Equipment: Acquisition of the IRIS instruments FullWaver device for monitoring active landslides in Oklahoma

This grant supports the acquisition of a state-of-the-art electrical geophysical tool that can provide 3D images of the subsurface without the requirement of drilling and excavation. The equipment outperforms other available electrical geophysical tools in that it requires no wiring and has many separate transmitter and receiver stations, enabling large-scale studies.

The tool will be used at the University of Oklahoma (OU) and will be used by researchers and students and the Oklahoma Geological Survey (OGS) for a suite of research studies. The instrument is particularly important as it will expand research in the area of geohazard mitigation. Furthermore, it will be used for other research studies including 1) characterizing the subsurface for better understanding the effect of earthquakes within the first 100 m of Earth’s surface, 2) monitoring landslides and identifying their causes and effects, 3) finding fresh groundwater, 4) assessing infrastructure foundation structural integrity, 5) contaminant transport monitoring in the subsurface, and 6) critical mineral (such as lithium) exploration.

Additionally, the tool will be used for educating undergraduate and graduate students who are pursuing degrees at OU during a 6-week field camp training program in the summers. Finally, the acquisition of this tool will allow for the research and development of new scientific approaches to tackle the environmental and geohazard issues facing tribal communities across the state of Oklahoma.

This project will procure an IRIS Instruments FullWaver electrical geophysical instrument at the School of Geosciences at the University of Oklahoma (OU). The FullWaver device package consists of (a) multiple separate recording devices (receivers) capable of measuring full waveform time domain induced polarization (TDIP), direct current electrical resistivity (DC-ER) and self-potential (SP) signals; (b) one electrical current transmitter, which is wirelessly synchronized with the receivers and (c) two signal processing software.

Each FullWaver receiver includes a built-in GPS and unlike any other resistivity devices include its own power source (i.e., separated from electrical current transmitter unit), thus a full survey setup does not require any cables connecting the individual devices (sensors) to a main device, allowing use of the FullWaver (1) on large surfaces, (2) in harsh terrains, and (3) areas that constantly require an accurate position of the sensors (e.g., areas prone to land subsidence), all of which making the FullWaver the perfect instrument for long-term landslide site characterization. The instrument is particularly important as it will expand our research in the area of geohazard mitigation at the School of Geosciences among other near-surface geophysical research areas (e.g., monitoring contaminant transport at large scales).

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.