Environmental soil characterization using electric dispersion

Current methods of site characterization involve the use of soil conductivity measurements to determine the presence of contaminants and their extent qualitatively. Due to variations in soil properties resulting from different mineralogies, fluid types, porosity, degree of saturation etc., such methods often require some guess work of the interpreter to identify anomalies. Even if the anomaly is identified, the type of contaminant and possible characteristics of the potential contaminants are difficult to be pinpointed. In this paper, it is shown that frequency domain analysis of electrical dispersion data can be utilized to bridge this gap. Experimental dispersion data on several soils consisting of different types of contaminants are presented. The data are back analyzed to identify the contaminant type and potential characteristics of the contaminant. The results are compared with measured contaminant characteristics. Good comparisons observed indicate potential applications of this technique for quantitative soil-contaminant characterization.