Geophysical Surveys for the Characterization of Landfills

Landfills are the classical solution for waste disposal. During the last years there has been a growing concern about the effect of landfills in public health, because leaching water can contaminate nearby aquifers. The conversion of the open dumps characteristic of many cities around the world to controlled and sanitary landfills is a critical step for protecting public health and the environment.Landfill is not just a place where waste is disposed, but it is a technological plant designed, realized and managed to obtain a minimization of negative effects. Sanitary landfilling is a fully engineered disposal option that avoids the harmful effects of uncontrolled dumping by spreading, compacting and covering the waste on land that has been carefully engineered before use.Geophysical surveys are increasingly filling this need, by responding to vertical and lateral variations of the fill material. The non-invasive geophysical methods which measure a different physical properties, specifically Electrical Resistance Tomography (ERT), Frequency-Domain ElectroMagnetic (FDEM) and Infrared Thermography methods (IT), could overcome a problems of the landfill in study.The combined use of these geophysical methods therefore allows to better characterize the properties of the land and to map the subsurface in landfills and their surroundings.