10.4122/1.1000000553
Naudet, Véronique
Véronique
Naudet
vero_naudet@yahoo.fr
Naudet, Véronique
Véronique
Naudet
vero_naudet@yahoo.fr
A review of the self-potential method applied on groundwater resources
XVI International Conference on Computational Methods in Water Resources
2006
2006
Standard geophysical methods detect the presence of water by changes of ground
physical properties, but none of them are sensitive to actual groundwater flow,
except the Self-Potential (SP) method. This method consists of measuring the natural
electric field within the subsurface with non-polarisable electrodes. After
correcting for telluric currents and cultural noise, the remaining electrical
potentials are related to natural polarisation mechanisms occurring at depth. The
main contributions of SP-signals are associated to groundwater flow through the
electrokinetic effect and organic matter-rich contaminant plumes through the
“electro-redox” effect. We will present a review of recent advances in theoretical
and experimental aspects of the SP method to improve our knowledge on the
relationship between SP-signals and hydro-geochemical properties. These researches
can therefore open the door to the inversion of SP-signals to resolve some pertinent
information about the groundwater flow and contaminant transport, such as hydraulic
conductivity, geometry of the aquifer, and redox potential values.