Table 1. Application of geophysical methods in
different technical disciplines
• Civil Engineering
• Environmental Engineering
• Off-shore & Marine Engineering
• Earthquake Engineering
• Rock Mechanics & Tunneling
• Mining & Exploration
• Forensic studies
• Archaeology
• Agriculture
• Space Engineering
There is an overlap of activities between several of
the disciplines listed in Table 1. Despite differences
of application of methods and objectives of
investigations, as well as requirements for data
interpretation, a closer cooperation and exchange of
experience can only be beneficial for all groups
using geophysical methods.
Geophysical methods have several important
advantages, compared with conventional
geotechnical field investigation methods. They can
explore relatively large soil volumes, of which they
can identify material properties, material boundaries
as well as variations in space and time. Many of the
methods have the additional advantage of being
non-destructive. In many cases, it is sufficient to
place sensors on the ground surface (non-intrusive
testing).
However, a major limitation is that in most cases,
the measured parameters need to be correlated with
engineering properties, which is not always
straightforward and requires experience and
judgement. In order to improve the reliability of
geophysical investigations, it is advisable to
combine several methods and to verify these by
sampling and correlation with conventional
geotechnical field and/or laboratory methods.
Geophysical methods can be used for the
identification and localization of different types of
materials, Table 2.
GSC INVESTIGATION PROCESS
The process of geophysical site characterization can
be complex and the investigation methods must be
chosen carefully and depending on the parameters,
which are needed for the specific project. The GSC
process can be divided into several different phases: