GPR Detection of Thin Bed Features from LNAPLs Contamination by Attributes Analysis

Abstract

Ground penetrating radar (GPR) attributes technology has been applied to many aspects of application but are very few in contaminant detection. In this study, GPR data was processed through a variety of attribute extraction, optimization and combined with actual soil boring observation to examine the ability of attributes analysis in revealing detailed information from the presence of hydrocarbon contaminants. One known hydrocarbon contaminated sites were investigated in order to verify its feasibility. By comparative analysis, different attributes is useful to interpret different targets and will be helpful for horizon tracking both from depth and time slices. A conceptual site model of LNAPL contamination is illustrated to explain the observation from spatial distribution of attribute anomalies. This study provides a typical example that radar reflections from thin beds caused by floating LNAPL could be a useful signature for detecting hydrocarbon contaminants.