. Setting Iterations

GOOD MODEL (THAT

IN THEORY MODEL THAT REPRODUCE AIM OF INVERSION:
SATISFY THE PROBLEM EXACTLY THE FIELD DATA. SO
OF INVERSION) Field data – Modeled data ≈ 0

BUT

FIELD DATA are affected by errors (noise)

SO

GOOD MODEL (THAT MODEL THAT REPRODUCE

ACTUALLY SATISFY THE PROBLEM THE FIELD DATA WITH A AIM OF INVERSION:
SO
OF INVERSION) CERTAIN ERROR Modeled data = Field data + noise

This panel allows to set the Rho and IP error in terms

of percentage error; higher is the noise of the data,
higher is the Data Percent Error to set (indicatively, 1
for very clean data, 3-5 for data with medium
signal/noise ratio, 10 or more for very noisy data).

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 STEP 5: INVERSION
5.1 Setting of inversion parameters
II. Inversion IP data

ERTLab Studio can simultaneously process Electrical Resistivity (Rho) and Induced Polarization
(IP) data. To include the IP data in the inversion, check the proper box.

II. Iteration setting

Inversion process proceeds by ‘trials’ to determine optimal roughness parameters to use on each iteration. This
operation can take a long time, so it is possible to choose the number of trials to run on each iteration.

SIMPLE (4 1): performs 4 trials on the 1st

iteration and 1 trial from the 2nd
Sequence customization Maximum iterations
iteration onwards.

COMPLETE (4): performs 4 trials on each

iteration, from the first to the last.

CUSTOM: it allows to choose the

number of trials on each iteration,
writing the proper numbers in the
dedicated box.

Full sequence of iterations, resulting from the set values

Example of custom sequence:
In this case, a maximum of 15 iterations are performed; in the first iteration, 4 trial are performed, in
the second 2 and from the third to the fifteenth only 1.

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 STEP 5: INVERSION
5.1 Setting of inversion parameters

III. Core pc setting

The value depends on the hardware characteristics of the computer you are working on. As the threads used for
inversion increase, the processing time decreases.

IV. Setting of the folder of Temporary Files

It lets to choose where to save the temporary files with the various intermediate steps of the inversion process.

For Advanced Functions (Boundary conditions, Robust Inversion, PCG iterative solver parameters, ...) refer to
the User Guide.

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 WORKFLOW CHART FOR ERT DATA PROCESSING

1) IMPORT DATA 2) DATA CHECK 3) DATA CLEANING

1.1 LOAD .BIN FILE 2.1 ELECTRODES CHECK 3.1 ELIMINATION OF

1.2 PRELIMINARY PROJECT 2.2 LOAD TOPOGRAPHY DUPLICATE ELECTRODES
TRANSLATION AND DUPLICATE AND
2.3 POSTPONED PROJECT
1.3 SAVE .DATA FILE RECIPROCAL
TRANSLATION
MEASUREMENTS
3.2 DATA FILTERING

4) MESH AND MODEL 5) INVERSION 6) DISPLAY OF

SETUP INVERTED MODEL
4.1 MESH SETUP 5.1 SETTING OF INVERSION
4.2 MODEL SETUP PARAMETERS
4.3 MESH GENERATION 5.2 INVERSION PROGRESS
CONTROL

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 STEP 5: INVERSION
5.2 Inversion progress control
Click on Run Inversion to let the inversion starts; select the project folder where the inversion files will be
automatically saved. A progress window of the processing will appear on the screen and it will be completed
automatically as the elaboration proceeds.
When processing is end, a warning message will be displayed.

PROGRESS OF
INVERSION
The bars represent the
accuracy of the Inversion Cross-plot between modeled data
and filed data.

Inversion
summary
chart

Message of Inversione
completed, with
processing time taken

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 STEP 5: INVERSION
5.2 Inversion progress control

RELIABLE INVERSION NOT RELIABLE INVERSION

• Histograms decrease in height as iterations proceed • The histograms remain at a constant height from
(the residual decrease as the inversion proceeds); iteration 6 to 12 (no progress at the proceed of
• The last bar of the histogram corresponds in height inversion) and at the last 2 iterations they are opposite
to the red line (ideal inversion target = number of to the trend, reaching very high residual values.
measurements to process). • The last bar in the histogram does not match the red
• Low number (7) of iterations (easy to converge). target line.
• High number of iterations (14 iterations), for difficulty
in convergence.

The inversion summary chart is automatically saved in the project folder (chosen when the inversion was
started) with the name RES Iter nTrialn.
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 STEP 5: INVERSION
5.2 Inversion progress control

INVERSIONE ATTENDIBILE INVERSIONE NON ATTENDIBILE

• At the end of the inversion, the plot between • At the end of the inversion, the plot between field
field data and calculated data is near to 1:1 ratio, data and calculated data is far from the diagonal (in
and data are distributed along the diagonal; this case they are align along 0 of calculated V/I)
• Abnormal values (outliers, yellow dots, where • Outliers (yellow dots, where the absolute difference
the absolute difference between modeled data between modeled data and measured data is high) are
and measured data is high) are in the minority. the majority of data and they are distributed almost
evenly throughout the cross-plot.

CHECK AND EVENTUALLY FURTHER CLEAN FIELD DATA, EDIT THE

NOISE AND/OR THE STARTING MODEL AND PROCEED AGAIN WITH
INVERSION

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 WORKFLOW CHART FOR ERT DATA PROCESSING

1) IMPORT DATA 2) DATA CHECK 3) DATA CLEANING

1.1 LOAD .BIN FILE 2.1 ELECTRODES CHECK 3.1 ELIMINATION OF

1.2 PRELIMINARY PROJECT 2.2 LOAD TOPOGRAPHY DUPLICATE ELECTRODES
TRANSLATION AND DUPLICATE AND
2.3 POSTPONED PROJECT
1.3 SAVE .DATA FILE RECIPROCAL
TRANSLATION
MEASUREMENTS
3.2 DATA FILTERING

4) MESH AND MODEL 5) INVERSION 6) DISPLAY OF

SETUP INVERTED MODEL
4.1 MESH SETUP 5.1 SETTING OF INVERSION
4.2 MODEL SETUP PARAMETERS
4.3 MESH GENERATION 5.2 INVERSION PROGRESS
CONTROL

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 STEP 6: DISPLAY OF INVERTED MODEL
At the end of the inversion processing, it is possible to visualize the result by activating the Resistivity Model
node from the tree menu. It is possible to custom the way to represent data choosing between sections in each
direction, volumes, and isosurfaces. For further information, refer to the User Guide.

With ERTLab Studio it is possible to visualize field data (Measurements Node) and inverted data (Resistivity-
Conductivity-IP_Model node) in the same project.

SECTIONS
Examples VOLUMES

TOTAL VOLUME

CONDUCTIVE VOLUME

RESISTIVE VOLUME

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