Seminar: Dr. Rosemary Knight on Geophysical Imaging

The GES Department and CUERE cordially invite you to a jointly hosted upcoming seminar on WebEx.

Topic: Harnessing the Power of Geophysical Imaging to Recharge California’s Groundwater

Speaker: Dr. Rosemary Knight

Abstract: California’s past has involved cycles of floods and droughts, and this is predicted to continue, with more extreme floods and more extreme droughts due to climate change. There is great interest now in flood-MAR – managed aquifer recharge – where flood water is captured and used for recharge to recover from the last drought and prepare for the next. Identifying the optimal site for groundwater recharge requires considering many factors, one of which is the subsurface geology. If the recharge operation involves spreading of water on the surface, and the objective is to maximize the volume and rate of recharge, an ideal site will have “fast paths” of coarse-grained materials from the surface to the water table. Geophysical imaging is an efficient way of searching for these fast paths. We are working with data (25,000 km) acquired using the airborne electromagnetic (AEM) method and data acquired using a ground-based towed EM method, mapping out fast paths in California’s Central Valley.

Speaker Bio: Rosemary Knight, Professor of Geophysics at Stanford University, has worked for more than 30 years on the challenge of using geophysical methods for groundwater science and management. In 2008, Knight founded the Center for Groundwater Evaluation and Management with the vision of advancing and promoting the use of geophysical methods through the development of partnerships. Collaboration with local and state agencies, moving “knowledge into action”, has been and remains central to Knight’s work. Over the past seven years, Knight’s research group has collaborated with others to advance the adoption of the airborne electromagnetic method to support the sustainable management of groundwater in California.