ElectricalResistivityTomography(ERT)

asanessentialtooltoinvestigatesites
indiscontinuouspermafrost
AntoniLewkowicz
ChristinaMiceli
Maxime Duguay
Alexandre Bevington
DepartmentofGeography
UniversityofOttawa

WhatisElectricalResistivity
Tomography(ERT)?
ERTisageophysicaltechniquein
whichDCelectricalcurrentis
injectedintothegroundbetween
onepairofelectrodesandthe
voltageismeasuredbetween
anotherpair.
Aline(array)ofelectrodesisused
andaninstrumentcalleda
terrameter actsasaswitchbox
andameasuringdevice,sending
energytodifferentsetsof
electrodesthroughaset
sequence.

PrincipleofERTandpermafrost
CURRENT
APPLIED
VOLTAGE
MEASURED

Electrodes

CURRENTPATH

ACTIVELAYER
(LOWRESISTIVITY)

Ground
surface

PERMAFROST
Theelectricalresistanceofwaterintheground
(HIGHRESISTIVITY)
isverylow.

Theelectricalresistanceoficeinthegroundis
uptoseveralordersofmagnitudehigher.

CURRENTAPPLIED

VOLTAGEMEASURED

ACTIVELAYER
(LOWRESISTIVITY)
PERMAFROST
(HIGHRESISTIVITY)
CURRENTPATH

 TheABEMTerrameter LSthatweuseshows
theresultsofthesurveyasacoloured section
asittakesplace.
Whenthesurveyisfinished,the
measurementsstoredintheterrameter can
beoffloadedwithaUSBkey.

IsERTnew?
Notreally.
Buttheinstrumentation
andsoftwareneededhas
becomemuchmoreuser
friendly.
ItstimetotreatERTasan
essentialandcostefficient
toolfordiscontinuous
permafrostinvestigationsin
theTerritories.

HowdoyouundertakeanERTsurvey?
Choosethespotonyoursitewhereyouwantthe
deepestmeasurement thatsthemidpoint.
Movetheterrameter anditscarbatterysourceto
themidpointandlayoutthecablesawayon
bothsides.
Pushanelectrodeintothegroundateach
contactonthecableandjointhecable
connectionstotheelectrodesusingjumper
cables.
Selectthesetupontheterrameter andstartthe
survey.

 ThedepthofpenetrationoftheERTdependsonthe
typeandlengthoftheelectrodearray.
WeusetheWenner arraywhichgivesapenetration
depthsofabout:
12mforan80marray
25mfora160marray
60mfora400marray.

Thegreaterthedepth,thelessthehorizontaland
verticalresolution.
Spaceisneededforthesurvey.400misreallylongand
itsnotalwayspossibletolayitoutatagivensite.

WhataretheadvantagesofERT?
Addsaseconddimensiontofrozengroundconditionstoasingle
boreholemeasurement.
Itspossibletocreatea3Dimageusingparallelsurveylines.
Noninvasivetechnique:nodisturbanceandallequipment
removed.
Itspossibletodoasurveybeneatharaisedbuildingandeven
acrosswater.
Asinglepersoncansetupandundertakeatypicalsurveyinhalfa
daybutseveralsurveysperdaycanbeundertakenwithmoreman
power.Equipmentcanbecarriedinroughly4personloads.
InexpensivetoundertakeanERTsurveyonceequipmentpurchased
(costsabout$3050K).
ERTsurveyingiseasiertolearnandeasiertointerpretthanGPR.

Reproducibilityandchangethroughtime
MP341(nearFortSt.John,northernBC)

August2010
August2013
August2012

Note:resistivityvaluesshown
inmodelblocks(notcontours)

DisturbanceimpactsatBurwash LandingandDestructionBay
DestructionBay:
firesmart area
withdeeper
activelayerbut
permafrostintact

Burwash Landing:
firebreakwith
talik (unfrozen
zone)to8m

CopperJoe
subdivision:
effectof1999
fire talik to7m

Firesmart zone

Undevelopedlot

PERMAFROST
Unfrozen?

Firebreak

Firesmart zone

Gravel
road

UNFROZEN
PERMAFROST

Burnedforest

Shrubs

Partiallyburnedandtrails

UNFROZEN
PERMAFROST

Forest

Disturbanceimpacts,Dawson
WestDawson:undisturbed(60mpermafrost)
Small
stream

PERMAFROST

DawsonSchoolfield:56mdeeptalik overpermafrost
UNFROZEN
PERMAFROST
PERMAFROST
KlondikeValley:clearedsectionwith5mtalik
Clearedfield

Spruceforest

UNFROZEN

Deciduousforest

UNFROZEN
PERMAFROST

WhatarethelimitationsofERT?
ERTsimplygivesyoumeasurementsofelectrical
resistivity.Youhavetoprovidetheinterpretation.
Likeallgeophysicaltechniques,youneedsomeground
truthing (e.g.frostprobing,boreholes(preferablywith
temperaturemeasurements).
Thecontrastisgreatbetweencolderorcoarsegrained
frozenandunfrozenground,buttheresistivityoffine
grainedpermafrostcontainingsignificantunfrozen
moistureatatemperaturejustlessthan0Cmay
exhibitalessercontrast.
Massivebedrockwithoutwaterwillnotshowany
contrastbetweenfrozenandunfrozenconditions.
Salinepermafrostmayhavelowresistivities which
couldbeincorrectlyinterpretedasunfrozengroundif
thereisnootherinformation.

Challenging
sitesrequire
ground
truthing
Bedrocksite
Mt.McIntyre
nearWhitehorse
Proposedwindgeneratorsite,Burwash Landing
Borehole

Borehole

Conclusions
ERTsurveysprovedinvaluableforthehazardsmapping
projectintheYukon.
Thesurveyswereabletoevaluateconditionstomuch
greaterdepthsthantheboreholeswhichweredrilledusing
alightrig.
The2Dsectionsrevealedthelateralchangesinpermafrost
conditions,thepresenceoftaliks andthedepthofthebase
permafrost.
Whereitissuspectedthatgroundfreezingconditionsvary
atasite,asingleboreholebackedupbyERTsurveyscould
beaneconomicalsurveymethod.
ERTsurveyscanalsobeundertakenbeneathbuildings
providingaccessispossible.

Acknowledgements

AlltheHazardsmappingteammembers.
FundingfromYukonCollege,PERDprogram
throughNRCan,theRoyalCanadian
GeographicalSociety,NSERCandthe
UniversityofOttawa.