Ambient Noise Site Investigation of a Representative MSW Landfill in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan

Abstract

Within the european framework programme FP6, the NISMIST research project focuses on the analysis and management of municipal solid waste landfills in seismically active regions in Central Asia. It concerns the development of a GIS-database of landfills in five participating New Independent State countries (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan), the environmental risk analysis and the recommendations for the risk-reducing remediation measures and waste management strategies. The risk analysis includes the seismic hazard and the emission potential. One of the objectives of this project in its early stage is to dynamically characterize some selected representative municipal solid waste (MSW) landfill sites in order to evaluate their dynamic hazard. This paper explores the possibilities offered by the ambient noise vibration technique to evaluate some dynamic characteristics of the waste and the underlying loess deposit of a representative municipal solid waste landfill site in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. The paper demonstrates that the ambient noise technique provides the source for a simple and low-cost in-situ dynamic characterization of landfill site. The result can be of great benefit for many developing countries.