Efficient low-frequency inversion of 3-D buried objects with large contrasts

An efficient inversion method is proposed using Cui et al.'s high-order extended Born approximations to reconstruct the conductivity object function of three-dimensional dielectric objects buried in a lossy Earth. High-order solutions of the object function are obtained, which have closed-form relations to the linear inverse-scattering solution. Because such relations can be evaluated quickly using the fast Fourier transform, the high-order solutions have similar simplicity as the linear inversion. When the contrasts of buried objects are large, the high-order solutions are much more accurate due to the approximate consideration of multiple-scattering effects within the objects. Hence, good-resolution images can be obtained for large-contrast objects using the new method by only solving a linear inverse problem. Numerical experiments have shown the validity and efficiency of the proposed method.