Review of the SEG Post-Convention IP Worshop, 2008

November 14, 2008 

The post-convention workshop on "Induced Polarization: Research and Recent Advances in Near Surface Applications" was jointly sponsored by SEG Near Surface Geophysics Section (NSGS) and the Environmental and Engineering Geophysical Society (EEGS). This intensive one day workshop explored the past, present and future prospects of an important tool for geophysicists that has recently reemerged as a technology for exploring near surface properties and processes.

The workshop began with a historical/tutorial discussion of the induced polarization (IP) technique presented by the coorganizers. A series of invited speakers from the US and Europe subsequently presented talks on [i] recent research in IP data acquisition, [ii] rock properties, theory and laboratory studies of IP, [iii] inverse modeling and imaging of IP data, and [iv] novel near surface applications of the technique. The workshop concluded with an audience discussion of the material presented and a summary with recommendations for further research. The workshop was unique in that the majority of the talks focused on emerging environmental applications of the technique outside of the more established use of the method for minerals exploration. These environmental applications included imaging lithologic and hydraulic variability, estimating hydraulic properties, monitoring geochemical and microbial processes and investigating landfills. The workshop was presented to an engaged audience of 49 attendees.

The international community of eight invited speakers was composed of Philippe Cosenza (Université Pierre et Marie CURIE, France), Torleif Dahlin (Lund University, Sweden), Andreas Weller (Technische Universitaet Clausthal, Germany), Andreas Kemna (University of Bonn, Germany), Yuxin Wu (Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory, USA), Dimitrios Ntarlagiannis (Rutgers University-Newark, USA), Andreas Hoerdt (Technical University Braunschweig, Germany) and Norman Carlson (Zonge Engineering and Research Inc., USA). The worskhop coorganizers were Esben Auken (University of Aarhus), Douglas LaBrecque (Multi Phase Technologies) and Lee Slater (Rutgers University-Newark).

Lee Slater