Optimal systems of geoscience surveying–A preliminary discussion

In any geoscience survey, each survey technique must be effectively applied, and many techniques are often combined optimally. An important task is to get necessary and sufficient information to meet the requirement of the survey. A prize–penalty function quantifies effectiveness of the survey, and hence can be used to determine the best survey technique. On the other hand, an information-cost function can be used to determine the optimal combination of survey techniques on the basis of the geoinformation obtained. Entropy is available to evaluate geoinformation. A simple model suggests the possibility that low-resolvability techniques are generally applied at early stages of survey, and that higher-resolvability techniques should alternate with lower-resolvability ones with the progress of the survey.