• The Journal of Engineering Geology
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• v.33 no.4
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• pp.689-699
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• 2023

Assessing ground stability is critical to the construction of underground transportation infrastructure. Surface displacement is a key indicator of ground stability, and can be measured using interferometric synthetic aperture radar (InSAR). This study measured time-series surface displacement using permanent scatterer InSAR applied to Sentinel-1 SAR images acquired from January 2017 to June 2023 for the area around a deep underground expressway under construction to connect Mandeok-dong and Centum City in Busan, South Korea. Regions of seasonal subsidence and uplift were identified, as were regions with severe subsidence after summer 2022. To evaluate stability of the ground in the construction area, the mean displacement velocity, final surface displacement, cumulative surface displacement, and difference between minimum and maximum surface displacement were analyzed. Considering the time-series surface displacement characteristics of the study area, the difference between minimum and maximum surface displacement since June 2022 was found to be the most suitable parameter for evaluating ground stability. The results identified highly unstable ground in the construction area as being to the north of the mid-lower reaches of the Oncheon-cheon River and to the west of the Suyeong River at the point where both rivers meet, with the difference between minimum and maximum surface displacement of 40~60 mm.

• Geophysics and Geophysical Exploration
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• v.8 no.4
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• pp.262-269
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• 2005

Since the buried cultural relics are three-dimensional (3-D) objects in nature, 3-D survey is more preferable in archeological exploration. 3-D Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) survey based on very dense data in principle, however, might need much higher cost and longer time of exploration than other geophysical methods commonly used for the archeological exploration, such as magnetic and electromagnetic methods. We developed a small-scale continuous data acquisition system which consists of two sets of GPR antennas and the precise positioning device tracking the moving-path of GPR antenna automatically and continuously. Since the high cost of field work may be partly attributed to establishing many profile lines, we adopted a concept of data acquisition at arbitrary locations not along the pre-established profile lines. Besides this hardware system, we also developed several software packages in order to effectively process and visualize the 3-D data obtained by the developed system and the data acquisition concept. Using the developed system, we performed 3-D GPR survey to investigate the possible historical remains of Baekje Kingdom at Buyeo city, South Korea, prior to the excavation. Owing to the newly devised system, we could obtain 3-D GPR data of this survey area having areal extent over about $17,000m^2$ within only six-hours field work. Although the GPR data were obtained at random locations not along the pre-established profile lines, we could obtain high-resolution 3-D images showing many distinctive anomalies, which could be interpreted as old agricultural lands, waterways, and artificial structures or remains. This cast: history led us to the conclusion that 3-D GPR method is very useful not only to examine a small anomalous area but also to investigate the wider region of the archeological interests.

• Geophysics and Geophysical Exploration
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• v.9 no.4
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• pp.279-290
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• 2006

The borehole radar methods used to tunnel detection are mainly classified into borehole radar reflection, directional antenna, crosshole scanning, and radar tomography methods. In this study, we have investigated the feasibility and limitation of each method to tunnel detection through case studies. In the borehole radar reflection data, there were much more clear diffraction signals of the upper wings than lower wings of the hyperbolas reflected from the tunnel, and their upper and lower wings were spreaded out to more than 10m higher and lower traces from the peaks of the hyperbolas. As the ratio of borehole diameter to antenna length increases, the ringing gets stronger on the data due to the increase in the impedance mismatching between antennas and water in the boreholes. It is also found that the reflection signals from the tunnel could be enhanced using the optimal offset distance between transmitter and receiver antennas. Nevertheless, the borehole radar reflection data could not provide directional information of the reflectors in the subsurface. Direction finding antenna system had a advantage to take a three dimensional location of a tunnel with only one borehole survey even though the cost is still very high and it required very high expertise. The data from crosshole scanning could be a good indicator for tunnel detection and it could give more reliable result when the borehole radar reflection survey is carried out together. The images of the subsurface also can be reconstructed using travel time tomography which could provide the physical property of the medium and would be effective for imaging the underground structure such as tunnels. Based on the results described above, we suggest a cost-effective field procedure for detection of a tunnel using borehole radar techniques; borehole radar reflection survey using dipole antenna can firstly be applied to pick up anomalous regions within the borehole, and crosshole scanning or reflection survey using directional antenna can then be applied only to the anomalous regions to detect the tunnel.

• Geophysics and Geophysical Exploration
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.119-130
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• 2013

We developed a method for inverting magnetic data to recover the 3D susceptibility models. The major difficulty in the inversion of the potential data is the non-uniqueness and the vast computing time. The insufficient number of data compared with that of inversion blocks intensifies the non-uniqueness problem. Furthermore, there is poor depth resolution inherent in magnetic data. To overcome this non-uniqueness problem, we propose a resolution model constraint that imposes large penalty on the model parameter with good resolution; on the other hand, small penalty on the model parameter with poor resolution. Using this model constraint, the model parameter with a poor resolution can be effectively resolved. Moreover, the wavelet transform and parallel solving were introduced to save the computing time. Through the wavelet transform, a large system matrix was transformed to a sparse matrix and solved by a parallel linear equation solver. This procedure is able to enormously save the computing time for the 3D inversion of magnetic data. The developed inversion algorithm is applied to the inversion of the synthetic data for typical models of magnetic anomalies and real airborne data obtained at the Geumsan area of Korea.

• Geophysics and Geophysical Exploration
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.131-138
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• 2013

We developed a method for inverting magnetic data to image 2D susceptibility models. The major difficulty in the inversion of the potential data is the nonuniqueness. Furthermore, generally the number of inversion blocks are greater than the number of the magnetic data available, and thus the magnetic inversion leads to under-determined problem, which aggravates the nonuniqueness. When the magnetic data were inverted by the general least-squares method, the anomalous susceptibility would be concentrated near the surface in the inverted section. To overcome this nonuniqueness problem, we propose a new resolution model constraint that is calculated from the parameter resolution. The model constraint imposes large penalty on the model parameter with good resolution, on the other hand small penalty on the model parameter with poor resolution. Thus, the deep-seated model parameter, generally having poor resolution, can be effectively resolved. The developed inversion algorithm is applied to the inversion of the synthetic data for typical models of magnetic anomalies and is tested on real airborne data obtained at the Okcheon belt of Korea.

• The Sea:JOURNAL OF THE KOREAN SOCIETY OF OCEANOGRAPHY
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• v.4 no.4
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• pp.312-322
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• 1999

We have studied both submarine morphology and sediment characteristics of waste disposal sites in the southwestern Ulleung Basin, East Sea, as part of a marine environmental preservation program. The Jung waste disposal site in the outer shelf is characterized by the thick accumulation of coarse-grained palimpsest sediments and fine-grained sediments from various sources. The Byung waste disposal site in the continental slope is generally characterized by hemipelagic muds with intermittent sandy sediments originated from the outer shelf and upper slope. The hemipelagic sediments, draping the seafloor, consist of fluidized muds. The core sediments show numerous bioturbation structures which cause vertical mixing of sediments. The surface sediments can be divided into four sand types (S-1, S-2, S-3, and S-4) and two mud types (M-1 and M-2) based on relative contents of reworked coarse-grained palimpsest sediments and fine-grained sediments. sorting and heavy mineral contents. The sands are probably relict sediments reworked during high-energy conditions such as typoon or storm. On the other hand, the muds were originated from various sources such as recent input from the Nakdong River, reworked fine-grained sediment from the shelf or suspended particulate matter from the East Sea Warm Current.

• Geophysics and Geophysical Exploration
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.88-97
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• 2011

We present a method for modelling the terrain response of gravity gradiometry surveys utilising an adaptive quadtree mesh discretization. The data- and terrain-dependent method is tailored to provide rapid and accurate terrain corrections for draped and barometric airborne surveys. The surface used in the modelling of the terrain effect for each datum is discretized automatically to the largest cell size that will yield the desired accuracy, resulting in much faster modelling than full-resolution calculations. The largest cell sizes within the model occur in areas of minimal terrain variation and at large distances away from the datum location. We show synthetic and field examples for proof of concept. In the presented field example, the adaptive quadtree method reduces the computational cost by performing 351 times fewer calculations than the full model would require while retaining an accuracy of one E$\"{o}$tv$\"{o}$s for the gradient data. The method is also used for the terrain correction of the gravity field and performed 310 times faster compared with a calculation of the full digital elevation model.

• Geophysics and Geophysical Exploration
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.7-17
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• 2011

We have developed an inversion code for three-dimensional (3D) resistivity tomography including the anisotropy effect. The algorithm is based on the finite element approximations for the forward modelling and Active Constraint Balancing method is adopted to enhance the resolving power of the smoothness constraint least-squares inversion. Using numerical experiments, we have shown that anisotropic inversion is viable to get an accurate image of the subsurface when the subsurface shows strong electrical anisotropy. Moreover, anisotropy can be used as additional information in the interpretation of subsurface. This algorithm was also applied to the field dataset acquired in the abandoned old mine area, where a high-rise apartment block has been built up over a mining tunnel. The main purpose of the investigation was to evaluate the safety analysis of the building due to old mining activities. Strong electrical anisotropy has been observed and it was proven to be caused by geological setting of the site. To handle the anisotropy problem, field data were inverted by a 3D anisotropic tomography algorithm and we could obtain 3D subsurface images, which matches well with geology mapping observations. The inversion results have been used to provide the subsurface model for the safety analysis in rock engineering and we could assure the residents that the apartment has no problem in its safety after the completion of investigation works.

• Geophysics and Geophysical Exploration
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.60-68
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• 2007

Conventional analysis of spectral induced polarization (SIP) data consists of measuring impedances over a range of frequencies, followed by spectral analysis to estimate spectral parameters. For the quantitative and accurate estimation of subsurface SIP parameter distribution, however, a sophisticated and stable inversion technique is required. In this study, we have developed a two-step inversion approach to obtain the two-dimensional distribution of SIP parameters. In the first inversion step, all the SIP data measured over a range of frequencies are simultaneously inverted, adopting cross regularisation of model complex resistivities at each frequency. The cross regularisation makes it possible to enhance the noise characteristics of the inversion by imposing a strong assumption, that complex resistivities should show similar characteristics over a range of frequencies. In numerical experiments, we could verify that our inversion approach successfully reduced inversion artefacts. As a second step, we have also developed an inversion algorithm to obtain SIP parameters based on the Cole-Cole model, in which frequency-dependent complex resistivities from the first step are inverted to obtain a two-dimensional distribution of SIP parameters. In numerical tests, the SIP parameter images showed a fairly good match with the exact model, which suggests that SIP imaging can provide a very useful subsurface image to complement resistivity.

• Geophysics and Geophysical Exploration
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.11-20
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• 2014

To reveal shear-wave velocities ($v_s$) and site characterization of Wonju, Korea, Rayleigh waves were recorded at 78 sites of lower altitude using 12 to 24 4.5-Hz vertical geophones for 20 days during the period of February to September 2013. Dispersion curves of the Rayleigh waves obtained by the extended spatial autocorrelation method were inverted using the damped least-squares method to derive $v_s$ models. From these 1-D models, the average $v_s$ to a depth of 30 m ($v_s30$), $v_s$ of weathered rocks, depths to these basement rocks, and average $v_s$ of the overburden layer were derived to be $16.3{\pm}0.7m$, $576{\pm}8m/s$, $290{\pm}7m/s$, and $418{\pm}13m/s$, respectively, in the 95% confidence range. To determine adequate proxies for $v_s30$, we computed correlation coefficients of $v_s30$ with topographic slope (r = 0.46) and elevation (r = 0.43). An empirical linear relationship is presented as a combination of individually estimated $v_s30$ with weighting factors of 0.45, 0.45, and 0.1 for topographic slope, elevation, and mapped lithology, respectively. Due to a weak correlation between $v_s30$ obtained from inversion of dispersion curves and the proxy-based estimation (r = 0.50), however, the relatively large error range should be considered for applications of this relationship.