As part of the NAWA-EMMAT project, geophysical surveys were carried out on selected sites in Poland, i.e. on the flood dike and in the surrounding of the concrete water dam. The goal of the surveys was the non- invasive detection of loose zones in the flood dike and fractured zones located in the subsoil of the water dam. Terrain geophysical measurements were conducted with the use of electrical and electromagnetic methods as well as applying seismic methods. Due to the limitations of the length of this paper, only selected results recorded on the flood dike using selected geophysical methods, i.e. electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) and ground penetrating radar (GPR) are presented. The presence of several higher hydraulic permeability zones in the dike was suggested by the results of the ERT method. The GPR method allowed, due to its high resolution, to identify small leakage zones in the body of the dike. An attempt at a quantitative interpretation of the geophysical data was made; for this purpose, the synthetic results obtained from numerical modelling of electrical and electromagnetic fields were applied. For proper construction of numerical models and further interpretation, the results of geotechnical sounding, geological drilling and the results of petrophysical measurements were also used.

The study presented in this paper concerns georadar investigations at a selected former coal mining site in Upper Silesia (Poland) where the risk of sinkhole appearance is high. The results of 3D GPR surveys obtained in three measurement sessions in December 1997, October 2006 and March 2007 were interpreted. The 4D interpretation, i.e., a time‐space analysis, allowed for the identification of loose zones in the ground and fractured zones of the rock mass, which might be a source of sinkhole creation. After the first measurement session, on the basis of the GPR survey results, a dangerous, fractured zone in the ground was localized. This zone was confirmed by a borehole. Between the second and third sessions, a large sinkhole appeared on site, as predicted on the basis of georadar investigations. The geomechanical analyses presented in this paper explain the development of the fractured zones over the earlier mining excavations. Such zones accumulate water and high contrasts of dielectrical permittivity appear, allowing the use of the GPR method for the location of these zones.

Geophysical studies were conducted over a shallow mining excavation near a sinkhole that was created by partial collapse of the excavation. The main aim of this study was to detect the fractured zones induced by mining activity and so threatening the stability of the surface. To this end, geophysical surveys using microgravimetry, georadar, and electrical resistivity tomography techniques were carried out. However, although the results of these measurements were clear, yet the distribution of the fractured zones in the rock mass remained unclear. In this paper, the results of each individual geophysical technique used to detect the fractured zones and the ambiguities in the interpretation are presented. In order to properly analyse the data, a more complex interpretation were carried out using numerical modelling. Georadar and electrical resistivity tomography data provided the basis for gravity modelling, the results of which enabled confirmation of the presence of fractured zones. This had not been directly possible from the measured microgravimetric curve.

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This paper presents the selected results of GPR (ground penetrating radar) and ERT (electrical resistivity tomography) surveys carried out on the sites in Poland where shallow karst forms were found in gypsum deposits. The aim of the surveys was the noninvasive detection of karst forms as well as weathered and fractured bedrock which may threaten the stability of the surface and, consequently, may cause damage to buildings, as well as overground and underground infrastructure. The geophysical surveys were conducted at a depth of only a few meters, i.e., to the depth of buildings foundations. GPR surveys were carried out in short-offset reflection profiling mode with standard orientation of the antennae set; however, on one site, different orientations of antennae were tested. During ERT surveys, different measurement arrays were applied in order to analyze which array was optimal for the detection of karst forms as well as weathered and fractured bedrock. Complex interpretation of geophysical surveys resulted in reduced ambiguity and revealed some regions, dangerous for surface stability. Due to the fact that gypsum deposits were investigated to the depth of maximum 10 m; therefore, hydrological processes were analyzed in the paper instead of hydrogeological processes.