Peer Reviewed: Magnetic Resonance Imaging in Environmental Science

MRI profiles over very wide concentration ranges: Application to swelling of a bentonite clay

“…While most magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) applications concern medical research, there is a rapidly increasing number of MRI studies in the field of environmental science and technology [1,2]. In MRI investigation of, e.g., soils, clays, and rocks, mainly water signal is detected, similarly to MRI of biological and medical samples.…”

Imaging water fluxes in porous media by magnetic resonance imaging using D2O as a tracer

“…As such, noninvasive 2D or 3D imaging methods are essential for a thorough understanding of local water and solute transport. For these purposes, 3D noninvasive imaging methods like X-ray tomography [4,5], ground penetration radar [6], electrical resistivity tomography [7] and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) [8][9][10][11][12] have been adapted and further developed to soil processes over the last decades. Although MRI offers the possibility to monitor rapid fluxes (order of magnitude: millimeters per second) directly by flow imaging techniques [11], slower flow rates and water fluxestypical for soils -can only be monitored indirectly by using tracer substances.…”

MRI studies of flow and dislocation of model NAPL in saturated and unsaturated sediments

“…Various schemes for 2D and 3D imaging can be realized by combining those different options for encoding spatial information in the NMR signal (Callaghan, 1991; Vlaardingerbroek & den Boer, 1999; Blümich, 2000). Specific discussions on MRI of transport processes in porous media and sediments were given by Van As & van Dusschoten (1997) and by Nestle et al (2002). While technical details of different MRI methods are beyond the scope of this contribution, it is important to know that 2D or 3D imaging requires a set of NMR signals with systematically varied encoding gradients.…”