06.11.2015: Prof. Oliver Ritter, GFZ section Geophysical Deep Sounding, and Dr. Rita Streich, Shell Global Solutions and formerly GeoEn Young Investigators group leader at GFZ, are guest editors of the current issue of Geophysical Prospecting.

The publishers of Geophysical Prospecting appointed the two scientists as guest editors for the Special Issue "Controlled-Source-Electromagnetics". This special issue showcases latest developments in Controlled Source Electromagnetic CSEM and promotes future progress, exploiting electromagnetic technology to its full potential. It is based on the European Association of Geoscientists & Engineers EAGE meeting in 2014 and contains 13 papers of authors from research organisations, universities, and industry.

For CSEM low-frequency alternating electrical currents are injected into the ground. This generate electromagnetic fields within Earth’s interior that are then used to infer the electrical conductivity of the subsurface. CSEM as a geophysical method has matured to represent a small but stable portion of the exploration industry, particularly off-shore. Land-based electromagnetic techniques continue to be applied, e.g. for mining or geothermal exploration, and recently also for reservoir monitoring.