Characterization of reactive transport by 3-D electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) under unsaturated conditions

The leaching of nitrate from intensively used arable soil is of major concern in many countries. In this study, we show how time lapse electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) can be used to characterize spatially heterogeneous processes of ion production, consumption, and transport in soils. A controlled release fertilizer was introduced into an undisturbed soil core in a laboratory lysimeter and subjected to infiltration events. The production of ions resulting from processes associated with nitrification and their transport through the soil core was observed by time lapse ERT and analysis of seepage water samples from a multicompartment sampler. ERT images show development and propagation of a high-conductivity plume from the fertilizer source zone. Molar amounts of nitrate produced in and exported from the soil core could be well reproduced by time lapse ERT using a spatial moment analysis. Furthermore, we observed that several shape measures of local breakthrough-curves (BTCs) of seepage water conductivity and nitrate derived by effluent analyses and BTCs of bulk conductivity derived by ERT are highly correlated, indicating the preservation of spatial differences of the plume breakthrough in the ERT data. Also differences between nitrate breakthrough and a conservative tracer breakthrough can be observed by ERT. However, the estimation of target ion concentrations by ERT is error bound and the smoothing algorithm of the inversion masks spatial conductivity differences. This results in difficulties reproducing spatial differences of ion source functions and variances of travel times. Despite the observed limitations, we conclude that time lapse ERT can be qualitatively and quantitatively informative with respect to processes affecting the fate of nitrate in arable soils

Non-invasive characterization of the Trecate (Italy) crude-oil contaminated site:links between contamination and geophysical signals

The characterization of contaminated sites can benefit from the supplementation of direct investigations with a set of less-invasive, and more extensive, measurements. A combination of geophysical methods and direct push techniques for contaminated land characterization has been proposed within the EU FP7 project ModelPROBE and the affiliated project SoilCAM. In this paper we present results of the investigations conducted at the Trecate field site (NW Italy), which was affected in 1994 by crude oil contamination. The less-invasive investigations include ground-penetrating radar (GPR), electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) and electromagnetic induction (EMI) surveys, together with direct push sampling and soil electrical conductivity (EC) logs. Many of the geophysical measurements were conducted in time-lapse mode in order to separate static and dynamic signals, the latter being linked to strong seasonal changes in water table elevations. The main challenge was to extract significant geophysical signals linked to contamination from the mix of geological and hydrological signals present at the site. The most significant aspects of this characterization are: (a) the geometrical link between the distribution of contamination and the site's heterogeneity, with particular regard to the presence of less permeable layers, as evidenced by the extensive surface geophysical measurements; and (b) the link between contamination and specific geophysical signals, particularly evident from cross-hole measurements. The extensive work conducted at the Trecate site shows how a combination of direct (e.g. chemical) and indirect (e.g. geophysical) investigations can lead to a comprehensive and solid understanding of a contaminated site's functioning