Global Inversion of ERT and IP Data using VFSA for Improved Detection and Uncertainty Assessment of Leachate Accumulation in Urban Landfills

Giorgio De Donno; Michele Cercato; Davide Melegari

doi:10.3997/1365-2397.fb2025063

ISSN: 0263-5046
E-ISSN: 1365-2397

Global Inversion of ERT and IP Data using VFSA for Improved Detection and Uncertainty Assessment of Leachate Accumulation in Urban Landfills
Authors Giorgio De Donno¹, Michele Cercato¹ and Davide Melegari¹
View Affiliations Hide Affiliations

¹ Sapienza’ University of Rome
Publisher: European Association of Geoscientists & Engineers
Source: First Break, Volume 43, Issue 8, Aug 2025, p. 53 - 58
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3997/1365-2397.fb2025063
- Published online: 01 Aug 2025

Abstract

Electrical Resistivity Tomography (ERT) and induced polarisation (IP) methods are widely employed in the characterisation of urban landfills due to their sensitivity to subsurface moisture and electrochemical properties of waste. Traditional local inversion techniques, typically based on smoothness-constrained Occam-type methods, can fail to resolve the high spatial variability of leachate accumulation areas. Additionally, these techniques do not provide an assessment of the uncertainty associated with the detection of accumulation areas, which is pivotal for informing quantitatively the landfill management. In this study, we apply a global inversion approach based on the Very Fast Simulated Annealing (VFSA) algorithm to ERT and IP datasets acquired on a municipal solid waste (MSW) landfill located in Central Italy. This site, characterised by a steep slope and high risk of lea-chate-induced instability, is currently monitored with time along multiple profiles. The global inversion process was implemented on a selected line where also piezometric level logged in wells are available. Posterior model ensembles were also analysed to derive uncertainty estimates, and petrophysical transformations were applied to extract water content and Cation Exchange Capacity (CEC) from the geoelectrical parameters. The results demonstrate the effectiveness of the VFSA method in detecting highly variable leachate zones, as confirmed by the good agreement with leachate levels logged in wells. The uncertainty assessment highlighting areas of higher and lower reliability of the geophysical model can further support the landfill monitoring, with implications for risk assessment and long-term management.

EAGE Publications BV

Article metrics loading...

/content/journals/10.3997/1365-2397.fb2025063

2025-08-01

2026-02-08

From This Site

/content/journals/10.3997/1365-2397.fb2025063

dcterms_title,dcterms_subject,pub_keyword

-contentType:Journal -contentType:Contributor -contentType:Concept -contentType:Institution

10

5

Full text loading...

References

Aleardi, M., Vinciguerra, A. and Hojat, A. [2021]. A geostatistical Markov chain Monte Carlo inversion algorithm for electrical resistivity tomography. Near Surface Geophysics, 19(1), 7–26.
[Google Scholar]
Cercato, M. [2011]. Global surface wave inversion with model constraints. Geophysical Prospecting, 59, 210–226.
[Google Scholar]
De Donno, G., Melegari, D., Paoletti, V. and Piegari, E. [2025]. An integrated study of hard and soft cluster analyses for detecting leachate in a MSW landfill site using geoelectrical data. Waste Management, 195, 22–31.
[Google Scholar]
De Donno, G. and Cardarelli, E. [2017]. VEMI: a flexible interface for 3D tomographic inversion of time-and frequency-domain electrical data in EIDORS. Near Surface Geophysics, 15(1), 43–58.
[Google Scholar]
De Donno, G., Melegari, D., Paoletti, V. and Piegari, E. [2024]. Electrical and Electromagnetic Prospecting for the Characterization of Municipal Waste Landfills: A Review. In: Technical Landfills and Waste Management: Volume 1: Landfill Impacts, Characterization and Valorisation, 1–29.
[Google Scholar]
de Groot-Hedlin, C. and Constable, S. [1990]. Occam's inversion to generate smooth, two-dimensional models from magnetotelluric data. Geophysics, 55(12), 1613–1624.
[Google Scholar]
Flores-Orozco, A., Gallistl, J., Steiner, M., Brandstätter, C. and Fellner, J. [2020]. Mapping biogeochemically active zones in landfills with induced polarization imaging: The Heferlbach landfill. Waste Management, 107, 121–132.
[Google Scholar]
Ingber, L. [1989]. Very fast simulated re-annealing. Mathematical and Computer Modelling, 12(8), 967–973.
[Google Scholar]
Isunza Manrique, I., Caterina, D., Nguyen, F. and Hermans, T. [2023]. Quantitative interpretation of geoelectric inverted data with a robust probabilistic approach. Geophysics, 88(3), B73–B88.
[Google Scholar]
Kim, H.J. and Kim, Y. [2011]. A unified transformation function for lower and upper bounding constraints on model parameters in electrical and electromagnetic inversion. Journal of Geophysics and Engineering, 8(1), 21–26.
[Google Scholar]
Mukherjee, S., Mukhopadhyay, S., Hashim, M.A. and Sen Gupta, B. [2015]. Contemporary environmental issues of landfill leachate: assessment and remedies. Critical reviews in environmental science and technology, 45(5), 472–590.
[Google Scholar]
Revil, A., Ahmed, A.S., Coperey, A., Ravanel, L., Sharma, R. and Panwar, N. [2020]. Induced polarization as a tool to characterize shallow landslides. Journal of Hydrology, 589, 125369.
[Google Scholar]
Sen, M.K. and Stoffa, P.L. [2013]. Global optimization methods in geophysical inversion. Cambridge University Press, UK.
[Google Scholar]
Steiner, M., Katona, T., Fellner, J. and Flores-Orozco, A. [2022]. Quantitative water content estimation in landfills through joint inversion of seismic refraction and electrical resistivity data considering surface conduction. Waste Management, 149, 21–32.
[Google Scholar]
Weller, A., Slater, L. and Nordsiek, S. [2013]. On the relationship between induced polarization and surface conductivity: Implications for petrophysical interpretation of electrical measurements. Geophysics, 78(5), D315–D325.
[Google Scholar]

/content/journals/10.3997/1365-2397.fb2025063

Global Inversion of ERT and IP Data using VFSA for Improved Detection and Uncertainty Assessment of Leachate Accumulation in Urban Landfills

First Break 43, 53 (2025); https://doi.org/10.3997/1365-2397.fb2025063

/content/journals/10.3997/1365-2397.fb2025063

Data & Media loading...

Article Type: Research Article

Most Cited This Month Most Cited RSS feed

- Curvature attributes and their application to 3D interpreted horizons
  
  Authors A. Roberts
- Thematic Set: Full waveform inversion: the next leap forward in imaging at Valhall
  
  Authors L. Sirgue, O.I. Barkved, J. Dellinger, J. Etgen, U. Albertin and J.H. Kommedal
- Distributed Acoustic Sensing – a new tool for seismic applications
  
  Authors Tom Parker, Sergey Shatalin and Mahmoud Farhadiroushan
- 2D resistivity surveying for environmental and engineering applications
  
  Authors T. Dahlin
- Effects of igneous intrusions on the petroleum system: a review
  
  Authors Kim Senger, John Millett, Sverre Planke, Kei Ogata, Christian Haug Eide, Marte Festøy, Olivier Galland and Dougal A. Jerram
- Geostatistical inversion - a sequential method of stochastic reservoir modelling constrained by seismic data
  
  Authors A. Haas and O. Dubrule
- Two-dimensional resistivity mapping with a computer-controlled array
  
  Authors D.H. Griffiths, J. Turnbull and A.I. Olayinka
- Virtual outcrop models of petroleum reservoir analogues: a review of the current state-of-the-art
  
  Authors J. K. Pringle, J. A. Howell, D. Hodgetts, A. R. Westerman and D. M. Hodgson
- Seismic Inversion Methods and some of their constraints
  
  Authors P.C.H. Veeken and M. Da Silva
- What is DMO?
  
  Authors S.M. Deregowski
More Less

Global Inversion of ERT and IP Data using VFSA for Improved Detection and Uncertainty Assessment of Leachate Accumulation in Urban Landfills

Abstract

Most Read This Month

Most Cited This Month Most Cited RSS feed