Project Info
Long-term electrical resistivity monitoring – from laboratory to field measurements
Marc Dumont
marc.dumont@mines.edu
Project Goals and Description:
The project aims to use a handmade instrument built at Mines to establish long-term electrical monitoring. The first step will consist of laboratory tests to validate instrument quality and quantify instrument noise. In the second step, the instrument will be used to conduct monitoring tests of hydrological and ecological processes in the laboratory and/or in the field. These electrical geophysical measurements are designed to understand water flow in soil and trees. The third step consists of processing and inverting the electrical data with Python libraries.
Current geophysical monitoring tools are expensive and cannot be used for long-term measurements in the field. The development of this handmade instrument makes it possible to inexpensively monitor ecohydrological processes in the field over several weeks/months. Ultimately, this tool could be used for research projects, but also potentially for educational purposes.
More Information:
Grand Challenge: Engineer the tools of scientific discovery.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2468067220300316
https://reversaal.gitlab.irstea.page/OhmPi/index.html
https://gitlab.com/ohmpi/ohmpi
Primary Contacts:
Marc Dumont, marc.dumont@mines.edu | Kamini Singha, ksingha@mines.edu
Student Preparation
Qualifications
Students are expected to manage their work autonomously, and rigorously complete the successive stages of the project. This project might include fieldwork, the students would need to walk in mountainous forest sites carrying material for geophysical measurements. Students are expected to:
- Be able to handle and manage the instrument interface code in Python. As the project progresses, the processing of acquired data will require the use of geophysical inversion libraries in Python.
- Be able to perform hardware modifications on the instrument, including soldering and electrical tests.
- Have a basic knowledge of geophysics, especially electrical methods and mathematical inversion.
TIME COMMITMENT (HRS/WK)
4-5 hours per week, with time outside of meetings to answer email and gitlab exchanges.
SKILLS/TECHNIQUES GAINED
Students will strengthen their knowledge of electrical geophysical methods and their skills in data acquisition, processing and interpretation. Regular use and design of Python code will strengthen their computational skills.
MENTORING PLAN
Students will work in tandem to stimulate their teamwork skills. Work will be carried out during one or two slots defined at the beginning of the semester to suit their schedules. At the start of the semester, objectives will be identified and deliverables defined. Each week, one of the faculty members provides an update and helps students solve their problems. Between sessions, the project team can exchange information via Teams to identify needs for the next session and prepare the necessary material to be as efficient as possible.
Preferred Student Status
Junior
Senior