Borehole Geophysical Methods

Ground Penetrating Radar

By
RM. Subramanian
Senior Scientific Officer
Sarathy Geotech and Engineering Services Pvt. Ltd.
Contents
• Borehole Geophysical Methods
• Seismic Cross Hole Test
• Seismic Down Hole Test
• Ground Penetrating Radar
• Principle
• Case Studies
Borehole Geophysical Methods
Commonly employed Geophysical Methods
Mechanical Wave Measurements
Crosshole Tests (CHT)
Downhole Tests (DHT)
Multichannel analysis of Surface Waves
Seismic Refraction
Electromagnetic Wave and Resistivity Techniques
Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR)
Surface Resistivity (SR)
 Mechanical Wave Geophysics
Nondestructive measurements (gs < 10-4%)
Both borehole geophysics and non-invasive types (conducted
across surface).
Measurements of wave dispersion: velocity, frequency,
amplitude, attenuation.
Determine layering, elastic properties, stiffness, damping, and
inclusions
Four basic wave types: Compression (P), Shear (S), Rayleigh (R),
and Love (L).
Mechanical Wave Geophysics
Compression (P-) wave is fastest wave; easy to
generate.
Shear (S-) wave is second fastest wave. Is directional
and polarized. Most fundamental wave to
geotechnique.
Rayleigh (R-) or surface wave is very close to S-wave
velocity (90 to 94%). Hybrid P-S wave at ground
surface boundary.
Love (L-) wave: interface boundary effect
Mechanical Body Waves

Initial

P-wave

S-wave
 Surface Waves: R and L waves

 Surface Waves
 Travel just below or along the ground’s surface
 Slower than body waves; rolling and side-to-side
movement
 Especially damaging to buildings
 Mechanical Body Waves
Amplitude
S R
Time

Oscilloscope

Source
Receiver (Geophone)

R S P
Typical P wave velocities
Typical S wave velocities
 Shear Wave Velocity, Vs
Fundamental measurement in all solids (steel,
concrete, wood, soils, rocks)

Initial small-strain stiffness represented by shear

modulus: G0 = rT Vs2 (alias Gdyn = Gmax = G0)

Applies to all static & dynamic problems at small

strains (gs < 10-6)

Applicable to both undrained & drained loading

cases in geotechnical engineering.
Seismic Crosshole Test
Seismic
Crosshole
Testing
Equipment
Energizer
Geophones
Seismoraph
Pump
Reel cable
 Oscilloscope Crosshole Testing
ASTM D 4428

Pump

x = fctn(z)
t from inclinometers
© Paul Mayne/GT

Shear Wave Velocity:

Vs = x/t

Downhole
Hammer
(Source) Velocity
Test Transducer
Depth (Geophone
Receiver)
packer
x
Slope Slope
Note: Verticality of casing
Inclinometer Inclinometer
must be established by
slope inclinometers to correct PVC-cased PVC-cased
distances x with depth. Borehole Borehole
 Prerequisites
Borehole separation – dependent upon survey aims, typically less than 10m, ASTM
recommends 3 to 5m
Drilling method – rotary mud methods create less disturbance at the borehole
walls than other methods

Borehole liner and grouting - plastic liners are normally installed and grouted in
place. Competent and consistent grouting of the annulus is critical to ensure good
seismic data quality
Verticality – care should be taken to control borehole verticality, particularly for
deep investigations. Borehole deviation surveys are carried out as part of the
cross-hole measurement to ensure appropriate geometric corrections can be
applied
Schematic of Cross hole setup
Grouting
Data Interpretation
Few correlations to estimate shear wave velocities

Authors All Soil Types Sand

Hanumantharao and Vs = 82.6N0.430 Vs = 79.0N0.434

Ramana. 2008

Maheshwari et al. 2013 - Vs = 95N0.300

Athanasopoulos, 1995 Vs = 107.6N0.360 -

Uma Maheswari et al. Vs = 95.64N0.301 Vs = 100.53N0.265

2010

these correlations are site specific and may not

be applicable to all sites.
Development of correlations
450

Shear Wave Velocity, Vs (M/S)

400

350
Vs = 147.64N0.3101
300
R² = 0.8534
250

200

150

100

50

0
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35

SPT N (BH 05)

Typical Shear wave velocity profile and dynamic soil
parameters Soil Modulus (GPa)
0.000 0.200 0.400 0.600 0.800
0.0
Velocity (m/s) 1.0
0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 900 2.0
0.0
3.0
1.0
4.0
2.0
5.0
3.0
𝑚2 −2 6.0
4.0
ν=
5.0 2(𝑚2 −1) 7.0
8.0
6.0
Where m = VP/VS

Depth (m)
7.0 9.0
8.0 10.0
E = 2 G (1+ ν)
Depth (m)

9.0 11.0
10.0 𝐸 12.0
11.0 K = 3−6ν 13.0
12.0 14.0
13.0 15.0
14.0 16.0
15.0
17.0
16.0
18.0
17.0
19.0
18.0
20.0
19.0
20.0 Youngs Modulus Shear modulus
Bulk Modulus
Vs Vp
Seismic Downhole Test

Seismic Downhole
Testing Equipment
 Oscilloscope
Downhole Testing
Pump
Horizontal Plank
with normal load

x
© Paul Mayne/GT

t
Hammer
z1
z2 packer

Horizontal
Test
Depth
Velocity
Interval Transducers
(Geophone
Receivers)

Shear Wave Velocity:

R12 = z12 + x2
R22 = z22 + x2
Cased
Vs = R/t Borehole
 Downhole testing with Seismic Cone Penetrometer

Obtains Four Independent

Measurements with Depth:
Hybrid of Penetrometer Vs
with Downhole Geophysics

 Cone Tip Stress, qt

fs
 Penetration Porewater Pressure,u
 Sleeve Friction, fs
u2
 Arrival Time of Downhole Shear
Wave, ts u1
60o

qc
 Truck mounted SCPT

 Anchoring System
 Automated Source
 Polarized Wave
 Downhole Vs with excellent
soil coupling.
Downhole testing with Seismic Cone Penetrometer
Interpretation
 Profiles obtained through SCPT

qt (MPa) fs (kPa) u2 (kPa) Vs (m/sec)

0 10 20 30 40 0 100 200 300 0 1000 2000 3000 d = 35.7 mm
0 100 200 300 400
0 0 0
0

5 5 5
5
Vs

10 10 10
10

15 15 15
fs
Depth (m)

15

20 20 20 20 u2

25 25 25 25

qt
30 30 30 30

35 35 35 35
 Features of Borehole Geophysical methods
Crosshole Downhole
• Constant travel paths • One BH
• Negelegible borehole effects • No vertical measurements
• High S/N ratio • Simple surface source
• Detailed Profile • P and SH waves
• Workable in limited space • Reversible source
• Accuracy independent of measurement • Travel path increases with depth
depth
• S/N decreases with depth
• Two or more BH
• Accuracy decreases with depth
• Simple BH source
• Detect low velocity layers
• P and SV waves
• More average profiles
• Reversible source
• Workable in limited space
• BH verticality to be measured
• Less expensive
• Detect low velocity layers
• Useable in noisy areas
• expensive
Dynamic soil parameters – Different methods
More Measurements is

More Better
 Conclusions
 The borehole geophysical methods requires careful
prerequisites considerations before carrying out test in order to
obtain reliable test results

 When properly carried out the Cross hole tests are usually
more reliable than other geophysical methods to estimate S
and P wave velocities.

 In Seismic Downhole test data acquisition is faster than Cross

hole test but the depth of survey is limited.
Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR)
 Introduction
Preliminary Geophysical investigations of subsurface strata help in proper planning,
cost estimation and time bound project execution.
Geophysical instruments are designed to map spatial variations in the physical
properties of the Earth.
Large obstructions is mega cites provides a favour to use non invasive techniques. Non
invasive techniques are generally based on sonic and radar technologies.
GPR is a subsurface imaging method that provides high-resolution information to a
depth of typically 0–10 m, although depths up to 80 m are possible in some geological
environments.
GPR was first put to practical use in the 1970’s for ice sounding in Antarctica and has
since gained wide acceptance internationally.
The technique is nondestructive and noninvasive, utilizing low-power nonsinusoidal
electromagnetic waves with frequencies ranging from 10 MHz to 4 GHz.
 Introduction
Definition - Ground penetrating radar is a high frequency electromagnetic
sounding technique that has been developed to investigate subsurface using
the contrast of dielectric properties (variation of earth).

Other names - EMR(Electromagnetic Reflection), SIR(Subsurface Interface

Radar), geo-radar, Subsurface penetrating radar, Soil radar.

Applications in pavement evaluation, void detection, geological and

environmental applications particularly in the rapid assement of superficial
deposits, shallow sink holes, identify potential excavation areas, to detect
buried services (pipes, cables), for inspection of layering in roads and railway
ballast, or for detailed mapping of steel reinforcing in concrete structures
 Components of GPR
 Transmitter Antenna
Short duration high-power RF pulses of energy that are
radiated into ground by the antenna.
 Receiver Antenna
Receive reflected/backscattered RF pulses of energy
from the object which are located in beneath the
ground.
 Control unit
Brain center for the GPR system and is responsible for
coordinating the operation of the subordinate
components. Control all functions of GPR and it is one of
the main junction of data flow.  Power unit
 Display unit Provide power to all GPR system to
Display continuous cross sectional profile or record of active work
subsurface features to operator.  Software
Working Principles
Radar Configurations

Common Offset

Common Mid Point Transillumination

 Principles
Reflection happens because of the natural and man made objects that has
a contrast in its dielectric properties.
The dielectric permittivity (ε) relates the electric displacement(D) to the
applied field by D = εE, coloumb/volts x m or farads/m
Relative dielectric permittivity – permittivity in free space εr = ε/εv
Relative permittivity is defined as the ability of a material to store and then
permit the passage of EM energy when a field is imposed on the material and
can be measured in the lab or in situ.
εr varies from its space value of 1 to a maximum value of 80 for water and is
strongly frequency dependent in electromagnetic spectrum and should be
more properly portrayed as complex.
 Principles
 propagation velocity of an EM wave is dependent on the relative permittivity, the
amplitude and attenuation of a propagating wave is dependent on the magnetic
permeability and the electrical conductivity of the material.
 Magnetic permeability is the ability of the material to become magnetized when an
EM field is imposed on the material.
 As magnetic permeability increases, amplitude attenuation increases; therefore,
increased magnetic permeability results in poorer data quality and/or penetration
depth.
 Electrical conductivity also affects the propagation of EM waves. Materials with a
high electrical conductivity tend to attenuate EM signals; therefore, highly
conductive materials will produce poor GPR data and/or reduce penetration depth.
 Principles
• Speed of radio waves

• C is the speed of light in free space (0.33m/ns)

• μr is the relative magnetic permeability (=1 for non metals)
• P is the loss factor (P = σ/ωε), σ is conductivity, ω = 2 πf
• In low loss material P = 0, the speed of radio waves

a = 1.69 σ/ε0.5
Attenuation in decibels/m (dB/m)
Electrical conductivity in mS/m
 Performance Figure or dynamic range - A common efficiency evaluation parameter for the specific
GPR system.
 The performance figure represents the total attenuation loss during the two-way transit of the EM
wave
 Consider a conductive material (σ = 100 mS/m) with some water content (ε=20). Velocity of 0.07 m
per nanosecond (m/ns) and an attenuation of 38 dB/m. A GPR system with 100 dB of dynamic
range used for this material will cause the signal to become undetectable in 2.6 m of travel.
 The transit time for 2.6 m of travel would be 37 to 38 ns. This case might correspond geologically to
a clay material with some water saturation.
 Consider a dry material (ε=5) with low conductivity (σ = 5 mS/m). The calculated velocity is 0.13
m/ns and the attenuation is 3.8 dB/m, corresponding to a distance of 26-27 m for 100 dB of
attenuation and a travel time of 200 ns or more. This example might correspond to dry sedimentary
rocks.
 These large variations in velocity and especially attenuation are the cause of success (target
detection) and failure (insufficient penetration) for surveys in apparently similar geologic settings.
 Principles
 Depth of penetration is a function of radar signal attenuation within the
subsurface media.
 Electrical attenuation – electrical conductivity of subsurface and radar
frequency. (increase will greater attenuate)
 The contrast in relative dielectric permittivity gives rise to reflection of incident
electromagnetic radiation (more contrast = more reflection)
 Amount of energy reflected is given by reflection coefficient (R)
 Energy transmitted = 1 – R
 GPR Antena
 GPR antenna – identified by their centre band frequency
 General – High frequency antenna has a higher resolution and lower penetration
(higher attenuation) depth than low frequency antenna.
 The transmitter and receiver could be from the same antenna of separate.
Classified as monostatic or bistatic
 High frequency antennas are shielded so that only downward directed signal is
transmitted and received.
 It is difficult to shield low frequency antennas (<200 MHz) as it is difficult to
absorb the wavelength signals.
 Questions before a GPR survey
What is the target depth? 100 m reported under unusually favorable
circumstances a careful feasibility evaluation if depths exceed 10 m.
What is the target geometry? Size, orientation, and composition are important.
What are the electrical properties of the target? Contrast in physical properties
must be present. Dielectric constant and electrical conductivity are the
important parameters.
What are the electrical properties of the host material? Both the electrical
properties and homogeneity of the host must be evaluated. Attenuation of the
signal is dependent on the electrical properties and on the number of minor
interfaces that will scatter the signal.
Are there any possible interfering effects? Radio frequency transmitters,
extensive metal structures (including cars) and power poles are probable
interfering effects for GPR.
 Data Acquisition Parameters
Need considerable planning for an effective survey
Operating frequency

Estimating the time window

Where the maximum depth and minimum velocity to be encountered are
used.
Increases the time by 30% to account for the variations in velocity and depth
If no information available on electrical properties of study area then first estimate
will be obtaining from tables in function of porosity and moisture content of the
predominant lithology.
Sampling interval –utmost half of the highest frequency signal in the record. For
good survey it is recommended to have six times center frequency of the antenna.
Antenna Spacing
The ability to vary antenna spacing can be can be a powerful aids in optimizing the system for
specific target detection
Increased antenna spacing also increases the reflectivity of flat lying targets that can be
advantageous some times.
Antenna Orientation
Antennas are dipolar and radiate with preferred polarity. The antennas are normally oriented so that
the electric field is polarized parallel to the long axis or strike direction of the target.
Station spacing
The selection of spacing between discrete radar measurements is closely liked to the centre
operating frequency of the antennas and to the dielectric properties of the subsurface materails
involved. In order to ensure the ground response is not spatially aliased the Nyquist sampling
interval should not be exceeded.
Choosing a Survey Pattern
 Data Acquisition
Historically a GPR crew consists nominally of two persons.
One crew person moves the antenna or antenna pair along the profiles, and the other
operates the recorder and annotates the record so that the antenna position or midpoint
can be recovered.
Recent innovations have made the application of GPR to may scenarios a one person
job, by allowing for cart based applications.
 The site-to-site variation in velocity, attenuation, and surface conditions is so large that
seldom can the results be predicted before fieldwork begins.
Additionally, the instrument operation is a matter of empirical trial and error in
manipulating the appearance of the record. Thus, the following steps are recommended
for most fieldwork:
 Steps in field work

 Unpack and set up the instrument and verify internal operation.

Verify external operation (one method is to point the antenna at a car or wall and
slowly walk toward it. The reflection pattern should be evident on the record).
Calibrate the performance by surveying over a known target at a depth and
configuration similar to the objective of the survey (considerable adjustment of
the parameters may be necessary to enhance the appearance of the known
target on the record).
 Begin surveying the area of unknown targets with careful attention to surface
conditions, position recovery, and changes in record acter.
 Often a line will be done twice to be sure that all the features on the record are
caused by the subsurface.
 Data Processing
Gain recovery – radar waves attenuates and radar signal is much smaller in the later
time.
Automatic gain control
Spreading and Exponential compensation
Filtering
To remove noise and to make available only meaningful data
Trace to trace
Down to trace averaging
Trace to trace differencing
Delete mean trace
Frequency domain filtering – low cut, high cut and band pass filters
Modelling
Forward modelling - theoretical (synthetic) radargrams are constructed for
layered models in order to derive insight into the physical significance of
reflection events contained in radar sections
An important use of synthetic radargrams is in studying the effect of
changes in the layering of the record.

Migration
To transfer GPR waveforms to accurate picture of subsurface geology
GPR profiles are migrated because subsurface reflecting points do not
necessarily lie vertical beneath surface observation points.
Definition: space and time variant filtering process which maps observed
space time amplitude data into either time or depth with correct
amplitudes at true spatial positions
 Stratigraphic interpretation
Identification of significant anomalies in GPR is a pattern recogonition process that
consists of recognizing reflection features that are characteristic of specific geological
environment are essential for interpreting radar image.
Radar facies is defined as the sum of all characteristics of a reflection pattern
produced by a specific formation.
Radar facies refers to difference in appearance of a radargram and reflections respond
to both structural and textural features.
 Time slices – 3D GPR can be considered as volumes and can be sliced in various ways.
 Applications
• Engineering – Geotechnical
• Detect disturbed soils and backfills, to locate voids and delamination behind
concrete structures – bridge decks, highways, airport pavements

Karst cavity in Portocristo (Spain)

Hotel planned to be built

GPR suggested overlapping of two
shallow voids.
Was confirmed by drilling
Conduit and pipe detection – buried tanks and pipes, rods in concrete structures, conduits
embedded in ground for water, sewer, electrical cable or gas connections

• Valencia - spain
• Avoid damage during
excavation in metropolitan
areas.
• Trenchless techniques
• Horizontal drilling takes
place within depth of 3 m.
• Before drilling
• Archaeological applications
• Roman wall of Lugo (Spain)
• Detection of double branch imperial steps to access the upper part of the wall from the city
 Locating Pretensioned tendons
 multiple floors of an apartment complex.
 to locate pre-tensioned tendons in the concrete floor prior to coring and the installation of upgraded utilities.
 The GPR survey was authorized after a worker accidentally
 severed a pre-tensioned tendon during coring, necessitating the removal and replacement of an entire slab of pre-
tensioned flooring, at a cost that was multiple times that of the entire GPR survey.

Two cylindrical voids and a pre-tensioned tendon are exposed in photo A. A cored utility line
(intersected cylindrical void; missed adjacent tendons) is shown in photo B. Superposed red lines
denote locations of pre-tension tendons as determined using GPR.
 Locating buried utilities

 ground floor of a hospital complex.

 The objective was to locate buried utilities prior to the saw-cutting of the concrete floor.
 The GPR survey was authorized after a worker accidentally severed a buried electric cable during
the refurbishing process.
 Locating underground storage tanks
parallel traverses in the parking lot of an abandoned
gas station to determine whether the metal
underground gasoline storage tanks had been
removed.
 Locating buried foundations
parking lot of a school in an effort to locate the foundation of an old structure that had been demolished from the
ground level up and covered with backfill and asphalt.

The prominent diffractions are generated by the buried

remnants of vertical concrete walls and can be correlated
across multiple GPR profiles
 Locating detoriated concrete

waste water treatment tank

Detoriated areas
anomalously high apparent depths to
the top of the embedded rebar
anomalously high apparent depths to
the top of the subgrade
Visually identifiable decrease in the
magnitude of the reflections from the
base of the concrete slab and the top
of the subgrade.
Areas identified as deteriorated on the GPR dataset, were subsequently tested acoustic-
tested using a hammer and cored. The areas identified as deteriorated sounded “hollow”
when struck by a metal hammer. Concrete core samples were noticeably deteriorated.
 Locating voids beneath concrete
 multiple traverses on the concrete floor of an office complex to evaluate the effectiveness of remediation
efforts (injection of grout) following the rupture of a high-volume underground water line.
 The primary objective was to identify areas (if any) where the concrete was not effectively coupled to the
original underlying fill or

The original
concrete floor (8 ft to 13
ft) was removed
immediately prior to
grouting, and replaced
(without rebar). They
are identified in
radargram
 Advantages of GPR
We can identify and map the location of sub-surface utilities, reinforcing steel within
concrete, and voids without damage to the surrounding structures. Because GPRS uses
radar detection methods, we can inspect the job site non-intrusively, allowing to preserve
your structure and avoid project down time.
GPR equipment is faster to set up and more efficient to operate
Various Color schemes can be made use of to improve data quality
The equipment handling is comparatively easy.
With the vast options of Changeable frequency (1 mhz to 5 ghz) all kinds of soil types and
site conditions can be handled.
Real time display unit represent cross sectional profile
Cost Reduction
Working with GPR eliminates the chance for expensive job downtime or setbacks due to structure
damage, facility shutdown for a severed utility line, or worker injury.
The cost of GPRS services is relatively minor compared to the value of your project and, importantly, the
cost of accidents, structure damage, or injuries.
 Limitations of GPR
Cellular telephones, two-way radios, television, and radio and
microwave transmitters may cause noise on GPR record

 Higher frequencies do not penetrate as far as lower frequencies (penetration is limited ) hence
compromising on the resolution of the data recorded if the probing is for a greater depths
 Working clayey terrains is difficult
 Terrain must be flat and even as much as possible
 Interpretation of radar grams is generally complex
 Conclusions
GPR is one of the advanced geophysical method of ground exploration making use of
RADAR technology.
The major technological innovations in GPR are imaging, near-field polarimetry and
digital array focusing. These innovations allow for detection of small objects and
classification of detected targets.
Even for well established applications newly developed technology allows for faster data
acquisition and better discrimination of buried objects from subsurface clutter.
Due to rapid development of both GPR hardware and software, its possibilities have
been considerably extended resulting in widening the area of its applications.
GPR, while very useful, has its shortcoming just as all things do. Very populated regions
containing things like power lines, buildings and highways that can have high amounts of
EM ‘noise’, which is any EM signature that the receiver unit of the GPR may pick up
during data collection, can interfere and influence data collection
 References
ASTM D6432 − 11, 2011, “Standard Guide for Using the Surface Ground
Penetrating Radar Method for Subsurface Investigation”, ASTM International
George S. Baker et al, 2007, “An introduction to ground penetrating radar
(GPR)”, Geological Society of America, special paper 432
Harry M. Jol, 2009, “Ground Penetrating Radar: Theory and Applications”,
Elsevier Publications.
Motoyuki Sato et al., 2008, “GPR (Ground Penetrating Radar) into Real World”,
Union Radio Scientifique Internationale, August 2008.
• Yelf, “Application of Ground Penetrating Radar to Civil and Geotechnical
Engineering”.
• Casas A, Pinto V, Rivero L., 2000, “Fundamentals of Ground Penetrating Radar
in environmental and engineering applications”, Annali Di Geophysica 43(6).