Class Details

Methods for Hydrogeophysical Investigations

The Engineering Forum (EF), established in the late 1980s, is a group of engineers and scientists that supports the Superfund and RCRA programs in each of the ten EPA Regional Offices. As one of the EPA Technical Support Project’s (TSP) three technical forums, the EF is a medium for exchanging technical information regarding innovative site cleanup and characterization technologies. Monthly technical talks focus on site-specific engineering problems encountered, alternatives and solutions, and lessons learned. After each presentation, information regarding upcoming events and training are discussed and time for an Open Mic discussion is provided. If you are a Superfund, Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), Brownfields, state or federal environmental professional who is interested in solving technical issues, register for any technical talks listed below that interest you and join the discussion!

Presentations are specifically designed for EPA staff including RPMs, OSCs, Corrective Action Managers, Superfund and Technology Liaisons, Chemists, Biologists, Physical Scientists, and Engineers from within EPA regions, program offices, laboratory system, and headquarters personnel as well as environmental professionals from state agencies, tribes, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, U.S. Dept. of Energy, and other federal agencies of all experience levels. THIS TRAINING IS NOT OPEN TO ACADEMIA, CONTRACTORS, CONSULTANTS OR OTHER PRIVATE ENTITIES.

We will try to meet any special accommodations necessary for our participants as possible if given a minimum of two weeks notice. You will be prompted to indicate if you need any special accommodations upon registering for these events.

For general information, check out the EPA Engineering Forum Sharepoint site or contact Luci Dunnington via e-mail at dunnington.lucila@epa.gov.

*This training is offered free of charge to all registrants who are confirmed to attend. One CLP will be issued for each session attended when you register and log on with the registration link provided to enable your attendance to be confirmed.*
 

The cross discipline of hydrogeology and geophysics can be succinctly summed to form hydrogeophysics, which is aimed at gathering contextual information to gain insight for hydrologically-based problems. In this talk, Dr. Dale Rucker of hydroGEOPHYSICS, Inc (HGI), located in Tucson AZ, will present geophysical methodologies best used to solve these types of problems. The presentation will touch on water resource investigations, geological mapping (lithologies, structure, depth to bedrock), contaminant plume mapping, waste storage, karst, hyporheic zone, and other issues.

Dr. Rucker began his career in hydrogeology as a groundwater modeler approximately 30 years ago. A decade later he discovered the benefits of geophysics to either directly measure variables for model parameterization or aid in the conceptualization of the problem. With this history, he has shown that there are a suite of tools that can be adapted to site-specific conditions to solve problems quickly, minimize downtime, and with a budget that is much less expensive than alternatives.

The outline of this presentation includes:
- Fundamentals of Geophysics
- Hydrogeological Questions that Geophysics Can Tackle
- Hydrogeophysical Method: Resistivity
- Hydrogeophysical Method: Ground Penetrating Radar
- Hydrogeophysical Method: Nuclear Magnetic Resonance