Characterisation of Landfill Sites using Geophysics

Addressing the growing challenge of environmentally compliant landfill management, TerraDat provides expert geophysical survey services for both active and closed landfill sites. Our advanced, non-invasive techniques deliver high-resolution insights into landfill composition and boundaries, surpassing traditional methods in efficiency and cost-effectiveness. This approach is critical in an era of stringent environmental legislation and often incomplete historical records of landfill sites.

Mapping leachate level within landfills
Locating landfill boundaries
Characterising variations in waste composition
Mapping “dry” and “wet” zones for leachate control
Investigating cap integrity

Geological characterisation for new cell design
Leachate plume mapping
Locating voids or poorly compacted zones
Landfill HDPE Liner testing
Locating underground springs

The plan shows how conductivity mapping can be used to rapidly locate the boundaries of a closed landfill where records are missing.

The section below is from a resistivity tomography survey and shows variations within a landfill cell, including wet and dry waste, the landfill base and bedrock characteristics. Up to 1.5km of line can be acquired in one day.

Characterising the internal composition of a landfill is an important factor when considering the contamination potential and future of either an active or abandoned site. Placing random boreholes and probes can be costly and ineffective with non-existent or incomplete records. Knowledge about lateral changes in the properties of a landfill can identify features such as tip boundaries, different phases of tipping, saturated and dry ground, leachate plumes, and areas of groundwater ingress.

The purple lineations represent high conductivity in trenches that were excavated into the underlying clay and filled with industrial waste. Subsequent groundwater ingress caused leachate accumulations that concentrated in the trenches.

Further processing of the electromagnetic data showed the leachate plumes to be migrating towards the site boundary, thus providing optimal locations for pumping wells.

Related Services and Applications

How can geophysical techniques be used to investigate and monitor leaking dams?

Dams are vital structures that contribute to vital infrastructure including drinking water, crop irrigation, and hydroelectric power. These structures, often over a century old are also put under huge stress by the large quantities of water they retain as well … Read More

Electrical Resistivity Tomography (ERT)

The Resistivity technique is useful for characterising the sub-surface materials in terms of their electrical properties. Variations in electrical resistivity (or conductivity) typically correlate with variations in lithology, water saturation, fluid conductivity, porosity and permeability, which may be used to … Read More

Geophysics for Mapping Geology along Pipeline Routes

Pipelines and cable routes present a set of unique developmental and geotechnical challenges. TerraDat has designed an integrated survey approach, providing data useful to all stages of the project design. Archaeological assessments and UXO detection: Due to the large distances … Read More

Peat Mapping using Geophysics (Peat Surveys)

Mapping peat is a common requirement for proposed developments such as wind farms and pipeline routes where they cross remote and/or sensitive areas. There are several geophysical methods that can provide plan and cross-sectional information to map the distribution of … Read More

Karst Geology: Void detection & Karst Mapping using Geophysics

TerraDat is regularly contacted by ground engineers asking about our void detection surveys using geophysics. The benefits of our geophysical surveys in terms of maximum area coverage and minimal ground disturbance provide an ideal solution. The best geophysical methods for … Read More

Experienced Ground Radar (GPR) Company

TerraDat has been a GPR survey company since the technique evolved to a level where it could be applied to a wide range of applications over 20 years ago. Because the GPR method involves analysis of wave-form data, our experience … Read More

Experts in Microgravity Surveys

A TerraDat microgravity survey is based on measuring localised variations in the Earth’s gravitational field using an extremely sensitive gravity meter. We own and operate the latest Scintrex gravimeters. A microgravity survey targets physical contrasts between materials of contrasting density. … Read More

Wind Farms: Investigation the Subsurface for Wind Farm Projects

Over recent years TerraDat have gained a wealth of experience providing geophysical services to the wind energy industry. By working alongside many major wind farm developers TerraDat have developed a suite of geophysical techniques ideally suited to the needs of … Read More

Specialist Seismic Refraction Survey Company

TerraDat is a specialist Seismic refraction survey company with many years of experience applying and researching its use in shallow engineering and geotechnical work. Seismic survey methods provide a useful tool for investigating geological structure and rock properties. The technique … Read More

River Crossings: Profiling Geology using Geophysics

Many of our clients constructing roads, laying pipelines or investigating historic bridges find profiling the geology beneath rivers tricky using conventional ground investigation methods. Since the path rivers take is often dictated by changes in geology, the problem can be … Read More

Mapping Shallow Abandoned Mineworkings using Geophysics

The problem of mapping shallow abandoned mine workings is significant in the re-development of brownfield sites or land reclamation in former mining areas. A TerraDat Geophysics survey can mitigate the risks of mapping mine workings using conventional ground investigation methods. … Read More

Seismic Reflection

TerraDat has specialist experience in designing and implementing high-resolution seismic reflection surveys for onshore and shallow marine environments. The company routinely carries out seismic survey work for geotechnical and environmental applications as well as larger-scale work for oil/mineral exploration. … Read More

How TerraDat’s work is helping monitor climate change

Twenty years ago, geophysics specialists at TerraDat became involved in a major pan-European project to measure the impact of climate change on permafrost in the mountains of Europe. The PACE (Permafrost And Climate in Europe) Project began monitoring a large … Read More

Meet Bison “Thumper” – our seismic weight drop…

TerraDat’s expertise in shallow seismic surveying to profile bedrock and map changes in subsurface engineering properties goes to another level with the recent acquisition of a powerful weight drop source. As far as we know, it’s the only one of … Read More

An interview with TerraDat co-founder Nick Russill

In this interview with Alan Wick, originally broadcast on his radio show, you will hear from TerraDat co-founder Nick Russill about: How to continue to grow your business by innovating and staying agile Why it’s important to sometimes say ‘No’ … Read More

Crosshole Seismics

Seismic methods can provide detailed information about rock properties and geological structure between boreholes. Fewer boreholes are needed to achieve a continuous picture of the subsurface, thereby reducing overall costs and the risk of missing target features. Borehole seismic methods … Read More

Archaeological Geophysics (Archeology)

CHECK OUT OUR NEW DEDICATED ARCHAEOLOGICAL GEOPHYSICS WEBSITE TerraDat’s archaeological geophysics team is uniquely placed to draw on decades of experience in applied geophysics and archaeological surveying. TerraDat’s approach uses our fully-trained geophysicists to deal with the geophysics while our … Read More

How we brought the evocative story of Swansea’s copper heritage to life using 3D Reality Capture

An evocative video combining the oral history of one of Wales’ most important industrial sites with a 3D digital model created from laser scan surveys are preserving its heritage for future generations as well as connecting local communities with their … Read More

Slope Stability: Understanding Slope Stability using Geophysics

TerraDat has developed a strategy for investigating slope stability that provides key engineering properties for managing and monitoring existing and potential landslides. While each site is considered unique with respect to the survey design, the methods that most often prove … Read More

Electrical Earthing: Advanced Soil Resistivity Measurements for Electrical Earthing Design

As part of our services for energy and infrastructure, TerraDat regularly carries out soil resistivity measurements for earthing installation design and corrosion engineering. These resistivity measurements are made by passing a DC electrical current through the ground using a pair … Read More

Page categories:

Applications, Construction & Geotechnical, Environmental & Waste Management, Ground Hazards

TerraDat uses state-of-the-art geophysical mapping techniques to map the subsurface. The benefit of geophysics is that it is non-invasive and can rapidly map large areas and reduce the chance of missing buried targets. We’ve been offering our services for over 25 years to clients from the engineering, environmental, energy and construction markets. Here are four case study booklets showing how geophysics can be applied to your ground investigations.

Call Us Today: +44 (0)2920 700127 | web@terradat.co.uk

Characterisation of Landfill Sites using Geophysics