Geophysical Methods
Geophysics is the study of earth through the collection and analysis of physical property measurements that are recorded at or near the ground surface. Thus, geophysical methods include a vast array of techniques that apply various principles of physics to investigate the physical properties of the subsurface.
Geophysical methods can be broadly categorized by the environment in which they are applied:
- on the earth surface,
- within a borehole/well,
- or on a surface waterbody.
Each environmentally dependent category (i.e., surface-, borehole-, and waterborne- geophysics) can be further subdivided according to the underlying physics employed within the methodology.
The list below link to general theories and applications of the method type and provide a list of commonly employed geophysical methods. Each method type includes relevant information, examples, and references.
The remaining portion of this site covers topics that are useful in developing a more comprehensive awareness for the use of these methods. Such topics include:
- the geophysical properties measured with geophysical methods,
- the inversion approaches used to process and analyze the data,
- a listing of environmental geophysics terms,
- and a list of environmental geophysics references.