Bimodal detection of underground contamination in two dimensional systems

Widespread contamination of underground environments with dense non-aqueous phase liquids (DNAPLs) is of great concern to the public, military, and industrial sectors. Proper management of contaminated sites requires detection and monitoring of the contaminants, and accurate knowledge of their transport behavior in underground environments. Over the last years we have done great efforts to develop and integrate technologies that serve to locate contamination and monitor transport mechanism underground. In this paper, we describe a two-dimensional multiphase flow experiment to develop and evaluate two modes of concurrent detection and monitoring technologies: Cross Well Radar (CWR) and Image Analysis (IA). Loop antennas preset at specific locations in the tank are used to evaluate wave scattering properties of the soil under different conditions, while color images are acquired. The electromagnetic response in the CWR antennas and IA are used to establish the relation between electrical soil properties variations and changes spatial and temporal mass of water and contaminants. The technologies used in this research are both in development, but they can be successful tools for the detection, monitoring and imagining of underground contaminants and process. Once develop, the technology may be applied for detecting and monitoring other buried objects.