November 2004 Meeting Abstract
The Buffalo Association of Professional Geologists (BAPG) is pleased to announce that its monthly dinner meeting will be held on Wednesday, November 17, 2004 at the Four Points Sheraton Hotel, located at 2040 Walden Avenue in Cheektowaga, NY. The topic of presentation and discussion will be “Recent advances in acquisition and analysis of seismic, GPR, and electrical resistivity data for hydrogeophysics investigations” presented by Dr. Gregory S. Baker of the University at Buffalo.
The relatively recent appearance of the term “hydrogeophysics” corresponds
with a growing awareness by policy makers on the importance of integrating geophysics and hydrology in groundwater resource management. Workers in research labs, industry, and academe have of course been working in this field long before the arrival of the new label. However, as a result of this growing interest--and important previous work--on the fusion of the two fields, a paradigm shift is occurring in which geophysical data is no longer used strictly as supplemental qualitative information for groundwater models, but rather is a critical quantitative constraint for understanding these complex systems. Several recent advances of techniques in near-surface geophysics as applied to hydrologic problems will be presented. These will include studies of fracture-related flow anisotropy using seismic refraction tomography, rapid azimuthal electrical resistivity analysis, and dense 3D GPR volume visualizations as well as target discrimination (e.g., NAPL identification) using amplitude variation with offset analysis on GPR data.
Gregory S. Baker received his B.S. (1992; Honors) and M.S. (1994) in geology from Lehigh University, and Ph.D. (1999; Honors) in geophysics from The University at Kansas under Don Steeples. He has been on the faculty of the Department of Geology at the University at Buffalo (SUNY) since 1999, and is currently an Associate Professor. He is the Director of the Environmental Geophysics Research (EGR) Laboratory, Director of the University at Buffalo Summer Geology Field Program (a.k.a., Field Camp), and Co-Director of the Buffalo Geosciences Program. His research is focused in: (1) developing new geophysical instrumentation and data processing techniques; (2) improving standard operating procedures of data collection; and (3) demonstrating
applied examples of state-of-the-art techniques. His current projects include: an environmental site characterization on Fort Wainwright, Alaska (DOD); glaciogeophysics research at Matanuska Glacier, Alaska (NSF); archaeogeophysics studies in Humayma, Jordan (NSF); a joint EPA/Forest Service ecosystem management project in the Great Basin of Nevada; and a 3D tracer mapping project in the fractured bedrock of Altona Flats, New York (NSF). He was an Associate Editor for the journal GEOPHYSICS from 2001-2004, has served on the SEG Technical Program Committee since 2002, and is currently president of the Near-Surface Geophysics Section of the Society of Exploration Geophysicists.
Please join your colleagues at the November 2004 BAPG Meeting
Stephanie Reynolds-Smith
BAPG Executive Vice-President