Everyday Applied Geophysics 1: Electrical Methods

Everyday Applied Geophysics 1

Electrical Methods

Nicolas Florsch

Frédéric Muhlach

Series Editor

André Mariotti

Table of Contents

Cover image

Title page

Copyright

Foreword

1: Introduction and General Points

Abstract

1.1 Introduction: the audience of this book

1.2 Direct method, inverse method

1.3 Sampling quantities on the surface, and which resolution can be reached underground?

1.4 Adapting the models to the targets

2: Direct Current Electrical Methods

Abstract

2.1 The electricity used in geophysics

2.2 Ground resistance

2.3 The basic array for electrical prospecting

2.4 Dangers involved in electrical prospecting and safety regulations and rules

2.5 Apparent resistivity

2.6 Arrays in electrical prospecting: depth of investigation and sensitivity

2.7 Electrical resistivity tomography

2.8 3D tomography

2.9 Direct current electrical resistivity mapping

2.10 Vertical electrical sounding (VES, or in short, electrical sounding)

2.11 The rectangle method

2.12 The mise-à-la-masse method

2.13 Time lapse (or simply monitoring) in electrical methods

2.14 A note about measuring ground resistance

3: The Spontaneous Polarization Method

Abstract

3.1 The principle of SP

3.2 The origin of the potentials in SP

4: The Induced Polarization (IP) Method

Abstract

4.1 The principle of induced polarization

4.2 Three types of measurements: temporal, frequency and spectral

5: Equipment

Abstract

5.1 Electrodes, wire bobbins and cables

5.2 Equipment and methods used for spontaneous polarization

5.3 Equipment and approaches used for direct current methods

5.4 Equipment for induced polarization

6: An Acquisition System Designed for the Electrical Prospection of Soil

Abstract

6.1 The presentation of the open source project

6.2 The preliminary study

6.3 Choosing the components

6.4 Outline of the layout of components

6.5 Preparing the microSD card

6.6 Running the program on the microcontroller

6.7 The program and its menus

6.8 A practical example of how the device is used

Appendix: Practical Links, Programs and Material

A.1 Modeling and interpreting vertical electrical soundings

A.2 Modeling and interpreting electrical tomography images

A.3 Links about low-tension electrical prospecting devices

Bibliography

Index

Copyright

First published 2018 in Great Britain and the United States by ISTE Press Ltd and Elsevier Ltd

Apart from any fair dealing for the purposes of research or private study, or criticism or review, as permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, this publication may only be reproduced, stored or transmitted, in any form or by any means, with the prior permission in writing of the publishers, or in the case of reprographic reproduction in accordance with the terms and licenses issued by the CLA. Enquiries concerning reproduction outside these terms should be sent to the publishers at the undermentioned address:

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Elsevier Ltd

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Notices

Knowledge and best practice in this field are constantly changing. As new research and experience broaden our understanding, changes in research methods, professional practices, or medical treatment may become necessary.

Practitioners and researchers must always rely on their own experience and knowledge in evaluating and using any information, methods, compounds, or experiments described herein. In using such information or methods they should be mindful of their own safety and the safety of others, including parties for whom they have a professional responsibility.

To the fullest extent of the law, neither the Publisher nor the authors, contributors, or editors, assume any liability for any injury and/or damage to persons or property as a matter of products liability, negligence or otherwise, or from any use or operation of any methods, products, instructions, or ideas contained in the material herein.

For information on all our publications visit our website at http://store.elsevier.com/

© ISTE Press Ltd 2018

The rights of Nicolas Florsch and Frédéric Muhlach to be identified as the authors of this work have been asserted by them in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data

A CIP record for this book is available from the British Library

Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data

A catalog record for this book is available from the Library of Congress

ISBN 978-1-78548-199-4

Printed and bound in the UK and US

Foreword

The scientific books published by ISTE Press include a multidisciplinary series called Earth Systems – Environmental Sciences, and it is in this context that today I present a work dedicated to geophysical prospecting and its applications, coordinated by Professor Nicolas Florsch.

Its title, Everyday Applied Geophysics, deserves to be explained in more detail.

First, we should recall the important role played in some scientific fields by the so-called amateurs. This is especially the case for astronomy, a field where a socioepistemology of amateur practices, whose main points can be summed up here, has been established. These amateurs are not organized to compete with professionals, as they evidently lack the skills and the necessary resources. However, this is not a case of popular science: their practices, beyond the understanding of the sky, stars and the universe, are active and mobilized by the desire to make discoveries. Astronomy is a science where amateurs can obtain significant observation data, which are very useful for scientists.

On a smaller scale, some amateurs, for example, are quite involved in electronics and radio communication.

However, so far this has not been the case for Everyday Applied Geophysics, a domain that has potentially numerous applications associated with the exploration of the near subsoil: looking for water, archeological remains, geological peculiarities, etc.

Moreover, making Everyday Applied Geophysics available for researchers based in developing countries is a challenge of the utmost importance.

The goal is to open this field and allow everyone to employ the tools and methods used for exploring the near subsoil in order to highlight reservoirs or flow paths, locate holes, define geological stratifications, follow pollution plumes, search for archeological remains, etc. If curious and exploring amateurs may be involved, the main objective of the scientific community of these countries, which needs financially and technologically affordable tools, is to implement cheap and unsophisticated methods and techniques that, nonetheless, will produce plenty of essential data.

Let us provide an example to illustrate this point. Some electrical tomography devices cost tens of thousands of dollars on the market; in this work, we will discover that with €100 at most, we can implement a system that, despite being naturally three to five times slower in terms of data acquisition, allows everyone to carry out actual and effective electrical tomography.

This work will also focus on the issue of self-learning. The existing literature does not tackle practical aspects either in terms of material implementation or basic interpretation concepts (actual resolution of the methods, sensitivity, etc.). This work is also very useful insofar as it can solve the problem of signal acquisition: it provides open-source Arduino solutions, supported by a downloadable program, for data acquisition in the field.

Thus, this work, which is unique in its genre and accessible to everyone (with a few more technical and/or mathematical boxed passages), bridges a double gap in the existing scientific literature by:

–providing accessible tools for the exploration of the near subsoil: from tools to acquisition systems (the latter being available with the use of computers) including a guide of free programs;

–providing practical information for implementation that cannot be found in other works, such as the design of devices (from electrodes to current flow, for example to carry out an electrical survey), the protocol for the creation of geophysical maps, etc.

We hope that this work reaches its audience and that the scientists that played a part in it may thus contribute to the removal of the ideological barrier between the world of basic research carried out in the academic world and applied research, as the markedly ideological gap that divides these two communities has not been entirely bridged yet. Besides, helping the development of the environmental field should be invaluable for a large number of countries.

André Mariotti, Emeritus Professor at the Université Pierre-et-Marie-Curie, Honorary member of the Institut Universitaire de France

1

Introduction and General Points

Abstract

This book is dedicated to curious individuals and explorers of knowledge and technologies that have not been awarded a Nobel prize (yet). It has been written for tinkerers who want to employ tools to analyze the near subsoil (less than 20 m) with what is at hand. It has been designed for all those who want to carry out what we call applied geophysics (or subsurface geophysics as well as environmental geophysics, etc.). The authors have mentioned it with individuals from modest backgrounds in mind, as geophysical materials are expensive (naturally, as they are not produced in the thousands).

Keywords

Apparent resistivity; Georeferencing; Hypothesis elimination; Measuring protocols; Method of least squares; Point-by-point; Walking or drones

1.1 Introduction: the audience of this book

This book is dedicated to curious individuals and explorers of knowledge and technologies that have not been awarded a Nobel prize (yet). It has been written for tinkerers who want to employ tools to analyze the near subsoil (less than 20 m) with what is at hand. It has been designed for all those who want to carry out what we call applied geophysics (or subsurface geophysics as well as environmental geophysics, etc.). The authors have mentioned it with individuals from modest backgrounds in mind, as geophysical materials are expensive (naturally, as they are not produced in the thousands).

If we had to point out a prerequisite, it would be a certain familiarity with the laws of electricity and the difference between tension (or difference in potential as well as voltage, in volt) and intensity (in amperes). Thus, neophytes and amateurs of all kinds are welcome.

Sometimes, more complex calculations are shown in gray boxes for those math brains with a more developed interest, but they do not constitute the bulk of the work and may be disregarded without any serious consequence.

This book assumes that the reader will rummage on the Internet, looking for the all possible additional information at his or her level: figures, documents of all kinds, we can even find some videos dedicated to geophysics on YouTube. The content of this work can hardly be found in or is completely absent from specialized books, which besides are very expensive, and/or Websites dedicated to applied geophysics and its applications. We propose opening new avenues and offering some practice. The authors rely on the reader’s curiosity and are convinced that increasing one’s personal experience through practice is a fulfilling activity.

One of the goals is that the reader, after reading this book, will be able to analyze the subsurface and carry out electrical surveys to find out the depth of an aquifer or electrical mapping to find out the clay portions of the soil.

There is relatively little space in this first volume for applications: a choice had to be made. However, several examples of applications can naturally be found on the Internet.

1.1.1 What is applied (or subsurface) geophysics?

Applied geophysics is the use of concepts, quantities, devices and physical sciences to explore the near subsurface. Think about it… with our own eyes we can see the Andromeda Galaxy (on a moonless and cloudless night, without any interference lights from cities and provided that we are in the northern hemisphere; in the southern hemisphere, we will see the Magellanic Clouds, i.e. galaxies orbiting the Milky Way). Andromeda is 2 million light years away, i.e. around 24 trillion km. However, in our garden, there is no way of seeing what goes on below the first millimeter of soil.

There is still time to close this book and move on to astronomy.

Our remote senses, such as sight, require physical quantities (in this case light), which do not cross the soil. If only the soil were as transparent as the crystalline water of a lagoon.

Applied geophysics precisely complements our senses, simultaneously replacing our organs with instruments and quantities with other quantities to which these instruments are sensitive and which are above all able to penetrate the soil. The goal of geophysics is exactly to make the soil transparent. Our eyes do not see these physical fields¹, such as the electric field or the magnetic field. The idea here is to transform these fields, measured with instruments, into graphs and maps that this time will be interpretable. To begin with, let us consider three examples. First, let us consider electric current. It crosses the materials that form the subsoil fairly easily – otherwise, where would lightning go and what is the purpose of earthed sockets? However, these materials can be more or less conducting. A clay soil, for example, is easily a thousand times more conducting than a granite soil. Second, magnetic fields, the very ones that orient our compass: they cross the soil fairly well, unless they find a metallic barrier (for example heavily reinforced concrete). Third, acoustic waves; it is better to refer to seismic waves, but it is the same kind of physical process: a mechanic perturbation propagates in space.

Applied geophysics aims to see what goes on underground, let us say from a few centimeters to a few dozen meters, unless we focus on oil exploration, which goes deeper. Beyond this, the means must increase, and we will refer instead to global geophysics.

Seeing matter is something that medical imaging can also perform with X-rays and a scanner, magnetic resonance imaging, and several other methods.

Just like the brain interprets the signals that trigger our senses, an (applied) geophysicist must then interpret (by reasoning, but also by relying on their cumulative skills and experience) data, observations and measurements to deduce something, if possible a map of the subsoil.

To deduce what exactly? We must be realistic. In Jurassic Park, paleontologists image a small dinosaur skeleton on a