CHAPTER 9

TIME-DOMAIN ELECTROMAGNETIC

9.0
Transient electromagnetics, (also time-domain electromagnetics / TDEM), is a
geophysical exploration technique in which electric and magnetic fields are induced
by transient pulses of electric current and the subsequent decay response measured. TEM /
TDEM methods are generally able to determine subsurface electrical properties, but are also
sensitive to subsurface magnetic properties in applications like UXO detection and
characterization. TEM/TDEM surveys area very common surface EM technique for mineral
exploration, groundwater exploration, and for environmental mapping, used throughout the
world in both onshore and offshore applications.

9.1
BASIC THEORY
By using a primary field which is not continuous but consists of a series of pulses separated by
periods when it is inactive. The secondary field induced by the primary is only measured
during the interval when the primary is absent. This method solves the problem with many EM
surveying techniques which is a small secondary field must be measured in the presence of a
much larger primary field, with a consequent decrease in accuracy. This problem is overcome
in time-domain electromagnetic surveying (TDEM).
The eddy currents induced in a subsurface conductor tend to diffuse inwards towards its centre
when the inducing field is removed and gradually dissipate by resistive heat loss. Within
highly conductive bodies, however, eddy currents circulate around the boundary of the body
and decay more slowly. Measurement of the rate of decay of the waning eddy currents thus
provides a means of locating anomalously conducting bodies and estimating their
conductivity.
In ground surveys, the primary pulsed EM field is generated by a transmitter that usually
consists of a large rectangular loop of wire, several tens of metres across, which is laid on the
ground. The transmitter loop can also be utilized as the receiver, or a second coil can be used
for this purpose, either on the ground surface or down a borehole (Dyck & West 1984).The
transient secondary field produced by the decaying eddy currents can last from less than a
millisecond for poor conductors to more than 20 ms for good conductors. The decaying
secondary field is quantified by measuring the temporal variation of the amplitude of the
secondary at a number of fixed times (channels) after primary cut-off.
General principle of EM method
Electromagnetic-induction prospecting methods, both airborne and (most) ground techniques,
make use of man-made primary electromagnetic fields in, roughly, the following way: An
alternating magnetic field is established by passing a current through a coil, (or along a long
wire). The field is measured with a receiver consisting of a sensitive electronic amplifier and
meter or potentiometer bridge. The frequency of the alternating current is chosen such that an

insignificant eddy-current field is induced in the ground if it has an average electrical

conductivity,
If the source and receiver are brought near a more conductive zone, stronger eddy currents
may be caused to circulate within it and an appreciable secondary magnetic field will thereby
be created. Close to the conductor, this secondary or anomalous field may be compared in
magnitude to the primary or normal field (which prevails in the absence of conductors), in
which case it can be detected by the receiver. The secondary field strength, Hs, is usually
measured as a proportion of the primary field strength, Hp, at the receiver in percent or ppm
(parts per million).
Anomaly = Hs / Hp.
Increasing the primary field strength increases the secondary field strength proportionally but
the "anomaly" measured in ppm or percent remains the same.