Automatic Resistivity Profiling and Electrical Resistivity Tomography for Landfill Cover Surveying

Abstract

On landfills, an impermeable cover (compacted clay and a Geosynthetic Clay Liner - GCL) is set on the top of waste. However, this protection cover may be damaged: creation of defects’ could provoke preferential water pathways and therefore an unusual increase of leachate within the waste. That’s why three geophysical methods have been carried out on a French landfill in order to determine their ability to detect damages in the cover. Two of these methods will be presented in this paper: the Automatic Resistivity Profiling (ARP©) which enables cartography on a large area and the Electrical Resistivity Tomography (ERT). These measurements, supplemented by manual augers, have put in evidence several heterogeneities linked with different lithology used in cover materials. The ERT has supplied additionnal infomation about the variability in the cover thickness and the discontinuity of the GCL.