DIFFERENTIAL GROUP-VELOCITY DETECTION OF FLUID PATHS
For nearly 50 years, surface waves that propagate through near-surface soils have been utilized in engineering for the determination of the small-strain dynamic properties of soils. These techniques, although useful, have not been sufficiently precise to use in detecting the subtle changes in soil properties that accompany short-term changes in fluid content. The differential techniques developed in this research now make it possible to monitor small changes (less than 3 cm) in the water level of shallow soil aquifers. Using inversion techniques and tomography, differential seismic techniques could track the water level distribution in aquifers with water being pumped in or out. Differential surface wave analysis could lead to new ways to monitor reservoir levels and verify hydrologic models. Field data obtained during this investigation have measured changes in surface-wave phase and group velocity before and after major rain events, and have detected subtle changes associated with pumping water into an aquifer and pumping water out of an aquifer. This research has established analysis techniques for observing these changes. These techniques combine time domain measurements to isolate surface wave arrivals with frequency domain techniques to determine the effects as a function of frequency. Understanding the differences in response as a function of wave frequency facilitates the inversion of this data for soil velocity structure. These techniques have also quantified many aspects of data acquisition and analysis that are important for significant results. These include tight control on the character of the source and proper placement of the geophones. One important application is the possibility that surface waves could be used to monitor and/or track fluid movement during clean-up operations, verifying that the fluid reached all affected areas. Extending this to a larger scale could facilitate monitoring of water resources in basins without having to drill many expensive wells. The next step is to investigate the commercial applications of differential surface wave analysis.
- Research Organization:
- Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE Office of Science (SC)
- DOE Contract Number:
- FG02-04ER63866
- OSTI ID:
- 898343
- Report Number(s):
- DOE63866-f; G-35-C20
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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