scholarly journals PFLOTRAN-SIP: A PFLOTRAN Module for Simulating Spectral-Induced Polarization of Electrical Impedance Data

Energies ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (24) ◽  
pp. 6552
Author(s):  
Bulbul Ahmmed ◽  
Maruti Kumar Mudunuru ◽  
Satish Karra ◽  
Scott C. James ◽  
Hari Viswanathan ◽  
...  

Spectral induced polarization (SIP) is a non-intrusive geophysical method that collects chargeability information (the ability of a material to retain charge) in the time domain or its phase shift in the frequency domain. Although SIP is a temporal method, it cannot measure the dynamics of flow and solute/species transport in the subsurface over long times (i.e., 10–100 s of years). Data collected with the SIP technique need to be coupled with fluid flow and reactive-transport models in order to capture long-term dynamics. To address this challenge, PFLOTRAN-SIP was built to couple SIP data to fluid flow and solute transport processes. Specifically, this framework couples the subsurface flow and transport simulator PFLOTRAN and geoelectrical simulator E4D without sacrificing computational performance. PFLOTRAN solves the coupled flow and solute-transport process models in order to estimate solute concentrations, which were used in Archie’s model to compute bulk electrical conductivities at near-zero frequency. These bulk electrical conductivities were modified while using the Cole–Cole model to account for frequency dependence. Using the estimated frequency-dependent bulk conductivities, E4D simulated the real and complex electrical potential signals for selected frequencies for SIP. These frequency-dependent bulk conductivities contain information that is relevant to geochemical changes in the system. This study demonstrated that the PFLOTRAN-SIP framework is able to detect the presence of a tracer in the subsurface. SIP offers a significant benefit over ERT in the form of greater information content. It provided multiple datasets at different frequencies that better constrained the tracer distribution in the subsurface. Consequently, this framework allows for practitioners of environmental hydrogeophysics and biogeophysics to monitor the subsurface with improved resolution.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jan Mudler ◽  
Andreas Hördt ◽  
Dennis Kreith ◽  
Kirill Bazhin ◽  
Lyudmila Lebedeva ◽  
...  

Abstract. The reliable detection of subsurface ice using non-destructive geophysical methods is an important objective in permafrost research. Furthermore, the ice content of the frozen ground is an essential parameter for further interpretation, for example in terms of risk analysis, e.g. for the description of permafrost carbon feedback by thawing processes. The High-Frequency Induced Polarization method (HFIP) enables the measurement of the frequency dependent electrical signal of the subsurface. In contrast to the well-established Electrical Resistivity Tomography (ERT), the usage of the full spectral information provides additional physical parameters of the ground. As the electrical properties of ice exhibit a strong characteristic behaviour in the frequency range between 100 Hz and 100 kHz, HFIP is in principle suitable to estimate ice content. Here, we present methodological advancements of the HFIP method and suggest an explicit procedure for ice content estimation. A new measuring device, the Chameleon-II (Radic Research), was used for the first time. It was designed for the application of Spectral Induced Polarization over a wide frequency range and is usable under challenging conditions, for example in field sites under periglacial influence and the presence of permafrost. Amongst other improvements, compared to a previous generation, the new system is equipped with longer cables and larger power, such that we can now achieve larger penetration depths up to 10 m. Moreover, it is equipped with technology to reduce electromagnetic coupling effects which can distort the desired subsurface signal. The second development is a method to estimate ice content quantitatively from five Cole-Cole parameters obtained from spectral two-dimensional inversion results. The method is based on a description of the subsurface as a mixture of two components (matrix and ice) and uses a previously suggested relationship between frequency-dependent electrical permittivity and ice content. Measurements on a permafrost site near Yakutsk, Russia, were carried out to test the entire procedure under real conditions at the field scale. We demonstrate that the spectral signal of ice can clearly be identified even in the raw data, and show that the spectral 2-D inversion algorithm is suitable to obtain the multidimensional distribution of electrical parameters. The parameter distribution and the estimated ice content agree reasonably well with previous knowledge of the field site from borehole and geophysical investigations. We conclude that the method is able to provide quantitative ice content estimates, and that relationships that have been tested in the laboratory may be applied at the field scale.


Minerals ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (9) ◽  
pp. 769 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fouzan A. Alfouzan ◽  
Abdulrahman M. Alotaibi ◽  
Leif H. Cox ◽  
Michael S. Zhdanov

The Saudi Arabian Glass Earth Pilot Project is a geophysical exploration program to explore the upper crust of the Kingdom for minerals, groundwater, and geothermal resources as well as strictly academic investigations. The project began with over 8000 km2 of green-field area. Airborne geophysics including electromagnetic (EM), magnetics, and gravity were used to develop several high priority targets for ground follow-up. Based on the results of airborne survey, a spectral induced polarization (SIP) survey was completed over one of the prospective targets. The field data were collected with a distributed array system, which has the potential for strong inductive coupling. This was examined in a synthetic study, and it was determined that with the geometries and conductivities in the field survey, the inductive coupling effect may be visible in the data. In this study, we also confirmed that time domain is vastly superior to frequency domain for avoiding inductive coupling, that measuring decays from 50 ms to 2 s allow discrimination of time constants from 1 ms to 5 s, and the relaxation parameter C is strongly coupled to intrinsic chargeability. We developed a method to fully include all 3D EM effects in the inversion of induced polarization (IP) data. The field SIP data were inverted using the generalized effective-medium theory of induced polarization (GEMTIP) in conjunction with an integral equation-based modeling and inversion methods. These methods can replicate all inductive coupling and EM effects, which removes one significant barrier to inversion of large bandwidth spectral IP data. The results of this inversion were interpreted and compared with results of drill hole set up in the survey area. The drill hole intersected significant mineralization which is currently being further investigated. The project can be considered a technical success, validating the methods and effective-medium inversion technique used for the project.


2008 ◽  
Vol 28 (6) ◽  
pp. 577-584 ◽  
Author(s):  
Constanze Will ◽  
Michael Fromm ◽  
Dominik Müller

Claudins are essential components of the intercellular tight junction and major determinants of paracellular solute fluxes across epithelia and endothelia. Many members of this family display a distinct charge or size specificity, whereas others render the epithelium impermeable to transport. Due to intercellular localization, claudin-mediated transport processes are passive and driven by an electrochemical gradient. In epithelial tissues, claudins exhibit a temporal–spatial expression pattern corresponding with regional and local solute transport profiles. Whereas paracellular transport mechanisms in organs such as intestine and kidney have been extensively investigated, little is known about the molecular mechanisms determining solute transport in the peritoneum, and thus the determinants of peritoneal dialysis. Given the ubiquitous expression of claudins in endothelia and epithelia, it is predictable that claudins also contribute to pore formation and determination in the peritoneum, and that they are involved in solute flux. Therefore, we review the basic characteristics of claudin family members and their function as exemplified in renal tubular transport and give an outlook to what extent claudin family members might be of importance for solute reabsorption across the peritoneal membrane.


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