Detection of underground anomalies

Abstract

Subsurface surveying prior to construction is crucial to anticipate subsurface anomalies. This facilitates proper planning to better manage these features to protect the safety and financial interests of the team. Geophysical methods serve as a useful tool to complement the role of invasive methods in such detection surveys. By rendering velocity profiles based on the data collected to detect subsurface anomalies, the location and number of boreholes required can be planned more strategically. However, the current methods, such as the Ground Penetrating Radar, have certain limitations pertaining to penetration depths. Yet, anomalies of interests such as pipes and cavities can be situated up to 40m deep. For this reason, Seismic Scatter Profile (SSP) Technology, a contemporary geophysical method, is studied in this project to evaluate its feasibility in predicting geological anomalies for both near-surface and sub-deep depths in Singapore. While previous research has proven SSP Technology’s effectiveness in China, the geology and environment in Singapore is different and little is known about the versatility of the technology in Singapore. In this project, the SSP technology is applied to a study area with ground truth borehole. Once the results are validated against the borehole data gathered, the SSP technology is applied to another study area (NTU Campus) without ground truth to further experiment the accuracy of the technology. Finally, it is concluded that SSP technology is effective in detecting both near-surface and sub-deep subsurface anomalies and can be used as a good substitute to current non-invasive methods.