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Electromagnetic and Electrical Methods for Environmental Engineering

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A special issue of Sensors (ISSN 1424-8220). This special issue belongs to the section "Electronic Sensors".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 October 2021) | Viewed by 23140

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Special Issue Editors

Dr. Jacopo Boaga

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Guest Editor

Department of Geosciences, Università degli Studi di Padova, 35122 Padua, Italy
Interests: near surface geophysics; surface wave seismic; electrical methods; frequency domain electro-magnetic methods

Dr. Adrian Flores-Orozco

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor

Department of Geodesy and Geoinformation, TU Wien, 1040 Vienna, Austria
Interests: biogeophysics; environmental geophysics; near-surface geophysics; electrical methods; induced polarization; electromagnetic methods

Dr. Matthias Bücker

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Guest Editor

Institute for Geophysics and extraterrestrial Physics, TU Braunschweig, 38106 Braunschweig, Germany
Interests: near-surface geophysics; induced polarization; geoelectrical; electromagnetic methods; water-borne geophysics

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

In geophysics, electrical and electromagnetic methods have demonstrated their potential for environmental engineering investigations. Both galvanically coupled and contactless measuring devices are used for a wide range of environmental applications, such as geohydrological characterization, precision agriculture, brownfield investigations, monitoring of mass movements and land degradation, as well as climate-change-driven processes under extreme conditions. Moreover, innovative technologies such as wireless instruments, permanent monitoring setups, and light airborne survey systems present new perspectives for the use of electromagnetic and electrical methods in the context of environmental engineering applications. This Special Issue aims at providing an overview of recent advances in measuring technologies, with a special focus on case studies demonstrating the potential of electrical and electromagnetic methods applied to environmental problems.

Possible Special Issue topics include but are not limited to the following:

Electrical resistivity tomography for environmental characterization.
Borehole and surface electrical resistivity tomography for the monitoring of polluted sites.
Electromagnetic and electrical methods in urban areas.
Electromagnetic and electrical methods for precision agriculture.
Electrical resistivity tomography for geothermal applications.
Airborne electromagnetic methods for environmental applications.
Marine electromagnetic and electrical methods.
Permanent on-site monitoring systems.
Ground penetrating radar for geotechnical applications.
Electrical methods for geotechnical soil characterization.
Electromagnetic and electrical methods for climate change monitoring.
Electromagnetic and electrical methods in arid zones.
Electromagnetic and electrical methods for cryosphere investigations.
Electromagnetic and electrical methods for the investigation of mass movements and landslides.

Dr. Jacopo Boaga
Dr. Adrian Flores-Orozco
Dr. Matthias Bücker
Guest Editors

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Keywords

Electrical resistivity tomography
transient electromagnetics
frequency-domain electromagnetics
ground penetrating radar
induced polarization
geophysical monitoring
environmental geophysics
biogeophysics
engineering geophysics

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Published Papers (6 papers)

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Research

21 pages, 3880 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Evaluation of Lake Sediment Thickness from Water-Borne Electrical Resistivity Tomography Data

by Johannes Hoppenbrock, Matthias Bücker, Jakob Gallistl, Adrián Flores Orozco, Carlos Pita de la Paz, César Emilio García García, José Alberto Razo Pérez, Johannes Buckel and Liseth Pérez

Sensors 2021, 21(23), 8053; https://doi.org/10.3390/s21238053 - 2 Dec 2021

Cited by 5 | Viewed by 3089

Abstract

Lakes are integrators of past climate and ecological change. This information is stored in the sediment record at the lake bottom, and to make it available for paleoclimate research, potential target sites with undisturbed and continuous sediment sequences need to be identified. Different geophysical methods are suitable to identify, explore, and characterize sediment layers prior to sediment core recovery. Due to the high resolution, reflection seismic methods have become standard for this purpose. However, seismic measurements cannot always provide a comprehensive image of lake-bottom sediments, e.g., due to lacking seismic contrasts between geological units or high attenuation of seismic waves. Here, we developed and tested a complementary method based on water-borne electrical-resistivity tomography (ERT) measurements. Our setup consisted of 13 floating electrodes (at 5 m spacing) used to collect ERT data with a dipole–dipole configuration. We used a 1D inversion to adjust a layered-earth model, which facilitates the implementation of constraints on water depth, water resistivity, and sediment resistivity as a priori information. The first two parameters were readily obtained from the echo-sounder and conductivity-probe measurements. The resistivity of sediment samples can also be determined in the laboratory. We applied this approach to process ERT data collected on a lake in southern Mexico. The direct comparison of ERT data with reflection seismic data collected with a sub-bottom profiler (SBP) showed that we can significantly improve the sediment-thickness estimates compared to unconstrained 2D inversions. Down to water depths of 20 m, our sediment thickness estimates were close to the sediment thickness derived from collocated SBP seismograms. Our approach represents an implementation of ERT measurements on lakes and complements the standard lake-bottom exploration by reflection seismic methods. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Electromagnetic and Electrical Methods for Environmental Engineering)

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17 pages, 10056 KiB

Open AccessArticle

A Flexible Single Loop Setup for Water-Borne Transient Electromagnetic Sounding Applications

by Lukas Aigner, Philipp Högenauer, Matthias Bücker and Adrián Flores Orozco

Sensors 2021, 21(19), 6624; https://doi.org/10.3390/s21196624 - 5 Oct 2021

Cited by 5 | Viewed by 2466

Abstract

Water-borne transient electromagnetic (TEM) soundings provide the means necessary to investigate the geometry and electrical properties of rocks and sediments below continental water bodies, such as rivers and lakes. Most water-borne TEM systems deploy separated magnetic transmitter and receiver loop antennas—typically in a central or offset configuration. These systems mostly require separated floating devices with rigid structures for both loop antennas. Here, we present a flexible single-loop TEM system, the light-weight design of which simplifies field procedures. Our system also facilitates the use of different geometries of the loop antenna permitting to adjust the depth of investigation (DOI) and the minimum sounding depth in the field. We measure the turn-off ramp with an oscilloscope and use the DOI to assess the minimum and maximum exploration depth of our single-loop TEM system, respectively. A reduction of the loop-antenna size improves early-time TEM data due to a reduced length of the turn-off ramp, whereas an increase of the loop-antenna size enhances the signal strength at late times, which allows to investigate deeper structures below the lake bed. We illustrate the capabilities of our system with a case study carried out at Lake Langau in Austria. Our results show that our system is capable of reaching a DOI of up to 50

m

(with a maximum radius of the circular loop of

11.9

m

), while it also resolves the water layer down to a minimum thickness of

6.8

m

(when the radius is reduced to

6.2

m

). Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Electromagnetic and Electrical Methods for Environmental Engineering)

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21 pages, 59091 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Indoor Mapping of Magnetic Fields Using UAV Equipped with Fluxgate Magnetometer

by Pavol Lipovský, Katarína Draganová, Jozef Novotňák, Zoltán Szőke and Martin Fiľko

Sensors 2021, 21(12), 4191; https://doi.org/10.3390/s21124191 - 18 Jun 2021

Cited by 17 | Viewed by 5052

Abstract

Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are used nowadays in a wide range of applications, including monitoring, mapping, or surveying tasks, involving magnetic field mapping, mainly for geological and geophysical purposes. However, thanks to the integration of ultrasound-aided navigation used for indoor UAV flight planning and development in sensorics, the acquired magnetic field images can be further used, for example, to enhance indoor UAV navigation based on the physical quantities of the image or for the identification of risk areas in manufacturing or industrial halls, where workers can be exposed to high values of electromagnetic fields. The knowledge of the spatial distribution of magnetic fields can also provide valuable information from the perspective of the technical cleanliness. This paper presents results achieved with the original fluxgate magnetometer developed and specially modified for integration on the UAV. Since the magnetometer had a wider frequency range of measurement, up to 250 Hz, the DC (Direct Current) magnetic field and low frequency industrial components could be evaluated. From the obtained data, 3D magnetic field images using spline interpolation algorithms written in the Python programming language were created. The visualization of the measured magnetic field in the 3D plots offer an innovative view of the spatial distribution of the magnetic field in the area of interest. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Electromagnetic and Electrical Methods for Environmental Engineering)

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18 pages, 5205 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Electrical and Electromagnetic Geophysical Prospecting for the Monitoring of Rock Glaciers in the Dolomites, Northeast Italy

by Mirko Pavoni, Fabio Sirch and Jacopo Boaga

Sensors 2021, 21(4), 1294; https://doi.org/10.3390/s21041294 - 11 Feb 2021

Cited by 11 | Viewed by 3402

Abstract

The monitoring of rock glaciers plays a relevant role in relation to natural hazards in high mountain environments. Due to the climate warming, mountain permafrost is thawing, and its degradation is influencing the triggering and the evolvement of processes such as rockfalls, landslides, debris flows and floods. Therefore, the study and monitoring of these periglacial forms have both a scientific and economic importance. We tested electrical and electromagnetic measurements along the same investigation lines, in two different sites of the Dolomites area (Northeast Italy). Electrical prospecting exploits the high resistivity contrast between frozen and non-frozen debris. However, these measurements have high logistic demands, considering the complex rock glaciers surface and the need of ground galvanic contact. For this reason, we tried to compare electrical measurements with electromagnetic contactless ones, that theoretically can be used to define the distribution of electrical resistivity in the first subsoil in a quicker and easier way. The obtained results show that the joint use of the two methods allows us to characterize a rock glacier subsoil with good confidence. Finally, the advantages and disadvantages of both the techniques are discussed. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Electromagnetic and Electrical Methods for Environmental Engineering)

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18 pages, 13078 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Application of Fiber Bragg Grating Sensor Technology to Leak Detection and Monitoring in Diaphragm Wall Joints: A Field Study

by Yapeng Zhang, Congxin Chen, Yun Zheng, Yong Shao and Chaoyi Sun

Sensors 2021, 21(2), 441; https://doi.org/10.3390/s21020441 - 9 Jan 2021

Cited by 13 | Viewed by 3990

Abstract

Joints between diaphragm wall panels are weak spots in wall construction. It is essential that potential leak sites are detected prior to excavation. In this study, a novel leak detection and monitoring system is presented that is based on fiber Bragg grating (FBG) sensing technology. A field study was performed in a deep excavation supported by diaphragm walls (in Hohhot, China) to validate the feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed method. Two schemes were trialed; one using pipes made of stainless steel, and one used a pipeless method. The results of the field study are presented and discussed. They show that potential leak sites in the wall joints could be determined prior to excavation using the proposed detection method. Stainless steel is a good material to use to make the detection tube because it can protect the FBG sensors and heating belts from damage and is more sensitive to water leakage. The field study provides good evidence for the feasibility of the new detection system. It also provides valuable experience for the field application of the system and has generated useful data to use in follow-up work. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Electromagnetic and Electrical Methods for Environmental Engineering)

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16 pages, 21700 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Open-Ended Coaxial Probe Measurements of Complex Dielectric Permittivity in Diesel-Contaminated Soil during Bioremediation

by Andrea Vergnano, Alberto Godio, Carla Maria Raffa, Fulvia Chiampo, Jorge A. Tobon Vasquez and Francesca Vipiana

Sensors 2020, 20(22), 6677; https://doi.org/10.3390/s20226677 - 22 Nov 2020

Cited by 11 | Viewed by 3531

Abstract

In the bioremediation field, geophysical techniques are commonly applied, at lab scale and field scale, to perform the characterization and the monitoring of contaminated soils. We propose a method for detecting the dielectric properties of contaminated soil during a process of bioremediation. An open-ended coaxial probe measured the complex dielectric permittivity (between 0.2 and 20 GHz) on a series of six soil microcosms contaminated by diesel oil (13.5% V_oil/V_tot). The microcosms had different moisture content (13%, 19%, and 24% V_w/V_tot) and different salinity due to the addition of nutrients (22 and 15 g/L). The real and the imaginary component of the complex dielectric permittivity were evaluated at the initial stage of contamination and after 130 days. In almost all microcosms, the real component showed a significant decrease (up to 2 units) at all frequencies. The results revealed that the changes in the real part of the dielectric permittivity are related to the amount of degradation and loss in moisture content. The imaginary component, mainly linked to the electrical conductivity of the soil, shows a significant drop to almost 0 at low frequencies. This could be explained by a salt depletion during bioremediation. Despite a moderate accuracy reduction compared to measurements performed on liquid media, this technology can be successfully applied to granular materials such as soil. The open-ended coaxial probe is a promising instrument to check the dielectric properties of soil to characterize or monitor a bioremediation process. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Electromagnetic and Electrical Methods for Environmental Engineering)

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