5

Inversion

Contents
Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Principles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Data Redundancy and Compression . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Fit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Smoothing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Composite Data Processing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Inversion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
L2 / L1L2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Singular Value Decomposition (SVD) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Zackhem Stromberg and Dunn (ZSD) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Noise Extraction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

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Overview
See also Notes on Inversion on page 1-30.

Principles
T2 relaxation measured by the CPMG echo train represents a distribution of T2 values that reflect the multiexponential nature of T2 relaxation in rocks. T2 relaxation can be attributed to 3 key processes:
1. Surface relaxation, which is related to pore size.
2. Bulk relaxation, which is related to fluid properties.
3. Molecular diffusion relaxation due to magnetic field gradients.
Accurate description of the underlying T2 distribution furnishes information about pore size, fluid type and
hydrocarbon volume.
Inversion is used to determine the underlying T2 distribution that produces the observed CPMG decay. The
underlying T2 distribution is most accurately described as a continuous function. However, for the purposes
of petrophysics, the CPMG decay modeled as a multi-exponential function that assumes that the
distribution has a discrete set of T2 relaxation components. These components are associated with pore size
and the non-wetting fluids.
A typical T2 distribution is composed of 30 bins spread between 0.3 and 3000ms. The bins are equally
spaced in logarithmic space.
The mathematical model that describes inversion is discussed in Notes on Inversion on page 1-30.

Data Redundancy and Compression

Generally, the results of inversion show that the CPMG T2 decay contains only a few independent pieces of
information. Consequently, the CPMG can be reduced by compressing the data into a few predefined bins.
The compressed bins of data consist of a series of windows that average parts of the CPMG distribution to
a single value. Usually the windows are equally spaced logarithmically such that the first window will
contain the fewest echoes and the last window will contain the most. The standard deviation of noise
(sigma) is calculated independently for each window, and passed to the inversion routine.
Data compression has the advantage in that it greatly reduces the computational time for inversion.

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Fig. 1: Binning the CPMG data allows data compression of CPMG data prior to inversion

Fit
The inversion algorithm attempts to find a best fit of the CPMG data that is closest to the underlying trend
in the CPMG T2 relaxation curve. The deviation of the measurement data (deviation due to the noise)
should be random and evenly spaced over the fitted curve. Any systematic deviation indicates that the data
has been incorrectly fitted by the inversion procedure.

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Smoothing
Mathematically, inversion is an "ill posed" problem in that there is more than one solution to the problem.
To find a solution to the inversion of the data, smoothing is usually imposed on the T2 distribution.
Increased smoothing improves the stability of solution, but reduces the number of peaks resolved in the T2
distribution. If the smoothing parameter is set too low, spurious peaks may appear in the T2 distribution.
The smoothing parameter is usually selected so that the T2 distribution contains 1, 2 or 3 peaks.
Smoothing also depends on the S:N ratio of the CPMG data. Noisy data usually requires a higher level of
smoothing.
The optimum smoothing parameter is often calibrated by comparing the log data with NMR laboratory
data, or pore size distributions derived from capillary pressure data. Laboratory NMR data and capillary
pressure data can be loaded into Geolog, and the distributions can be compared with results of inverting
the CPMG data.

Composite Data Processing

Both the MRIL Prime and CMR Plus provide high resolution data acquisition modes. This data is referred
to as C/TP (MRIL) or EPM (CMR) data. To collect this data, the tool excites regular pulse sequences (e.g.
TE = 1.2 ms, collecting 400-800 echoes with a wait time of 8 sec). The tool then acquires a short-burst CPMG
sequence with a short recovery time (e.g. TE = 0.6ms collecting 10 echoes with a wait time 0.02 sec).

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Normally, the short-burst data and the regular data are inverted separately, and the resultant
T2 distribution is spliced together to form a high-resolution T2 distribution. However, Geolog allows for both
sets of data to be included in the inversion process at the same time. This is termed "simultaneous
inversion", where matrix manipulation allows both sets of data to be solved simultaneously to generate
single continuous T2 distribution. The exact mechanism of the matrix manipulation is detailed in:
K. J. Dunn, G. A. La Torraca. The Inversion of NMR Log Data Sets with Different Measurement Errors.
Journal of Magnetic Resonance. 140, 153-161(1999).
Simultaneous inversion is included as an option in all of the inversion methods available in the Geolog
NMR inversion modules

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Inversion
L2 / L1L2
This module uses zeroth order regularization to invert CPMG data to a distribution of exponentials (T2
distribution). The regularization parameter controls the smoothness of the T2 distribution. For noisy data
(S:N < 2), regularization should be set between 1 and 10; for better quality data, a lower value can be used
(e.g. 0.5). The smoothing parameter should be increased to remove spurious peaks from the resultant T2
distributions. The T2 distributions are corrected for incomplete polarization.
Operation
1. Select Petrophysics > NMR > Inversion > L2/L1L2 to display nmr_inversion_compress.
2. Set the required input Values as described in Table 5-1, "nmr_inversion_compress Parameters"
on page 5-7.

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The nmr_inversion_compress Module

Table 5-1: nmr_inversion_compress Parameters

Name

Default

OPT_CTP

No

Description
Double click in the field then click on the Dropdown List
button to
select either yes or no and thus turn composite data processing on or off.

OPT_COMPRESS

Yes
Double click in the field then click on the Dropdown List
button to
select either yes or no and thus turn data compression on or off.

FIRST_ECHO

Available when OPT_COMPRESS is set to "yes"; first echo of the CPMG

data to be included in the inversion.

LAST_ECHO

Available when OPT_COMPRESS is set to "yes"; last echo of the CPMG

data to be included in the inversion; all echoes lying between the
FIRST_ECHO and LAST_ECHO contribute to the solution.

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Table 5-1: nmr_inversion_compress Parameters (Continued)

Name

Default

COMPRESS_BINS

OPT_COMPRESS_OUT

Description
Available when OPT_COMPRESS is set to "yes"; number of bins that the
data is compressed to. Vary between 10 and 100. The minimum number
of bins must exceed the number of bins in the T2 distribution.

No
Double click in the field then click on the Dropdown List
button to
select either yes or no and thus decide whether or not to output an array
of compressed data.
Controls the smoothness of the T2 distribution. Larger values increase
the smoothing component.

REG_PARAM
INVERSION_TYPE

L2
Double click in the field then click on the Dropdown List
button to
select either L2 or L1L2 inversion (see Notes on Inversion on page 130).

OPT_WAIT

Yes
Double click in the field then click on the Dropdown List
button to
select either on or off and thus turn wait time correction on or off.

Note: In data compression, only the regular (ECH_AMP_TP) data is compressed; the high resolution part data is
not compressed. When the OPT_CTP is on, the FIRST_ECHO and LAST_ECHO refers to the compression of the
regular data only (ECHO_AMP_TP).
T1T2

1.5

T1:T2 ratio.

NECH_V_C

Available when OPT_CTP is set to "yes"; number of data points in the

short-burst CPMG echo.

TE_C

Available when OPT_CTP is set to "yes"; echo spacing of the short-burst

CPMG echo.

TW_C

Available when OPT_CTP is set to "yes"; wait time of the short-burst

CPMG echo.

NECH_V_TP

Number of data points in the CPMG echo train.

TE_TP

Echo spacing of the regular CPMG echo.

TW_TP

Wait time of the regular CPMG echo.

T2_MIN

Minimum T2 of the T2 distribution.

T2_MAX

Maximum T2 of the T2 distribution.

T2_BIN

Number of T2 bins.

ECHO_AMP_C

Available when OPT_CTP is set to "yes"; CPMG echo amplitude for the
short-burst data.

ECHO_NOISE_C

Available when OPT_CTP is set to "yes"; CPMG noise amplitude for the
short-burst data. If this data is not available run the "Noise Extraction"
on page 5-15 module using the above echo amplitude log.

ECHO_AMP_TP

CPMG echo amplitude for the regular data.

ECHO_NOISE_TP

CPMG noise amplitude for the regular data. If this data is not available
run the "Noise Extraction" on page 5-15 module using the above echo
amplitude log.

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Table 5-1: nmr_inversion_compress Parameters (Continued)

Name

Default

Description

Note: If the echo data has been stacked to improve S:N ratio, the stacked data should be specified. Both the echo
amplitude and the echo noise should be stacked using the same level of stacking. Stacked data should not be mixed
with non-stacked data. The data should be rotated. MRIL data should have had the minimum RA applied during
processing.
PHI_T2_DIST

The T2 porosity distribution.

T2_TIME

T2 time constants used in inversion. The T2 distribution is plotted using

T2_TIME on the x-axis and AMP_DIST on the y-axis. See Notes on
Inversion on page 1-30.

QUALITY

Quality of the inversion; 0 = good, 1 = bad.

SIGMA_C

Available when OPT_CTP is set to "yes"; standard deviation of the noise

calculated from the noise of the short burst data

SIGMA_TP

Standard deviation of the noise calculated from the noise of the regular
data.

INVERT_BAD

No solution found for inversion. Normally, the solution will converge to

minima. When the solution does not converge, the INVERT_BAD flag is
triggered.

ECHO_FIT_C

Fitted CPMG for the short-burst data (i.e., the model used for inversion;
see also "Fit" on page 5-3).

ECHO_FIT_TP

Fitted CPMG for the regular data (i.e., the model used for inversion; see
also "Fit" on page 5-3).

ECHO_AMP_COMP

Compressed Echo Amplitude.

Singular Value Decomposition (SVD)

This module uses singular value decomposition (SVD) to invert the CPMG data to a T2 distribution (see
Notes on Inversion on page 1-30 for further information). Included in the SVD module is the option to
recalculate the standard deviation of noise (SIGMA_RECALC). The inversion is performed twice if the RMS
error between the input and the theoretical fitted curve varies by more than 2%, in which case the inversion
is repeated with the recalculated sigma.
Operation
1. Select Petrophysics > NMR > Inversion > SVD to display the nmr_inversion_svd module.
2. Set the required input Values as described in Table 5-2, "nmr_inversion_svd Parameters" on
page 5-10.

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The nmr_inversion_svd Module

Table 5-2: nmr_inversion_svd Parameters

Name

Default

OPT_CTP

No

Description
Double click in the field then click on the Dropdown List
button to select either yes or no and thus turn composite data
processing on or off.

OPT_COMPRESS

Yes
Double click in the field then click on the Dropdown List
button to select either yes or no and thus turn data compression on
or off.

FIRST_ECHO

Available when OPT_COMPRESS set to "yes"; first echo of the

CPMG data to be included in the inversion.

LAST_ECHO

Available when OPT_COMPRESS set to "yes"; last echo of the

CPMG data to be included in the inversion; all echoes lying between
the FIRST_ECHO and LAST_ECHO contribute to the solution.

COMPRESS_BINS

Available when OPT_COMPRESS set to "yes"; number of bins that

the data is compressed to. Vary between 10 and 100. The minimum
number of bins must exceed the number of bins in the T2 distribution

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Table 5-2: nmr_inversion_svd Parameters

Name

Default

OPT_COMPRESS_OUT

No

Description
Double click in the field then click on the Dropdown List
button to select either yes or no and thus decide whether or not to
output an array of compressed data.

OPT_RECALC_SIGMA

no

Recalculate signal-to-noise based on RMS error. Double click in the

field then click on the Dropdown List
"recalc" or "weight".

SNR_FACTOR
OPT_WAIT

button to select "no",

Controls the smoothness of the T 2 distribution. Smaller values

increase the smoothing component.
Yes
Double click in the field then click on the Dropdown List
button to select either on or off and thus turn wait time correction on
or off.

Note: In data compression, only the regular (ECH_AMP_TP) data is compressed, the high resolution part data is
not compressed. When the OPT_CTP is on, the FIRST_ and LAST_ECHO refers to the compression of the regular
data only (ECHO_AMP_TP).
T1T2

1.5

T1:T2 ratio.

NECH_V_C

Available when OPT_CTP is set to "yes"; number of data points in

the short-burst CPMG echo.

TW_C

Available when OPT_CTP is set to "yes"; wait time of the short-burst

CPMG echo.

TE_C

Available when OPT_CTP is set to "yes"; echo spacing of the shortburst CPMG echo.

NECH_V_TP

Number of data points in the regular CPMG echo.

TW_TP

Wait time of the regular CPMG echo.

TE_TP

Echo spacing of the regular CPMG echo.

T2_MIN

Minimum T2 of the T2 distribution.

T2_MAX

Maximum T2 of the T2 distribution.

T2_BIN

Number of T2 bins.

ECHO_AMP_C

Available when OPT_CTP is set to "yes"; CPMG echo amplitude for

short-burst data.

ECHO_NOISE_C

Available when OPT_CTP is set to "yes"; CPMG noise amplitude for

the short-burst data.

ECHO_AMP_TP

CPMG echo amplitude for the regular data.

ECHO_NOISE_TP

CPMG noise amplitude for the regular data.

Note: If the echo data has been stacked to improve S:N ratio, the stacked data should be specified. Both the echo
amplitude and the echo noise should be stacked using the same level of stacking. Stacked data should not be mixed
with non-stacked data. The data should be rotated. MRIL data should have had the minimum RA applied during
processing.
PHI_T2_DIST

The T2 porosity distribution.

PHI_T2_DIST_ERROR

The error of the T2 distribution.

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Inversion 5-11

Table 5-2: nmr_inversion_svd Parameters

Name

Default

Description

T2_TIME

T2 time constants used in inversion. The T2 distribution is plotted

using T2_TIME on the x-axis and AMP_DIST on the y-axis. See
Notes on Inversion on page 1-30.

EPSILON

Noise/Error; general indicator of error in inversion.

UXP

Data span in solution matrix; 0 = good inversion.

SIGMA_C

Available when OPT_CTP is set to "yes"; standard deviation of the

noise calculated from the noise of the short-burst data.

SIGMA_TP

Standard deviation of the noise calculated from the noise of the

regular data.

SIGMA_RECALC

Recalculated sigma if OPT_ RECALC_SIGMA = yes.

INVERT_BAD

No solution found for inversion. Normally, the solution will converge

to minima. When the solution does not converge, the INVERT_BAD
flag is triggered.

ECHO_FIT_C

Available when OPT_CTP is set to "yes"; fitted CPMG for the shortburst data (i.e., the model used for inversion; see also "Fit" on page 53).

ECHO_FIT_TP

Fitted CPMG for the regular data (i.e., the model used for inversion;
see also "Fit" on page 5-3).

ECHO_AMP_COMP

Compressed Echo Amplitude.

Zackhem Stromberg and Dunn (ZSD)

This module uses the ZSD method to invert the NMR data. For more information on this method, see Notes
on Inversion on page 1-30.
Operation
1. Select Petrophysics > NMR > Inversion > ZSD to display the nmr_inversion_zsd module.
2. Set the required input Values as described in Table 5-3, "nmr_inversion_zsd Parameters" on
page 5-13.

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Inversion 5-12

The nmr_inversion_zsd Module

Table 5-3: nmr_inversion_zsd Parameters

Name

Default

OPT_CTP

No

Description
Double click in the field then click on the Dropdown List
button to select either yes or no and thus turn composite data
processing on or off.

OPT_COMPRESS

Yes
Double click in the field then click on the Dropdown List
button to select either yes or no and thus turn data compression
on or off.

FIRST_ECHO

Available when OPT_COMPRESS set to "yes"; first echo of the

CPMG data to be included in the inversion.

LAST_ECHO

Available when OPT_COMPRESS set to "yes"; last echo of the

CPMG data to be included in the inversion; all echoes lying
between the FIRST_ECHO and LAST_ECHO contribute to the
solution.

COMPRESS_BINS

Available when OPT_COMPRESS set to "yes"; number of bins

that the data is compressed to. Vary between 10 and 100. The
minimum number of bins must exceed the number of bins in the
T2 distribution

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Table 5-3: nmr_inversion_zsd Parameters (Continued)

Name

Default

OPT_COMPRESS_OUT

No

Description
Double click in the field then click on the Dropdown List
button to select either yes or no and thus decide whether or not to
output an array of compressed data.

ALPHA_PARAM

Starting value for alpha smoothing.

BETA_PARAM

Starting value for beta smoothing.

N_ITERATIONS

30

Number of iterations for inversion.

OPT_WAIT

Yes
Double click in the field then lick on the Dropdown List
button to select either on or off and thus turn wait time correction
on or off.

Note: In data compression, only the regular (ECH_AMP_TP) data is compressed, the high resolution part data is
not compressed. When the OPT_CTP is on, the FIRST_ and LAST_ECHO refers to the compression of the regular
data only (ECHO_AMP_TP).
T1T2

1.5

T1:T2 ratio.

NECH_V_C

Available when OPT_CTP is set to "yes"; number of data points in

the short-burst CPMG echo.

TE_C

Available when OPT_CTP is set to "yes"; echo spacing of the shortburst CPMG echo.

TW_C

Available when OPT_CTP is set to "yes"; wait time of the shortburst CPMG echo.

NECH_V_TP

Number of data points in the regular CPMG echo.

TE_TP

Echo spacing of the regular CPMG echo.

TW_TP

Wait time of the regular CPMG echo.

T2_MIN

Minimum T2 of the T2 distribution.

T2_MAX

Maximum T2 of the T2 distribution.

T2_BIN

Number of T2 bins.

ECHO_AMP_C

Available when OPT_CTP is set to "yes"; CPMG echo amplitude

for short-burst data.

ECHO_NOISE_C

Available when OPT_CTP is set to "yes"; CPMG noise amplitude

for the short-burst data.

ECHO_AMP_TP

CPMG echo amplitude for the regular data.

ECHO_NOISE_TP

CPMG noise amplitude for the regular data.

Note: If the echo data has been stacked to improve S:N ratio, the stacked data should be specified. Both the echo
amplitude and the echo noise should be stacked using the same level of stacking. Stacked data should not be mixed
with non-stacked data. The data should be rotated. MRIL data should have had the minimum RA applied during
processing.
PHI_T2_DIST

The T2 porosity distribution.

T2_TIME

T2 time constants used in inversion. The T2 distribution is plotted

using T2_TIME on the x-axis and AMP_DIST on the y-axis. See
Notes on Inversion on page 1-30.

ALPHA_BETA

Smoothing applied to T2 distribution.

ERROR

Error of inversion related to porosity estimate.

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Table 5-3: nmr_inversion_zsd Parameters (Continued)

Name

Default

Description

SIGMA_C

Available when OPT_CTP is set to "yes"; standard deviation of the

noise calculated from the noise of the short-burst data.

SIGMA_TP

Standard deviation of the noise calculated from the noise of the

regular data.

INVERT_BAD

No solution found for inversion. Normally, the solution will

converge to minima. When the solution does not converge, the
INVERT_BAD flag is triggered.

ECHO_FIT_C

Available when OPT_CTP is set to "yes"; fitted CPMG for the

short-burst data (i.e., the model used for inversion; see also "Fit"
on page 5-3).

ECHO_FIT_TP

Fitted CPMG for the regular data (i.e., the model used for
inversion; see also "Fit" on page 5-3).

ECHO_AMP_COMP

Compressed Echo Amplitude.

Noise Extraction
This module is used to extract the noise from an input signal. You would run this module to extract a clay
or TP noise amplitude log which is required in the "L2 / L1L2" on page 5-6 inversion processing.
Two methods are provided to extract the noise; HIGH for applying a second derivative operator and LOW
for a low-pass operator.
Operation
1. Select Petrophysics > NMR > Inversion > Noise extraction to display the
tp_nmr_noise_extraction module.
2. Set the required input Values as described in Table 5-4, "nmr_noise_extraction Parameters" on
page 5-16.
The tp_nmr_noise_extraction Module

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Inversion 5-15

Table 5-4: nmr_noise_extraction Parameters

Name

Name

METHOD

HIGH

Description
Double click in the field, then click on the Dropdown List
button to select the noise extraction method to use, either HIGH
or LOW.

WINLEN

Available when the extraction METHOD is set to LOW; specify

the required window length.

ECHO_AMP

Enter or select input log filename.

ECHO_NOISE

If required, change default output filename.

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Index
B
best fit of the CPMG data 3

C
compressing CPMG data 2
CPMG
compressing the data 2

I
inversion
and smoothing 4
description of use in NMR 2
L1/L2 module 6

K
key processes for T2 relaxation 2

T
T2
key relaxation processes 2

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Inversion 5-17