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Numerical accuracy of magnetotelluric modeling: A comparison of finite difference approximations

Earth, Planets and Space volume 54, pages 721–725 (2002)Cite this article

Abstract

To solve for the induced electromagnetic fields in a conductive medium the quasi-static Maxwell’s equations may be reduced to a second order elliptic system, formulated in terms of either the electric or magnetic vector fields. We show with 1-D and 3-D numerical experiments that solutions obtained from equations formulated in terms of the electric fields are less sensitive to grid resolution than those obtained from the magnetic formulation. On a fine enough mesh, solutions from both approaches are nearly identical, while on coarser meshes solutions form the electric field formulation tend to be closer to exact solutions (where available), or fully converged fine mesh solutions.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physics, Faculty of Science, Mahidol University, Rama VI Rd., Rachatawee, Bangkok, 10400, Thailand

    Weerachai Siripunvaraporn

  2. College of Oceanic and Atmospheric Sciences, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR, 97331, USA

    Gary Egbert

  3. Department of Mathematics, Faculty of Science, Mahidol University, Rama VI Rd., Rachatawee, Bangkok, 10400, Thailand

    Yongwimon Lenbury

Authors
  1. Weerachai Siripunvaraporn
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  2. Gary Egbert
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  3. Yongwimon Lenbury
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Correspondence to Weerachai Siripunvaraporn.

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Siripunvaraporn, W., Egbert, G. & Lenbury, Y. Numerical accuracy of magnetotelluric modeling: A comparison of finite difference approximations. Earth Planet Sp 54, 721–725 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1186/BF03351724

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/BF03351724

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