Near Surface Geophysics double issue on hydrogeophysics destined for major reference status
This month Near Surface Geophysics (NSG) makes history with the publication of a double issue entitled ‘Hydrogeophysics – Methods and Processes’. It is a comprehensive review of groundwater issues in geophysics and takes up the whole of issues 5 and 6 in Volume 7 (pp. 241–596) of the journal.
Four guest editors, Louise Pellerin (Green Engineering, USA), Klaus Holliger (University of Lausanne, Switzerland), Lee Slater (Rutgers University, USA), and Ugur Yaramanci (Leibniz Institute for Applied Geophysics, Hannover and Berlin University of Technology, Germany) were responsible for the project highlighting the current state of the art and frontline research in hydrogeophysics.
In their foreword, the editors state that the rapid and dynamic growth of this field was evident from the response to an international call for contributions. Over 70 statements of interest in the form of abstracts and nearly 40 papers were submitted. At the end of a rigorous review process, 27 high quality papers submitted by authors from 12 countries were accepted, spanning a wide range of topics.
The editors believe that the objectives of the hydrogeophysics issue first outlined in the February 2008 issue of NSG have been fully realized. At that time they wrote: ‘Groundwater is an increasingly scarce and fragile resource and there is wide recognition of the challenges we face in effectively protecting and sustainably managing clean sources of water for human consumption and agricultural uses. The emerging field of hydrogeophysics, being the development of geophysical methodologies to explore and assess hydrological relevant properties, structures and processes, has a pivotal role to play in achieving these objectives. In response to the rapid expansion of research in this exciting field, the journal of Near Surface Geophysics is going to produce a ‘Special Issue on Hydrogeophysics’ with the objective to collect the currently most pertinent research in this field and to create a widely used, authorative reference volume.’ Topics covered (along with numerous case studies) include hydrogeophysical measurement, assessment, and monitoring techniques; new and emerging hydrogeophysical methods; classical geophysical methods revisited, improved, and adapted for hydrogeophysics; integration, modelling and inversion of geophysical and hydrological data; geophysical characterization of the hydrogeologic framework; and geophysical estimation of petrophysical and hydraulic parameters.
The special issue was planned as a joint venture between the European Association of Geoscientists and Engineers (EAGE), the publisher of NSG, and the Society of Exploration Geophysicists (SEG) to enhance communication between research communities throughout the world and ensure widespread and effective dissemination of the latest work and results. The intention from the start was to distribute print versions of this special issue, as well as investigate the possibility of online access for all EAGE-NSGD and SEG-NSGS members which has now been fully implemented and is in operation.
Ugur Yaramanci, editor in chief, NSG says: ‘We are very happy to have realized this project with excellent cooperation from everyone. The effort of all the authors and reviewers involved, my fellow guest editors, and the EAGE Publications Office is greatly appreciated.’
(This article is published in First Break October 2009)
|