Title: Professor
Country/Region: Taiwan
Period: 2024/9/16-2025/5/15
Theme: Revolutionizing Subsurface Exploration in Coastal Environments: Breakthroughs in Shallow Marine Magnetotelluric Instrumentation and Data Processing
Host: Kiyoshi BABA
Introduction: Introduction: Professor Chang Ping-Yu’s specialty is in electromagnetic geophysics, focusing primarily on subsurface studies using magnetotelluric (MT) methods and the development and application of MT systems. Chang collaborated with local R&D partnerships to create a more affordable, modular GPS-timing MT system, which costs a fraction of traditional systems. This innovation allows for more flexible and widespread use of MT surveys, reducing reliance on costly commercial options. Chang's work includes the development of new data processing methods and inversion calculation programs. Chang’s MT system has been utilized in various field surveys across Taiwan, including Yilan, Pingtung, the Chishang fault, and the urban area of Hualien, notably during the Hualien earthquake. These surveys help determine the influence of electromagnetic noise, particularly from high-voltage power lines and railway networks, on electromagnetic monitoring. His research findings offer critical data for planning future MT surveys in metropolitan areas to minimize artificial noise impacts. Currently, Chang is working on a shallow marine MT system. This project aims to survey across sea and land boundaries, collecting MT data from the shallow marine(<300m) near Taiwan in collaboration with colleagues from the University of Tokyo.
Research Report:
Shallow marine geophysical exploration remains technically challenging due to complex coastal bathymetry, high ambient noise, and deployment difficulties in the surf zone. Addressing these issues is essential for imaging tectonic boundaries, sedimentary architecture, and subsurface hydrogeological systems in coastal regions.
During my sabbatical appointment at the Earthquake Research Institute (ERI), University of Tokyo, I participated in a comprehensive research initiative titled “Revolutionizing Subsurface Exploration in Coastal Environments.” The project aimed to advance shallow marine magnetotelluric (MT) techniques through both hardware innovation and data processing improvements.
One of the major outcomes was the co-design of a high-performance printed circuit board (PCB) tailored for MT data acquisition in shallow marine settings. This PCB supports robust analog signal conditioning and high-resolution digitization under low-frequency EM conditions. The hardware is currently under bench testing at ERI, with a scheduled harbor deployment test in July 2025 to evaluate in-situ performance, waterproof integrity, and signal stability.
In parallel, I led the development of an open-source Python-based software framework for converting, annotating, and processing time-series data from the shallow-sea MT system. This processing pipeline includes binary-to-ASCII conversion, time synchronization, and spectral preprocessing, forming the foundation for future real-time or remote data transmission systems.
As a complementary field application, I published a study in Applied Sciences entitled:
Chang, P.-Y., Amania, H., Lin, D.-J., Widyaningrum, Y., & others (2025). Resolving Subsurface Structure with Magnetotelluric Method in the Urban Area of Pingtung County, Southwestern Taiwan. Applied Sciences, 15(7), 3687. https://doi.org/10.3390/app15073687
This study used land-based MT data acquired from the urban–coastal transition zone of Pingtung County to image subsurface resistivity variations associated with faulting, sediment infill, and potential aquifer systems. It provides valuable analog insight for interpreting nearshore MT results and offers a transferable methodology for coastal EM imaging.
Collectively, these efforts represent a multi-faceted advance in coastal electromagnetic geophysics. The integration of field instrumentation, signal processing, and case study application contributes to the growing capability of regional geophysical networks to monitor submarine fault zones, coastal aquifers, and offshore tectonic features—ultimately supporting hazard mitigation and sustainable coastal development
During my sabbatical appointment at the Earthquake Research Institute (ERI), University of Tokyo, I participated in a comprehensive research initiative titled “Revolutionizing Subsurface Exploration in Coastal Environments.” The project aimed to advance shallow marine magnetotelluric (MT) techniques through both hardware innovation and data processing improvements.
One of the major outcomes was the co-design of a high-performance printed circuit board (PCB) tailored for MT data acquisition in shallow marine settings. This PCB supports robust analog signal conditioning and high-resolution digitization under low-frequency EM conditions. The hardware is currently under bench testing at ERI, with a scheduled harbor deployment test in July 2025 to evaluate in-situ performance, waterproof integrity, and signal stability.
In parallel, I led the development of an open-source Python-based software framework for converting, annotating, and processing time-series data from the shallow-sea MT system. This processing pipeline includes binary-to-ASCII conversion, time synchronization, and spectral preprocessing, forming the foundation for future real-time or remote data transmission systems.
As a complementary field application, I published a study in Applied Sciences entitled:
Chang, P.-Y., Amania, H., Lin, D.-J., Widyaningrum, Y., & others (2025). Resolving Subsurface Structure with Magnetotelluric Method in the Urban Area of Pingtung County, Southwestern Taiwan. Applied Sciences, 15(7), 3687. https://doi.org/10.3390/app15073687
This study used land-based MT data acquired from the urban–coastal transition zone of Pingtung County to image subsurface resistivity variations associated with faulting, sediment infill, and potential aquifer systems. It provides valuable analog insight for interpreting nearshore MT results and offers a transferable methodology for coastal EM imaging.
Collectively, these efforts represent a multi-faceted advance in coastal electromagnetic geophysics. The integration of field instrumentation, signal processing, and case study application contributes to the growing capability of regional geophysical networks to monitor submarine fault zones, coastal aquifers, and offshore tectonic features—ultimately supporting hazard mitigation and sustainable coastal development