Resistivity Monitoring of an Irrigation Experiment at Högbytorp, Sweden

An irrigation experiment was carried out close to the Högbytorp waste site outside Stockholm, Sweden, in which leachate water from the waste site was used for irrigation of a Salix plantation. Three different irrigation levels were used, plus no irrigation as control. Resistivity imaging was used at a number of time steps with the objective to try to monitor changes in water saturation and salinity in the ground. The monitoring results show strong potential for the method. Variation in soils properties are indicated by the variation in resistivity. Changes in resistivity that correlate well with differences in irrigation quantities and plant growth are evident. The experiment is planned to continue, and more in-depth analysis of all available data will be carried out. It is beyond doubt, however, that a lot of information related to variation in water quantity and quality is contained in the resistivity imaging results.