Development of a proof-of-concept geoelectric monitoring system for advancing research and education in hydrogeophysics at Boise State University

地下水对我们的社会和生态系统来说是一种宝贵的资源。了解气候变化和人类活动如何影响地下水的储存、年龄、质量和流动路线是至关重要的。地电法是研究这些水文问题的重要地球物理工具，它利用天然电流或主动电源。它能够有效地确定水在地下的分布及其运动，而对野外条件的干扰最小。该奖项将通过为与地下水有关的研究和教育开发下一代地电仪器来支持科学基础设施。该奖项还将帮助博伊西州立大学的本科生更广泛地参与水文和地球物理研究。这一概念验证项目将通过将传统的水文测量整合到地电场现场测试中来开发一种新的水文地球物理仪器。新设计的水文地球物理探头将在实验室中通过将银-氯化银电极集成到传统张力计中来制造。当这些探头集成到传统的地电采集仪中时，可以同时测量土壤张力(基质吸力)和电性(电阻率、激发极化和电动电位)。在本项目中，计划进行实验室实验，以测量探头的主要特性，如漂移和温度系数，并计划进行现场测试，以监测土坑中的融雪入渗过程。现场监测将在爱达荷州博伊西附近Dry Creek实验分水岭的一个小流域的山脊上进行。将对监测到的水力和地电数据进行联合分析，以评估综合水文地球物理仪器在现场条件下的性能。该奖项由既定的激励竞争研究计划(EPSCoR)办公室共同资助。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Groundwater is a valuable resource for our society and the ecosystem. It is critical to understand how climate change and human activities affect the storage, age, quality, and the flow route of groundwater. Geoelectrical methods, which use either natural electric current or active electric sources, are important geophysical tools for studying these hydrological problems. It enables an effective determination of the water distribution and their movement in the subsurface with minimal disturbances to the field condition. This award will support scientific infrastructure by developing the next-generation geoelectrical instrumentation for groundwater-related studies and education. This award will also help broaden the participation of undergraduate students in hydrological and geophysical research at Boise State University.This proof of concept project will develop a new hydrogeophysical instrument by integrating traditional hydrological measurement into geoelectrical field tests. Newly designed hydrogeophysical probes will be fabricated in the laboratory by integrating Ag-AgCl electrodes into traditional tensiometers. These developed probes can simultaneously measure the soil tension (matric suction) and electrical properties (resistivity, induced polarization, and electrokinetic potential) when they are integrated into a traditional geoelectrical acquisition instrument. In this project, laboratory experiments are planned to measure the main characteristics of the probes such as drifting and temperature coefficient, and a field test is planned to monitor the snowmelt infiltration process in a soil pit. The field monitoring will be conducted at a mountain ridge in a small catchment of the Dry Creek Experimental Watershed near Boise, Idaho. The monitored hydraulic and geoelectrical data will be jointly analyzed to evaluate the performance of the integrated hydrogeophysical instrument at field conditions. This award received co-funding from the Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR) office.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.