High‐resolution water content estimation from surface‐based ground‐penetrating radar reflection data by impedance inversion

Schmelzbach, Cédric; Tronicke, Jens; Dietrich, Peter

doi:10.1029/2012wr011955

Cited by 45 publications

(25 citation statements)

References 100 publications

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“…In non-magnetic and low-loss materials, it can be assumed that μ r = 1 and σ/ωε~0, respectively (Neal, 2004;Schmelzbach et al, 2012), and the velocity of electromagnetic waves can be expressed as:…”

Section: Basic Principlesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Current uses of ground penetrating radar in groundwater-dependent ecosystems research

Paz

Alcalá

Carvalho

et al. 2017

Science of The Total Environment

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Section: Basic Principlesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Current uses of ground penetrating radar in groundwater-dependent ecosystems research

Paz

Alcalá

Carvalho

et al. 2017

Science of The Total Environment

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“…From all applied geophysical techniques ground-penetrating radar (GPR) is known as the tool providing the highest spatial and temporal resolution. GPR provides information on subsurface structures at minimal invasive cost (e.g., Lambot et al, 2008;Bradford et al, 2009;Jol, 2009;Schmelzbach et al, 2011Schmelzbach et al, , 2012Steelman et al, 2012). Its short measurement times and high sensitivity towards soil moisture predestine GPR for monitoring subsurface flow processes.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Form and function in hillslope hydrology: characterization of subsurface flow based on response observations

Angermann

Jackisch

Allroggen

et al. 2017

Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci.

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Abstract. The phrase form and function was established in architecture and biology and refers to the idea that form and functionality are closely correlated, influence each other, and co-evolve. We suggest transferring this idea to hydrological systems to separate and analyze their two main characteristics: their form, which is equivalent to the spatial structure and static properties, and their function, equivalent to internal responses and hydrological behavior. While this approach is not particularly new to hydrological field research, we want to employ this concept to explicitly pursue the question of what information is most advantageous to understand a hydrological system. We applied this concept to subsurface flow within a hillslope, with a methodological focus on function: we conducted observations during a natural storm event and followed this with a hillslope-scale irrigation experiment. The results are used to infer hydrological processes of the monitored system. Based on these findings, the explanatory power and conclusiveness of the data are discussed. The measurements included basic hydrological monitoring methods, like piezometers, soil moisture, and discharge measurements. These were accompanied by isotope sampling and a novel application of 2-D time-lapse GPR (ground-penetrating radar). The main finding regarding the processes in the hillslope was that preferential flow paths were established quickly, despite unsaturated conditions. These flow paths also caused a detectable signal in the catchment response following a natural rainfall event, showing that these processes are relevant also at the catchment scale. Thus, we conclude that response observations (dynamics and patterns, i.e., indicators of function) were well suited to describing processes at the observational scale. Especially the use of 2-D time-lapse GPR measurements, providing detailed subsurface response patterns, as well as the combination of stream-centered and hillslope-centered approaches, allowed us to link processes and put them in a larger context. Transfer to other scales beyond observational scale and generalizations, however, rely on the knowledge of structures (form) and remain speculative. The complementary approach with a methodological focus on form (i.e., structure exploration) is presented and discussed in the companion paper by Jackisch et al. (2017).

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“…Within a glaciological setting, the spikes 115 from the deconvolution would represent englacial reflectors or the glacier base. The workflow implemented was based upon the processing described in Schmelzbach et al (2012). An outline of the GPR CO processing is described in Table 2.…”

Section: Gpr Data Processingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Monitoring the seasonal changes of an englacial conduit network using repeated ground penetrating radar measurements

Church¹,

Grab²,

Schmelzbach³

et al. 2020

Preprint

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Between 2012 and 2019, repeated 25 MHz ground penetrating radar (GPR) surveys were carried out over an active englacial conduit network within the ablation area of the temperate Rhonegletscher, Switzerland. In 2018 and 2019 the repetition survey rate was increased to monitor seasonal variations. The resulting GPR data were processed using an impedance inversion workflow to compute GPR reflection coefficients and layer impedances, which are indicative of the conduit's infill material. The spatial and temporal evolution of the reflection coefficients also provided insights into the morphology of the 5 Rhonegletscher's englacial conduit network. During the summer melt seasons, we observed an active, water-filled, sedimenttransporting englacial conduit network that yielded large negative GPR reflection coefficients (<-0.2). For all the GPR surveys conducted during the summer, the englacial conduit was 15-20 m wide,~0.4 m thick,~250 m long with a shallow inclination (2°) and having a sinusoidal shape. We speculate that such a geometry is likely the result of extensional hydraulic fracturing.Synthetic GPR waveform modelling using a thin water-filled conduit showed that a conduit thickness larger than 0.4 m (0.3 10 × minimum wavelength) thick can be correctly identified using 25 MHz GPR data. During the winter periods, the englacial conduit shuts down and either physically closed or becomes very thin (<0.1 m), thereby producing small negative reflection coefficients that are caused by either sediments lying within the closed conduit or water within the very thin conduit. Furthermore, the englacial conduit reactivated during the following melt season at an identical position as in the previous year.

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High‐resolution water content estimation from surface‐based ground‐penetrating radar reflection data by impedance inversion

Cited by 45 publications

References 100 publications

Current uses of ground penetrating radar in groundwater-dependent ecosystems research

Current uses of ground penetrating radar in groundwater-dependent ecosystems research

Form and function in hillslope hydrology: characterization of subsurface flow based on response observations

Monitoring the seasonal changes of an englacial conduit network using repeated ground penetrating radar measurements

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