TECHNOLOGIES FOR THE REMOTE DETECTION OF HYDROCARBONS IN THE SUBSURFACE

ABSTRACT An increase in the frequency of hydrogeologic assessments in response to hydrocarbon losses from storage systems has prompted this research effort to evaluate economical and effective remote detection techniques. Two general technology groups were evaluated for their ability to detect the contaminant as well as their cost effectiveness. These technologies include soil gas and geophysical techniques. The soil gas techniques evaluated included active and passive procedures. The geophysical technologies which were evaluated on the basis of the same criteria included electromagnetic surveys, resistivity, and ground penetrating radar. This paper describes the interference factors associated with each technique and the relative costs of the technologies given the same set of assumptions.