A “holistic” method for simultaneously estimating conductivity and calibration models from 1-D inversion of time-domain airborne electromagnetic (AEM) data is proposed. The work extends the concept of holistic inversion that been successfully applied to frequency-domain AEM data. The entire multi-component airborne dataset and available independent conductivity and interface-depth data are simultaneously inverted. A spline-based conductivity model covering the complete survey area is estimated. Unmonitored elements of the system geometry are included as unknown parameters of the calibration model and are solved for in the inversion. Conventional 1-D inversion methods invert each airborne sample in isolation from other samples. However, by simultaneously considering all of the available information together in a holistic inversion formulation, we are able to exploit the inter-component and spatial coherency characteristics of the airborne data. The formulation ensures that the conductivity and calibration models are optimal with respect to the airborne data and prior information.
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