Cooperative inversion of 2D geophysical data sets:: A zonal approach based on fuzzy c-means cluster analysis

in many near-surface geophysical applications, it is now common practice to use multiple geophysical methods to explore subsurface structures and parameters. Such multimethod-based exploration strategies can significantly reduce uncertainties and ambiguities in geophysical data analysis and interpretation. We propose a novel 2D approach based on fuzzy c-means cluster analysis for the cooperative inversion of disparate data sets. We show that this approach results in a single zonal model of subsurface structures in which each zone is characterized by a set of different parameters. This finding implies that no further structural interpretation of geophysical parameter fields is needed, which is a major advantage compared with conventional inversions that rely on a single input data set and cooperative inversion approaches.