Characterization of Dismissed Landfills Via Geophysical Techniques

In the context of waste landfill management, geophysical methods are a powerfultool for evaluating their impact on public health and environment. Noninvasive andcost-effective geophysical techniques rapidly investigate large areas with no impact onthe system. This is essential for the characterization of the waste body and the evaluationof the liner integrity at the bottom of the landfill and leakage localization. Threecase studies are described with the purpose of highlighting the potentiality of suchtechniques in landfill studies. The case studies show different site conditions (cappedlandfills, controlled closed systems, and unconfined systems) that limit the applicabilityof any other kind of investigation and, at the same time, highlight the versatilityof the geophysical techniques to adapt to several field situations. Electrical and electromagnetictechniques proved to be the most efficient geophysical techniques forproviding useful information to develop an accurate site conceptual model.