Full text loading...
-
The Use Of Ground Penetrating Radar For Site Characterization At Hanford
- Publisher: European Association of Geoscientists & Engineers
- Source: Conference Proceedings, 16th EEGS Symposium on the Application of Geophysics to Engineering and Environmental Problems, Apr 2003, cp-190-00022
Abstract
Accurate information is needed about the hydrogeologic properties at the Department of Energy<br>Hanford site in southeastern Washington. This information is required in order to model the fate and<br>transport of subsurface contaminants. Ground penetrating radar (GPR) data were collected in two areas<br>at Hanford to assess the potential usefulness of GPR for site characterization. The sediments at Hanford<br>are such that we found the penetration depth of the radar measurement to be limited to approximately 10<br>m, in most locations, when using 100 MHz antennas. This means that GPR can only be used to obtain<br>information about the sediments in the top of the vadose zone.<br>One survey objective involved the use of GPR to locate clastic dikes, which can have a large<br>impact on contaminant transport. The dikes were clearly imaged as diffraction hyperbolae in the GPR<br>data. The second objective was to test the use of GPR to describe the spatial variability in water content.<br>Geostatistical analysis of GPR data from a test site yielded a correlation length comparable to that<br>obtained from analysis of neutron probe data from the site. This result suggests that GPR data can be<br>used to quantify the subsurface distribution in water content at Hanford.