Abstract: | Computations of the time-domain electromagnetic response of a multi-layered earth have been carried out for different source-receiver coil systems. The primary excitation is a train of half-sinusoidal waveforms of alternating polarity. The conversion into the time-domain involves Fourier series summation of the matched complex mutual coupling ratios of the layered earth models computed by a digital linear filter method. As an example, the response of a perpendicular coil system on the ground surface for two source-receiver separations has been presented for a five-layer earth model. This has been compared with the responses of homogeneous, two-layer, three-layer, and four-layer models. Next, the investigations have been extended to study the problems of equivalence of three-layer models, the intermediate layer of which is either conductive or resistive. For an intermediate conductive layer (H-type), the studies show that in the early portion of the signal the interpretation of a true three-layer earth is possible to some extent, whereas the ambiguity due to equivalence persists in the late samples. On the other hand, for an intermediate resistive layer (K-type), the three-layer earth and its equivalent model cannot be distinguished from each other over the entire sampling period. On the basis of a computational approach, equivalence has been empirically established as √h/ρ=constant for H-type earth-sections, and as h2ρ=constant for K-type earth sections, where h and ρ are respectively the thickness and resistivity of the intermediate layer. |