Broadband spectral induced polarization for the detection of Permafrost and an approach to ice content estimation – a case study from Yakutia, Russia

Abstract

Abstract. The reliable detection of subsurface ice using non-destructive geophysical methods is an important objective in permafrost research. The ice content of the frozen ground is an essential parameter for further interpretation, for example in terms of risk analysis and for the description of permafrost carbon feedback by thawing processes. The high-frequency induced polarization method (HFIP) enables the measurement of the frequency-dependent electrical conductivity and permittivity of the subsurface, in a frequency range between 100 Hz and 100 kHz. As the electrical permittivity of ice exhibits a strong characteristic behaviour in this frequency range, HFIP in principle is suitable to estimate ice content. Here, we present methodological advancements of the HFIP method and suggest an explicit procedure for ice content estimation. A new measuring device, the Chameleon-II (Radic Research), was used for the first time. Compared to a previous generation, the new system is equipped with longer cables and higher power, such that we can now achieve larger penetration depths up to 10 m. Moreover, it is equipped with technology to reduce electromagnetic coupling effects which can distort the desired subsurface signal. The second development is a method to estimate ice content quantitatively from five Cole–Cole parameters obtained from spectral two-dimensional inversion results. The method is based on a description of the subsurface as a mixture of two components (matrix and ice) and uses a previously suggested relationship between frequency-dependent electrical permittivity and ice content. In this model, the ice relaxation is considered the dominant process in the frequency range around 10 kHz. Measurements on a permafrost site near Yakutsk, Russia, were carried out to test the entire procedure under real conditions at the field scale. We demonstrate that the spectral signal of ice can clearly be identified even in the raw data and show that the spectral 2-D inversion algorithm is suitable to obtain the multidimensional distribution of electrical parameters. The parameter distribution and the estimated ice content agree reasonably well with previous knowledge of the field site from borehole and geophysical investigations. We conclude that the method is able to provide quantitative ice content estimates and that relationships that have been tested in the laboratory may be applied at the field scale.

Spectral Induced Polarization imaging to monitor seasonal and annual dynamics of frozen ground at a mountain permafrost site in the Italian Alps

“…Auty and Cole, 1952;Bittelli et al, 2004;Grimm et al, 2010;Limbrock and Kemna, 2022) and at the field-scale (e.g. Grimm and Stillman, 2015;Mudler et al, 2022) revealing the temperature-dependent relaxation behaviour of ice (Auty and Cole, 1552) at higher frequencies (with the ice relaxation peak frequency observed in the range between 1 and 45 kHz). By fitting a two-component Cole-Cole model to the SIP data, either for single laboratory measurements (Limbrock and Kemna, 2022) or within a 2-D inversion for field data, Mudler et al (2022) separated the different polarization responses and estimated subsurface ice content using an existing two-component complex resistivity model of frozen soil considering the ice relaxation as the dominant process.…”

“…Grimm and Stillman, 2015;Mudler et al, 2022) revealing the temperature-dependent relaxation behaviour of ice (Auty and Cole, 1552) at higher frequencies (with the ice relaxation peak frequency observed in the range between 1 and 45 kHz). By fitting a two-component Cole-Cole model to the SIP data, either for single laboratory measurements (Limbrock and Kemna, 2022) or within a 2-D inversion for field data, Mudler et al (2022) separated the different polarization responses and estimated subsurface ice content using an existing two-component complex resistivity model of frozen soil considering the ice relaxation as the dominant process. However, such broadband spectral induced polarization measurement device (i.e., the Chameleon-2 used in the study of Mudler et al, 2022) is still not suited for monitoring and cannot be used to perform an extensive mapping as presented here.…”

“…Duvillard et al (2021) applied a petrophysical model calibrated through laboratory data to quantify the temperature distribution of a permafrost-affected rock ridge from time-domain IP data. Mudler et al (2022) estimated the ice content obtained from broad-band SIP inversion results conducted at a permafrost site in Siberia. Grimm and Stillman (2015) found temperaturedependent relationships between the ice volume fraction and the resistivity frequency effect (RFE) (see e.g.…”

Design and operation of a long-term monitoring system for spectral electrical impedance tomography (sEIT)

“…Several studies have shown the applicability of sEIT at the field scale (e.g. Kemna, 2000;Flores Orozco et al, 2012a;Günther and Martin, 2016;Maurya et al, 2018;Mudler et al, 2022). Yet, most of these studies only analysed frequencies well below 1 kHz.…”

Spectral Induced Polarization survey for the estimation of hydrogeological parameters in an active rock glacier

“…Maierhofer et al (2022) directly measured the polarization effect at a frequency of 75 Hz to improve the discrimination between frozen and unfrozen ground in an ice-bearing talus slope in Switzerland. Mudler et al (2022) investigated the application of IP measurements at high frequencies (kHz range) to quantify ice content directly based on the relaxation frequency of ice (Zorin and Ageev, 2017). However, to the best of our knowledge, no study examined the potential of IP data for the estimation of water content and hydraulic conductivity in a rock glacier or other alpine permafrost landforms yet.…”