An efficient finite-difference scheme for electromagnetic logging in 3D anisotropic inhomogeneous media

Abstract We consider a problem of computing the electromagnetic field in 3D anisotropic media for electromagnetic logging. The proposed finite-difference scheme for Maxwell equations has the following new features based on some recent and not so recent developments in numerical analysis: coercivity (i.e., the complete discrete analogy of all continuous equations in every grid cell, even for nondiagonal conductivity tensors), a special conductivity averaging that does not require the grid to be small compared to layering or fractures, and a spectrally optimal grid refinement minimizing the error at the receiver locations and optimizing the approximation of the boundary conditions at infinity. All of these features significantly reduce the grid size and accelerate the computation of electromagnetic logs in 3D geometries without sacrificing accuracy.