Inverse Techniques and Geologic Models

LERCHE, IAN, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC

The development is well advanced of inverse procedures for assessing the resolution, precision, uniqueness, and sensitivity of behaviors of geologic models. This paper provides a set of illustrations illuminating the general concepts, examining the array of different

models that are amenable to inverse techniques, and portraying the degrees of resolution of behaviors. The sensitivity of results to variations in input assumptions, input parameters and functional dependences, and input quality, quantity, and distribution of control data are also examined.