Dr. Sjoerd A.L. de Ridder

Profile

An all-round computational geophysicist with a pertinacity for both applied and theoretical studies. I hold a lectureship at the School of Earth & Environment of the University of Leeds, leading the Applied Geophysics Research Group. My work includes the development of methods to explore and characterise natural resources, monitoring geohazards, and understanding subsurface Earth processes from the scale of the critical zone (meters) to the crust (tens of km’s).

Geophysical Imaging Group - <span style="color: #B31B1B;">GⁱG</span>

The core-group of early career researchers and visitors working with myself gather as the Geophysical Imaging Group (<strong><span style="color: #B31B1B;">GⁱG</span></strong>) and we work on a broad area of computational & applied geophysics. At our disposal is the HPC facility of the University of Leeds (ARC4) and as a group we have 100 TB of file server space plus 1 TB of network attached SSD. We have access to the geophysical field equipment in our school including 50 SmartSolo nodes, DTS & DAS interrogators. The current members of our group include:

• Yunpeng Chen, PhD candidate at Leeds. Eikonal tomography using physics informed neural networks, co-supervised by prof. Sebastian Rost.
• Ruhul F. Hajjaj, PhD candidate at Leeds. Marchenko imaging in complex media, co-supervised by prof. Phil Livermore.
• Andrew Pretorius, MPhil candidate at Leeds. Machine learning applications in the characterisation of passive DAS recordings of englacial seismicity, co-supervised by dr. Adam Booth and dr. Andy Nowacki.

[support our group – coming soon]

Our name (<strong><span style="color: #B31B1B;">GⁱG</span></strong>) reflects the fundamental equation underpinning the art of our trade: to infer the underlying model properties from a set of observations of some physical phenomena. In order to reveal how this phenomena works. <strong>G^-1</strong> means to <strong>i</strong>nvert some function <strong>G(m)</strong> (e.g. a non-linear Green's function) in order to obtain an estimate for the model <strong>m</strong> from some observations <strong>d = G(m)</strong>, via: <strong>G^-1d = G^-1G(m) ≈ m</strong>.

Research Projects

[coming soon]

Joining my Group

I am currently accepting research students (MSc, MPhil, PhD), visiting students, and academics that fit GⁱG’s research program. The School of Earth and Environment offers a variety of Research Degrees: a one-year MSc by research; a two-year MPhil; and a PhD program that typically takes 3-4 years. Our school also offers these degrees as part-time programs and additionally developed a Remote PhD Program that enables you to obtain a PhD from a location that suits your circumstances (e.g. embedded in a company and or residing internationally). Funding your study at Leeds can be a challenge and I gathered some experience and information on this page [coming soon]. Do not hesitate to reach out to me via email.

You could bring your own research ideas and I would help develop them into a research degree project. Regardless of the research topic, learning transferrable skills and personal growth are fundamental in all my students’ projects. The following are some example projects that could serve as inspiration (but not limit your imagination):

• Fibreoptic sensing for geothermal monitoring.
• Stream-processing of real-time seismic data using AI for monitoring, earthquake detection, and event classification.
• Wavefield reconstruction of the Earth’s normal modes.
• Generative AI for model inference and uncertainty analysis for reservoir characterisation by seismic inversion.
• PINNs and their applications to wavefield modelling in complex fractured media.
• A theoretical treatment of seismoelectric interface waves for posorosity and permeability estimation from downhole seismic data.

My group regularly hosts academic visitors for exchange and collaboration. Visiting scientists find Leeds a diverse and stimulating academic environment to focus on their research endeavours. PhD students can make multiple short informal visits or join our University formally for up to one year and enjoy the same experience as our own degree students. During a year long visit, a PhD student would typically develop and mature a research project for publication.

Research Grants

[coming soon]

Professional Trackrecord

My masters research at Delft was in seismoelectric phenomena and the theory of seismic interferometry. During my doctoral research at Stanford University I focussed on harnessing ambient seismic noise to monitor shallow geohazards installed over producing hydrocarbon reservoirs. As a post-doc and research fellow at the University of Science and Technology of China and the University of Edinburgh, I worked on exploiting the spatial information from seismic wave fields as recorded by dense seismic arrays for high resolution near-field surface wave inversion. 

After my PhD studies I spend a cumulative two years in industry consulting first for BP Norway (now Aker-BP) and later for the Geosciences Research Centre of Total UK. While in industry I developed production-ready software for a diverse portfolio of innovative technology, ranging from near real-time ambient noise tomography monitoring technology to new techniques for time-lapse seismic monitoring by joint full waveform inversion. I joined the University of Leeds in 2019.

Editorial Service

• Associate Editor for Geophysics (2019 - present).
• Associate Editor for Computers & Geosciences (2018 - 2021).
• Guest Associate Editor for a special section in Geophysics: Shared Advances in Exploration and Fundamental Geophysics (2018).
• Guest Assistent Editor for a special issue of Interpretation: Ambient Noise (2016).

Group Alumni

• Dr. Afsaneh Mohammadzaheri, Research Fellow. Sparse time-lapse seismic monitoring of underground CO₂ storage by pre-stack image domain inversion.
• Bolin Li, Visiting PhD student. Clustering distributed acoustic sensing via curvelet transform and unsupervised deep learning, co-supervised by dr. Andy Nowacki.
• Javier E. Vence-Galvis, MSc, MSc by Research student. Joint impedance and facies inversion for 4D seismic monitoring at Sleipner.

Student Education

To further my professional development I obtained a Postgraduate Certificate in Academic Practice from Leeds in 2022 and became a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. I contribute to the following modules in our School:

• SOEE5136: Geophysical Reservoir Evaluation, lecturer & module manager (2020 - present).
• SOEE5155: Seismic Fundamentals and Acquisition, lecturer (2022, 2024 - present), module manager (2022).
• SOEE5176: Advanced Structural Modelling and Data Analytics, lecturer & module manager (2021 - 2023).
• SOEE5174: Integrated Sub Surface Analysis, lecturer (2020).
• MSc & BSc Project Supervisor in our various taught geophysics & geology programs (2019 - present).

Responsibilities

• Applied Geophysics Group lead
• Fibreoptic sensing facility co-manager
• Academic misconduct lead

Qualifications

• PhD, Geophysics, Stanford University (2014).
• MSc, Applied Earth Sciences, Delft University of Technology (2007).
• BSc, Earth Sciences, Utrecht University (2004).

Professional memberships

• American Geophysical Union
• European Geosciences Union
• Society of Exploration Geophysicists
• European Association of Geoscientists and Engineers

Research groups and institutes

• Institute of Applied Geoscience
• Institute of Geophysics and Tectonics
• Applied Geophysics
• Geosolutions Leeds