Time-frequency electromagnetic method(TFEM) is an emerging electromagnetic technique that originated in oil and gas exploration in the early 21st century. By combining the advantages of time-domain and frequency-domai...Time-frequency electromagnetic method(TFEM) is an emerging electromagnetic technique that originated in oil and gas exploration in the early 21st century. By combining the advantages of time-domain and frequency-domain electromagnetic methods, it offers a high-resolution, high-accuracy solution with multi-electrical parameter constraints for imaging subsurface structures under complex geological conditions. TFEM has proven critical in oil and gas exploration and has since been extended to geothermal and metallic mineral exploration. This paper systematically reviews the development history of TFEM, starting from the breakthroughs made to overcome the limitations of early controlled source audio-frequency magnetotellurics(CSAMT), to the achievement of high-precision detection capabilities through instrument innovation(e.g., wide-band frequency transmitters and node-based EM receivers) and intelligent upgrades(such as 5G-enabled cloud data acquisition and the OpenHarmony operating system). For complex exploration targets, techniques including multi-directional synchronous excitation and joint well-ground observation have been proposed, along with time-frequency data fusion processing and induced polarization inversion—measures that have increased success rates to up to 75%. In practical applications, TFEM has been used to complete over 47,000 km of survey lines and more than 150 projects worldwide. It has been successfully applied to the evaluation of diverse reservoir types, such as clastic, carbonate, sandstone, and igneous reservoirs. Looking ahead, TFEM will focus on three key areas: intelligent equipment development, AI-driven data interpretation, and multi-physical-field joint inversion. Its application scope will also be expanded to semi-airborne electromagnetics, marine exploration, and geothermal/environmental monitoring—ultimately providing more efficient and accurate technical support for the development of deep Earth resources.展开更多
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China project "Induced polarization effect and inversion extraction of controllable source electromagnetic data in marine combustible ice reservoirs" (No.42474108).
摘要Time-frequency electromagnetic method(TFEM) is an emerging electromagnetic technique that originated in oil and gas exploration in the early 21st century. By combining the advantages of time-domain and frequency-domain electromagnetic methods, it offers a high-resolution, high-accuracy solution with multi-electrical parameter constraints for imaging subsurface structures under complex geological conditions. TFEM has proven critical in oil and gas exploration and has since been extended to geothermal and metallic mineral exploration. This paper systematically reviews the development history of TFEM, starting from the breakthroughs made to overcome the limitations of early controlled source audio-frequency magnetotellurics(CSAMT), to the achievement of high-precision detection capabilities through instrument innovation(e.g., wide-band frequency transmitters and node-based EM receivers) and intelligent upgrades(such as 5G-enabled cloud data acquisition and the OpenHarmony operating system). For complex exploration targets, techniques including multi-directional synchronous excitation and joint well-ground observation have been proposed, along with time-frequency data fusion processing and induced polarization inversion—measures that have increased success rates to up to 75%. In practical applications, TFEM has been used to complete over 47,000 km of survey lines and more than 150 projects worldwide. It has been successfully applied to the evaluation of diverse reservoir types, such as clastic, carbonate, sandstone, and igneous reservoirs. Looking ahead, TFEM will focus on three key areas: intelligent equipment development, AI-driven data interpretation, and multi-physical-field joint inversion. Its application scope will also be expanded to semi-airborne electromagnetics, marine exploration, and geothermal/environmental monitoring—ultimately providing more efficient and accurate technical support for the development of deep Earth resources.