July 11 – 14, 2022
In situ geophysical monitoring of surface barriers
During the week of July 11 – 14, members of the ALTEMIS team from SRNL and PNNL collaborated with SRNS’s ACP to install an electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) array at the F-Area Hazardous Waste Management Facility (FHWMF) along the cap of F-Area Basin 3. The buried electrodes will allow to inject current through the layers of the cap to measure the electrical conductivity/resistivity in the subsurface. This will serve as a tool to monitor the integrity of the cap and identify any anomalies and potential areas of cap degradation or subsidence. The ERT system will be operational for up to 5 years and the datasets will be integrated with other in situ sensing technologies that the ALTEMIS team is installing around the FHWMF. Ultimately, the ALTEMIS team will apply advanced data analytics, including AI/ML technologies, to the integrated data suite to establish a new paradigm for long term monitoring at EM and LM waste sites.
Figure 1. Trench installation to bury electrode cables
Figure 2. Installation of electrode cables.