Much of the current knowledge of the Earth system stops just beneath Earth’s surface. Even the top 10 m of the shallow underground—the critical zone where life, air, soil, water, and rock interact—are underexplored. Excavation and drilling, today’s most often applied methods for shallow-subsurface assessment, render an incomplete picture of three-dimensional architectures and dynamic processes. Very dense ground penetrating radar (GPR) survey grids and three-dimensional data processing produce clear images of complex shallow-subsurface anatomy.
Our field studies show submeter-resolution 3D images of human activity remnants, utilities, sedimentary structures, groundwater and fractures with millimeter aperture. Vertical animation of high-resolution horizontal slices reveals characteristic internal textures of sedimentary bodies and fracture patterns—this provides an entirely new and non-destructive view of the shallow subsurface. Thus, our studies provide exciting new insights for many geological, biological and archeological questions. For example, we can detect and monitor the flow of rainwater into the subsurface, image karst holes, and for first time reveal the true shape of Gopher Tortoise burrows.
