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Scenario Evaluator for Electrical Resistivity Survey Pre-modeling Tool
Citation:
Terry, N., F. Day-Lewis, J. Robinson, L. Slater, K. Halford, A. Binley, J. Lane Jr., AND D Werkema. Scenario Evaluator for Electrical Resistivity Survey Pre-modeling Tool. Groundwater Monitoring & Remediation. Wiley-Blackwell Publishing, Hoboken, NJ, 55(6):885-890, (2017).
Impact/Purpose:
Geophysical methods are applicable to a broad range of disciplines and have great potential for gathering information about properties and states of interest at unique spatial scales with relatively little effort and/or cost. However, the success of individual geophysical approaches for achieving project goals depends on several factors, such as site conditions and the resolution of the particular method. Unfortunately, geophysical methods are sometimes oversold or results are over-interpreted. Such experiences, to the practioner, may lead to the impression that geophysics does not work, despite the great potential to provide high resolution data, save time, resources, minimize effort, and guide decision making.
Description:
Geophysical tools have much to offer users in environmental, water resource, and geotechnical fields; however, techniques such as electrical resistivity imaging (ERI) are often oversold and/or overinterpreted due to a lack of understanding of the limitations of the techniques, such as the appropriate depth intervals or resolution of the methods. The relationship between ERI data and resistivity is nonlinear; therefore, these limitations depend on site conditions and survey design and are best assessed through forward and inverse modeling exercises prior to field investigations. In this approach, proposed field surveys are first numerically simulated given the expected electrical properties of the site, and the resulting hypothetical data are then analyzed using inverse models. Performing ERI forward/inverse modeling, however, requires substantial expertise and can take many hours to implement. We present a new spreadsheet-based tool, the Scenario Evaluator for Electrical Resistivity (SEER), which features a graphical user interface that allows users to manipulate a resistivity model and instantly view how that model would likely be interpreted by an ERI survey. The SEER tool is intended for use by those who wish to determine the value of including ERI to achieve project goals, and is designed to have broad utility in industry, teaching, and research.
