A new model for estimating subsurface ice content based on combined electrical and seismic data sets ...

• Main Authors: Hauck, Christian, Böttcher, M., Maurer, Hansruedi
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: ETH Zurich 2011
• Subjects: Ice; permafrost
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.3929/ethz-b-000038919; http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11850/38919

Detailed knowledge of the material properties and internal structures of frozen ground is one of the prerequisites in many permafrost studies. In the absence of direct evidence, such as in-situ borehole measurements, geophysical methods are an increasingly interesting option for obtaining subsurface information on various spatial and temporal scales. The indirect nature of geophysical soundings requires a relation between the measured variables (e.g. electrical resistivity, seismic velocity) and the actual subsurface constituents (rock, water, air, ice). In this work, we present a model which provides estimates of the volumetric fractions of these four constituents from tomographic electrical and seismic images. The model is tested using geophysical data sets from two rock glaciers in the Swiss Alps, where ground truth information in form of borehole data is available. First results confirm the applicability of the so-called 4-phase model, which allows to quantify the contributions of ice-, water- and air ... : The Cryosphere, 5 (2) ...