Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
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TY - JOUR
T1 - Non-invasive characterization of the Trecate (Italy) crude-oil contaminated site
T2 - links between contamination and geophysical signals
AU - Cassiani, Giorgio
AU - Binley, Andrew
AU - Kemna, Andreas
AU - Wehrer, Markus
AU - Flores-Orozco, Adrian
AU - Deiana, Rita
AU - Boaga, Jacopo
AU - Rossi, Matteo
AU - Dietrich, Peter
AU - Werban, Ulrike
AU - Zschornack, Ludwig
AU - Godio, Alberto
AU - JafarGandomi, Arash
AU - Deidda, Gian Piero
N1 - Date of Acceptance: 23/12/2013
PY - 2014/8
Y1 - 2014/8
N2 - The characterization of contaminated sites can benefit from the supplementation of direct investigations with a set of less-invasive, and more extensive, measurements. A combination of geophysical methods and direct push techniques for contaminated land characterization has been proposed within the EU FP7 project ModelPROBE and the affiliated project SoilCAM. In this paper we present results of the investigations conducted at the Trecate field site (NW Italy), which was affected in 1994 by crude oil contamination. The less-invasive investigations include ground-penetrating radar (GPR), electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) and electromagnetic induction (EMI) surveys, together with direct push sampling and soil electrical conductivity (EC) logs.Many of the geophysical measurements were conducted in time-lapse mode in order to separate static and dynamic signals, the latter being linked to strong seasonal changes in water table elevations. The main challenge was to extract significant geophysical signals linked to contamination from the mix of geological and hydrological signals present at the site. The most significant aspects of this characterization are: (a) the geometrical link between the distribution of contamination and the site's heterogeneity, with particular regard to the presence of less permeable layers, as evidenced by the extensive surface geophysical measurements; and (b) the link between contamination and specific geophysical signals, particularly evident from cross-hole measurements.The extensive work conducted at the Trecate site shows how a combination of direct (e.g. chemical) and indirect (e.g. geophysical) investigations can lead to acomprehensive and solid understanding of a contaminated site's functioning.
AB - The characterization of contaminated sites can benefit from the supplementation of direct investigations with a set of less-invasive, and more extensive, measurements. A combination of geophysical methods and direct push techniques for contaminated land characterization has been proposed within the EU FP7 project ModelPROBE and the affiliated project SoilCAM. In this paper we present results of the investigations conducted at the Trecate field site (NW Italy), which was affected in 1994 by crude oil contamination. The less-invasive investigations include ground-penetrating radar (GPR), electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) and electromagnetic induction (EMI) surveys, together with direct push sampling and soil electrical conductivity (EC) logs.Many of the geophysical measurements were conducted in time-lapse mode in order to separate static and dynamic signals, the latter being linked to strong seasonal changes in water table elevations. The main challenge was to extract significant geophysical signals linked to contamination from the mix of geological and hydrological signals present at the site. The most significant aspects of this characterization are: (a) the geometrical link between the distribution of contamination and the site's heterogeneity, with particular regard to the presence of less permeable layers, as evidenced by the extensive surface geophysical measurements; and (b) the link between contamination and specific geophysical signals, particularly evident from cross-hole measurements.The extensive work conducted at the Trecate site shows how a combination of direct (e.g. chemical) and indirect (e.g. geophysical) investigations can lead to acomprehensive and solid understanding of a contaminated site's functioning.
KW - Hydrogeophysics
KW - GPR
KW - ERT
KW - Electrical methods
KW - Cross-hole
KW - Contamination
U2 - 10.1007/s11356-014-2494-7
DO - 10.1007/s11356-014-2494-7
M3 - Journal article
VL - 21
SP - 8914
EP - 8931
JO - Environmental Science and Pollution Research
JF - Environmental Science and Pollution Research
SN - 0944-1344
IS - 15
ER -