Geostatistics for Bayesian interpretation of geophysical data

This study presents a practical procedure for the Bayesian inversion of geophysical data by Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) sampling and geostatistics. We have applied geostatistical techniques for the acquisition of prior model information, and then the MCMC method was adopted to infer the characteristics of the marginal distributions of model parameters. For the Bayesian inversion of dipole-dipole array resistivity data, we have used the indicator kriging and simulation techniques to generate cumulative density functions from Schlumberger array resistivity data and well logging data, and obtained prior information by cokriging and simulations from covariogram models. The indicator approach makes it possible to incorporate non-parametric information into the probabilistic density function. We have also adopted the MCMC approach, based on Gibbs sampling, to examine the characteristics of a posteriori probability density function and the marginal distribution of each parameter. This approach provides an effective way to treat Bayesian inversion of geophysical data and reduce the non-uniqueness by incorporating various prior information.