Hydrogeophysics — Electric and Electromagnetic Methods

SEG invites papers on the topic of "Hydrogeophysics — Electric and Electromagnetic Methods" for publication in the July-August 2010 special section or supplement of Geophysics.

Hydrogeophysics is a rapidly evolving discipline of geophysical methods dedicated to revealing properties and monitoring processes in the vadose zone as well as in aquifers. The discipline is relevant for environmental, hydrological, and agricultural research and engineering. Key processes in the application areas are contaminant transport, sustainability of ecosystems and biodiversity, plant growth, and soil-atmosphere interactions. Groundwater is the key component in the subsurface pore volume, for which reason electric and electromagnetic methods are most suitable for addressing the problems related to shallow subsurface spatial and temporal variability, its inaccessibility, which hinders the observation of relevant processes, and its role in connecting atmosphere, surface, and groundwater/reservoirs.

Our principal aim is to review the theories of these techniques and their applications on various scales and within different geologic settings. With this special issue, we hope to foster a knowledge transfer and cross-fertilization among the different communities. Although we focus on electric and electromagnetic methods, including self-potential, induced polarization, nuclear magnetic resonance, the various EM methods, and ground-penetrating radar, we encourage related contributions, such as from electroseismic and seismoelectric methods. In addition, we are welcoming developments of new techniques for an improved characterization and monitoring of the shallow subsurface and groundwater-related processes, including those for biogeosystems.

For this topic, Geophysics invites papers describing the theory, application, and benefits of advanced methods of hydrogeophysics. The application scale may range from the pore scale to the field scale involving more than 1 hectare of surface area. In particular we welcome techniques that exploit the evolution of new passive and active electric and electromagnetic acquisition strategies and advanced data processing and inversion schemes that show an increase in computational speed. Finally, we also encourage papers that highlight case studies and thereby emphasize the practical aspects and illustrate the potential pitfalls, problems, and limitations of the applied techniques.

Interested authors should submit their manuscripts for review no later than 31 July 2009. In addition, the special section/supplement editors would like to receive a provisional title and list of authors as soon as possible. Authors should submit via the normal online submission system for Geophysics and indicate that it is a contribution for the hydrogeophysics special section or supplement. The submitted papers will be subject to the regular peer-review process, and the contributing authors also are expected to participate in the review process as reviewers.

We will work according to the following timeline:

• submission deadline: 31 July 2009
• peer review complete: 15 March 2010
• all files submitted for production: 31 March 2010
• publication of issue: July-August 2010

Given the tight timeline for publication of this issue, Geophysics is going to strictly enforce author submission guidelines, covered in Instructions to Authors" published in the January-February 2009 issue and on the SEG Web site. Please note that normal Geophysics page and color charges apply.

For specific questions, please contact the special section/supplement editors Jan van der Kruk, André Revil, and Evert Slob.