Method and apparatus for transmitting electromagnetic signals into the earth at frequencies below 500 KHz from a capacitor emplaced on the surface of the earth or raised aloft in an aircraft

• US 7,095,357 B1
• Filed: 05/14/2003
• Issued: 08/22/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 05/14/2003
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Joseph Ralph Johler
• Original Assignee: Joseph Ralph Johler
• Inventors: Johler, Joseph Ralph
• Primary Examiner(s): Gregory, Bernarr E.
• Application Number:
  US10/437,024
• Time in Patent Office: 1,196 Days
• Field of Search: 342/21, 342/22, 342/25, 342/27, 342/28, 342/175, 342192-197, 342 25 R- 25 F, 342 82-103, 342/118, 342134-145, 342/176, 342/179
• US Class Current: 342/22
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 13/0218 Very long range radars, e.g. surface wave radar, over-the-horizon or ionospheric propagation systems for meteorological use G01S13/95
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 7/032 Constructional details for solid-state radar subsystems
• CPC Class Codes: G01V 3/12 operating with electromagnetic waves operating with millimetre waves G01V8/005
• CPC Class Codes: H01Q 1/04 Adaptation for subterranean or subaqueous use
• CPC Class Codes: H01Q 1/28 Adaptation for use in or on aircraft, missiles, satellites, or balloons
• CPC Class Codes: H01Q 9/285 Planar dipole H01Q9/065 takes precedence; patch antenna H01Q9/0407

Abstract

A method and apparatus comprising four co-planar metallic plates, two for transmission and two for reception, in which each pair of co-planer metallic plates of overall length L are disposed either in direct contact with the earth or are elevated a distance Z above the earth to form a capacitor comprising the metallic plates and the earth if Z=0 or if Z>0, the metallic plates, the air space and the earth. A short voltage or current pulse is applied to this capacitor via a transformer in which the magnetic flux current is adjusted to provide a pulse of the desired frequency composition in the air-earth propagation medium. This results in a frequency controlled pulse of electromagnetic radiation into the targeted subterranean geology at frequencies <500 KHZ. In the preferred embodiment, the electromagnetic radiation that has propagated through the subsurface is iterated against a theoretical model for earth propagation of vertically traveling up-going and down-going waves to get a solution for the magnitude of the electrical properties as a function of the depth in the medium through which these waves have traveled. Electrical property vs depth profiles of the relative dielectric and the conductivity in addition to wave velocity and attenuation rate at depth in the subsurface are recovered by the iteration. For operation at capacitor altitude Z above the surface of the earth, the overall size of the capacitor, L, can be specified for use in the pulse spectrum below 500 khz.

Claims

1. A method for transmitting an electromagnetic signal or pulse to and through an earth formation and recovering from the return signal or pulse, select frequencies that are strongly coupled to the earth at aircraft heights or on the surface of the earth and at the same time penetrate to great depths of the order of tens of thousands of feet or more including the steps of:

(a) disposing capacitor plates having a largest dimension L either in direct contact with the earth formation or elevated a height Z above the earth formation to form an earth capacitor comprising the plate assembly, the air or space between the plates and the earth if Z>

0 and the region in the earth formation either in direct contact with the plates or separated from the plates by the height, Z>

0, whereupon returning frequencies are selected that in the earth formation are electrically coupled or for each frequency up to the highest selected frequency, where KoZ<

1 and Ko is the wave number in air,

(b) applying a short voltage or current pulse via a transformer with core magnetic flux adjusted for enhanced radiation at lower frequencies <

500 KHZ, across the capacitor plates from a pulse generator to transmit electromagnetic radiation into the earth formation, where for each returning lower frequency component of the electromagnetic radiation, the largest dimension L is small such that Re(KL)<

1 and KoZ<

1, where Re(K) is the positive wave number in the earth formation of said lower frequency component and Ko is the positive wave number in air of each returning lower frequency component at all frequencies present <

1 MHZ and indeed very much less than 1 MHZ,

(c) detecting electromagnetic radiation that has propagated through the earth formation in response to application of the short voltage or current pulse, and

(d) processing only frequency components of the desired electromagnetic radiation, in a select lower frequency window, in the broad frequency continuum <

1 MHZ which lower frequencies have propagated into the earth formation to penetration depth very much greater than of the order of several tens of thousands of feet to detect the electrical properties,

that is, the reconstituted pulse amplitude as a function of time is transformed into the magnitude of the relative dielectric and the conductivity as a function of depth using a model for a system of vertically traveling up-going and down-going waves and Maxwell'"'"'s Equations to deduce said electrical properties with an iterative process.

2. The method of claim 1, also including the step of controlling the intensity of the short voltage or current pulse during step(b), such that the transformer-earth capacitor complex is excited to produce sufficiently lower frequency electromagnetic radiation capable of penetrating to the desired penetration depth so that the electrical properties of such a penetration depth can be detected, that is, the relative dielectric and the conductivity magnitudes are determined as a function of depth by the iterative process.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein frequency components of the electromagnetic radiation from the depths <

0.5 MHZ are selected for processing to determine the electrical properties at depth for step(d), that is, the reconstituted pulse amplitude as a function of time is transformed into the magnitude of the relative dielectric and the conductivity as function of depth and indeed frequency using a model for a system of vertically traveling up-going and down-going waves and Maxwell'"'"'s equations to deduce said electrical properties with an iterative process.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein each of the plates is in direct contact with the earth formation Z=0 or is elevated above the earth formation, Z>

0, in a plane parallel to the surface of the earth, or if the earth is irregular perpendicular to the prime vertical.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein the detection of the electrical properties, that is, the determination of the magnitude of the relative dielectric and the conductivity over a finite spectrum is used as a means for qualitative identification of the fluid and mineral content of the formation as a function of frequency and depth in the earth.

6. An apparatus for transmitting an electromagnetic signal or pulse through an earth formation and recovering the returning signal or pulse for processing to determine electrical properties at depth including,

a capacitor assembly comprising a co-planar pair of highly conductive metallic plates with electrical input or output terminals between the plates wherein each pair of terminals connect to an input or output transformer with magnetic flux cores and wherein each pair of plates has a largest dimension L disposed either in direct contact with the earth formation to form an earth capacitor comprising the capacitor assembly and the region of the earth formation near said capacitor assembly;

or elevated above the earth formation to form a capacitor comprising the capacitor assembly, and the earth formation separated from the capacitor assembly by the air of thickness Z,

a means for applying a short voltage or current pulse to the capacitor assembly via the transformer with magnetic flux core adjusted for radiation <

0.5 MHZ, to transmit electromagnetic radiation into the earth formation either directly or via the air of thickness Z, wherein for each frequency component of the electromagnetic radiation, the largest dimension L satisfies the relation Re(KL)<

1, where K is the wave number in the earth formation of said frequency component, wherein the short voltage or current pulse as applied to earth capacitor plates via and in convolution with the transformer with magnetic flux core has frequency components in the broadband <

1 MHZ and,

a means for detecting electromagnetic radiation that has propagated through the earth formation in response to application of the short voltage or current pulse, including means for processing only frequency components of the detected electromagnetic radiation having an upper frequency less than 1 MHZ and a lower frequency very much less than 1 MHZ depending upon the depth of interest for wave penetration.

7. The apparatus of claim 6, wherein the means for detecting electromagnetic radiation includes a receiving capacitor disposed adjacent the earth formation or elevated a distance Z above the earth formation at a location separated a space restrictive distance, S, from the transmitter assembly, where S<

3L, but arranged with the plates parallel and co-planer to the transmitting plates.

8. The apparatus of claim 6, also including the means for processing the detected electromagnetic radiation to identify the earth formation by its electrical properties, that is, the means to transform the reconstituted pulse amplitude as a function of time into the magnitude of the relative dielectric, and the conductivity as a function of depth in the earth using a model for a system of vertically traveling up-going and down-going waves and Maxwell'"'"'s equations to deduce said electrical properties with an iterative process.

9. The apparatus of claim 6, wherein the capacitor assembly includes a pair of conductive plates in direct contact with the earth formation, or elevated the height Z above the earth formation, and wherein the means for applying the short voltage or current pulse across the plates via a transformer with magnetic flux core adjusted for radiation <

0.5 MHZ.

10. The apparatus of claim 6, wherein the means for identifying the electrical properties of the earth formation include means for processing all frequencies <

0.5 MHZ.

11. The apparatus of claim 6 where the means for applying a short voltage or current pulse to the capacitor assembly include:

a pulse generator

a transmission line or a conventional transformer, with magnetic flux core adjusted for radiation <

0.5 MHZ to form the connection between the pulse generator and the capacitor assembly.

12. The apparatus of claim 6 wherein the means for applying a short voltage or current pulse to the capacitor assembly includes:

a pulse generator

a transmission line or conventional transformer both with magnetic flux core between the pulse generator and the capacitor assembly, wherein the pulse generator includes a means for simultaneously asserting two opposite polarity voltage or current pulses to the capacitor plates via the transformer.

13. A method for transmitting electromagnetic signals through the earth formation, including the steps of:

(a) disposing capacitor plates having a largest dimension L in direct contact with the earth formation or elevated a distance Z above the earth formation forming an earth capacitor comprising the plates and a region of the earth formation near the plates or the region of air between the plates and the earth formation whereupon the frequencies employed make the air thickness electrically small so that the plates are electrically close to the earth formation,

(b) applying a short voltage or current pulse to transmit electromagnetic radiation into the earth formation, wherein for each frequency component of the electromagnetic radiation, the largest dimension L satisfies the relation Re(KL)<

1, where K is the wave number in the earth formation of said frequency component, wherein the short voltage or current pulse applied through the transformer has radiation field components in a broad band below 1 MHZ with the additional requirement that KoZ<

1 thus enforcing the further desirable restriction of using much lower frequencies below 500 KHZ,

(c) detecting electromagnetic radiation that has propagated through the earth formation in response to application of the short voltage or current pulse; and

(d) processing only frequency components of the detected electromagnetic radiation in a frequency window having an upper frequency less than 0.5 MHZ which have propagated into the formation to a penetration depth very much greater than the largest dimension L.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein step (d) includes the operation of identifying frequency components of the detected electromagnetic radiation which have propagated into the earth formation to a penetration depth much greater than of the order of several thousand feet.

15. An apparatus for transmitting an electromagnetic signal through the earth formation to very great depths relative to a restrictive size, R, of the capacitor plates, including:

a capacitor assembly having a largest dimension L<

R disposed in direct contact with the earth formation or elevated above the earth formation a distance Z to form an earth capacitor comprising the capacitor assembly, the space between the capacitor assembly and the earth formation if Z>

0, and a region of the earth formation coupled to the capacitor assembly or if Z=0, comprising the capacitor assembly and the adjacent earth formation, also including

a means for applying a short voltage or current pulse to capacitor assembly to transmit electromagnetic radiation into the earth formation, wherein for each frequency component of the electromagnetic radiation, the largest dimension L satisfies the relation Re(KL)<

1, where K is the wave number in the earth of said frequency component, provided if Z>

0, KoZ<

1 and a means for detecting electromagnetic radiation that has propagated through the earth formation and the space Z>

0, in response to the application of a short voltage or current pulse, including means for identifying frequency components of the detected electromagnetic radiation in a frequency window which have propagated into the earth formation to a penetration depth much greater than several tens of thousand feet, wherein the means for applying the short voltage or current pulse to the capacitor assembly includes;

a pulse generator

a transmission line transformer or a conventional transformer both with core magnetic flux current adjusted for frequencies <

0.5 MHZ, between the pulse generator and the capacitor assembly.

16. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein the transmission line or conventional transformer has core magnetic flux adjusted for radiation <

0.5 MHZ to accommodate the restriction R.

17. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein transmission line or conventional transformers are used to obtain radiation field waves sufficiently low in frequency to penetrate to great depths

by adjusting the core magnetic flux, the transformer core permeability and the net inductance applied to the capacitor plates.