The Heterogeneity Spectrum: A Method for Quantifying the Extent of Spatial Heterogeneity as a Function of Length Scale in Complex Materials

摘要

Imaging measurements represent a powerful means of characterizing materials with complex spatial structure,such as naturally occurring porous media. In this contribution we present the application of the heterogeneity spectrum,which is a newly developed method for quantitative analysis of imaging data. The heterogeneity spectrum transformsimaging data into a measurement of the extent of spatial heterogeneity as a function of length scale. The inversionrigorously considers the support of the experiment, and the length scales of heterogeneity to which a measurement issensitive are determined from the experimental voxel size and sample size. Heterogeneity spectra are shown formagnetic resonance imaging and thin section imaging data from several complex carbonate rock core samples. Thesemeasurements are sensitive to heterogeneity at length scales ranging many orders of magnitude and are shown to providea useful characterization of these porous media.