Geophysical methods offer hydrogeologists unprecedented access to understanding subsurface parameters and processes. In this book, we outline the theory and application of electrical imaging methods, which inject current into the ground and measure the resultant potentials. These data are sensitive to rock type, grain size, porosity, pore fluid electrical conductivity, saturation, and temperature. Here, we describe the physical basis for electrical imaging, parallels between electrical flow equations and the groundwater flow equation, practical considerations for field investigations, data processing and inverse modeling of field data, and how to QA/QC data. We additionally cover two case studies, including a 2-D waterborne survey and a 4-D dataset from a biostimulation experiment.
Electrical Imaging for Hydrogeology

Publication year: 2022
Number of pages: 74
ISBN: 978-1-77470-011-2
https://doi.org/10.21083/978-1-77470-011-2
Citation: Singha, K., Johnson, T. C., Day-Lewis, F. D., & Slater, L. D. (2022). Electrical imaging for hydrogeology. The Groundwater Project. https://doi.org/10.21083/978-1-77470-011-2.
Authors:
Kamini Singha: Colorado School of Mines, USA
Tim Johnson: Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, USA
Frederick Day-Lewis: Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, USA
Lee Slater: Rutgers University, USA
Please consider becoming a sponsor to support us in providing free high-quality education to the global groundwater community.
Thank you,
John Cherry
Last Update: 15 March 2023
Released: 18 January 2022
7195
Electrical Imaging for Hydrogeology
1 file(s) 4.47 MB
Spanish translation by Pablo Guerrero y Ángel Intriago
Released: 17 August 2023
13335
Imágenes Eléctricas en Hidrogeología
1 file(s) 3.71 MB
Description
Interview with Authors
English Interview with Spanish Translator
Spanish Interview with Spanish Translator
Thank you for signing up to our email list!
Contents
1 INTRODUCTION
1.1 Measurement Physics: The Relation Between Data (Voltage Differences) and Parameters (Electrical Conductivity or Chargeability)
1.2 Electrical Imaging Hardware and Field Deployments
2 DESIGNING SURVEYS
2.1 Geometric Factors
2.2 Synthetic Models
3 COLLECTION AND VERIFICATION OF FIELD DATA
3.1 Contact Resistance
3.2 Stacked Measurements
3.3 Reciprocal Measurements
3.4 Error Considerations for Time Lapse Measurements
3.5 Pulse Duration
3.6 Notes on Field Conditions
4 DATA INVERSION
4.1 The Goal of Inversion
4.2 Regularization in Electrical Imaging Inversion
4.3 Selection of Inversion Parameters to Prevent Overfitting/Underfitting of Data
4.4 Definition of Data Misfit
4.5 Quantification of Inversion Quality
4.6 Checks on Inversion Results
5 CASE STUDIES
5.1 2-D Waterborne Resistivity and Induced Polarization Profiling Background
Data Collection
Data Processing
Data Interpretation
5.2 4D Resistivity of a Biostimulation Experiment
ER Monitoring System
Data Collection and Experimental Design
Data Quality Control and Assurance
Effect of Data Weighting and Regularization Weighting on Pre-Injection Inversions
Time-Lapse Inversions
6 OVERVIEW AND FUTURE DIRECTIONS
7 EXERCISES
8 REFERENCES
9 BOXES
Box 1 Scenario Evaluator for Electrical Resistivity (Seer)
10 EXERCISE SOLUTIONS
11 ABOUT THE AUTHORS
Thank you for signing up to our email list!