The Evolving Roles of Electrical Geophysical Methods for In Situ Remediation Assessment : Progress and Perspectives

Xia, Teng and Li, Miao and Slater, Lee and Hu, Xiangyun and Binley, Andrew and Ma, Xinmin and Mao, Deqiang (2026) The Evolving Roles of Electrical Geophysical Methods for In Situ Remediation Assessment : Progress and Perspectives. Water Resources Research, 62 (4): e2025WR043. ISSN 0043-1397

Text (2025WR043172.pdf)
2025WR043172.pdf - Published Version
Available under License Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs.
Download (8MB)

Abstract

Plain Language Summary: Soil and groundwater contaminated by industrial activity threaten ecosystems and human health. Clean‐up of these sites via remediation technologies is critical, but tracking remediation progress and effectiveness in real time remains difficult. Traditional well sampling provides only point‐specific data and can miss heterogenous subsurface changes. This review synthesizes two decades of research showing how electrical geophysical methods, specifically electrical resistivity tomography and induced polarization, serve as effective remediation monitoring tools. By imaging changes in electrical properties of the subsurface, these techniques indirectly track heat distribution, reagent migration, and contaminant breakdown during chemical oxidation, bioremediation, thermal treatment, and permeable reactive barrier applications. We discuss current challenges and future opportunities to integrate geophysics with direct sampling, that will ultimately enable more adaptive and sustainable remediation strategies.