Near-Surface Geophysics

Summer Term 2021

Your Team

Dr. Jakob Wilk, lecture and practicals.
Mail addresses, office numbers and phone numbers are available at Our Team in the navigation bar.

Topics

Introduction to the most important geophysical methods for shallow subsurface exploration:

Ground-penetrating radar
DC resistivity methods
Refraction seismics

General appointments

According to the COVID-19 situation, we have to start the lectures in online-mode. In addition, three field sessions are planned outdoors in the end of May / beginning of July according to the then applicable COVID-19 precautions. The online-lectures will be split into (i) online material provided via the ILIAS and this website, (ii) a zoom-live-session, and (iii) a task sheet (including specific assignments) on the ILIAS for each Wednesday.

Lecture each Wednesday from 8 to 11 a.m, starting at the 21st of April. A detailed schedule is provided in the ILIAS as well as the password for the Zoom-meetings.
Field sessions in May and July by appointment

Lecture schedule

Wednesday, 04/21/2021:

   8–9 am    Download task sheet and familiarize yourself with the course material in ILIAS.

   9–10 am    Live discussion: Introduction to geophysical methods.

   10–11 am    Self-study with online materials in the ILIAS - GPR Part 1 and 2.

Wednesday, 04/27/2021:

8–9:30 am Self-study with online materials in the ILIAS - GPR Part 3 and 4.

9:30–11 am Live discussion: QA and group work in EKKO Project.

Wednesday, 05/05/2021:

   8:30–9:30 am    Live discussion: GPR QA.

   9:30–10 am    GPR short test.

   10–11 am    Self-study with online materials in the ILIAS - ER Part 1 and 2.

Wednesday, 05/12/2021:

   8:30–9:30 am    Self-study with online materials in the ILIAS - ER Part 3 and 4

   9:30–10:30 am    Live discussion: ER QA.

   10:30–11 am    Self-study with online materials provided here and in the ILIAS.

Wednesday, 05/19/2021:

   8:30–9:30 am    Self-study with online materials in the ILIAS - ER Part 5

   9:30–10:00 am    ER short test

   10:00–11 am    Live discussion: ER QA.

Wednesday, 06/02/2021:

8:30–11 am ERT campus session

Wednesday, 06/09/2021:

8:30–9:30 am GPR campus session group 1

9:30–10:30 am GPR campus session group 2

Wednesday, 06/16/2021:

8:30–9:30 am Live session: field data campus

9:30–11:00 am Self-study with online materials in the ILIAS - Seis Part 1

Wednesday, 06/23/2021:

8:30–9:30 am Live session: discussion seismology homework

9:30–11:00 am Self-study with online materials in the ILIAS - Seis Part 1

Wednesday, 06/30/2021:

7:50 am–1:00 pm Field Schedule

Wednesday, 07/08/2021:

8:30–9:30 am Self-study with online materials in the ILIAS - Seis Part 2

9:30–11:00 am Live session: discussion seismics

Wednesday, 07/14/2021:

   8:30–9:30 am    Live session: discussion seismics

   9:30–10:30 am    Self-study with online materials in the ILIAS - Seis Part 3

   10:30–11:00 am    Seismics short test

Wednesday, 07/21/2021:

8:30–9:30 am Wutach ERT and GPR discussion (Computer Pool Institute)

9:30–11:00 am Preparation of field report (Computer Pool Institute)

Wednesday, 07/28/2021:

Exame week - no class

Examination

Your marks will be derived from several scores (portfolio exam) according to the following scheme:

Component Contribution

assignments (including reports on field work) 60 %

answering the video questioners, helping your classmates in solving the assignments or solving your assignments on your own. 10 %^*

three short tests subsequently to each methodological block 30 %

^* also depending on your own score, e.g., 20 % of your own score if you solve all on your own

Component	Contribution
assignments (including reports on field work)	60 %
answering the video questioners, helping your classmates in solving the assignments or solving your assignments on your own.	10 %^*
three short tests subsequently to each methodological block	30 %

A total score of 50 % is required to pass the class. There are no further constraints, i.e., no minimum scores required for any of the components.
In case anyone fails, there will be a second portfolio exam. However, this is more complicated than for a single written exam:
- The characteristics must be the same as for the first portfolio exam.
- It is not allowed to transfer any parts of the first portfolio exam, so that you will have to consider new assignments and a new tests.
This would be not easy for you as you would have to solve the assignments without or with little support by your classmates, and it would be a considerable amount of additional work for me. So please do not try!

Assignments

The assignments on the assignment sheet are designed individually for each student using the enrollment number (7 digits). Solutions not corresponding to your assignment sheet will not be marked without the chance of resubmission.
Criteria of evaluation are the correctness of the solution, interpretations being consistent and understandable, and the quality of the figures (e.g., axis labels and units). At least the main components of the MATLAB codes must be included in the solution.
You may either submit your solutions alone or in groups of two students. If you want to submit as a group, you must already fill in both enrollment numbers when downloading your assigment sheet.
Beyond being allowed to submit your solution in a group of two students, you are encouraged to work together. According to the general ethics of scientific work, collaboration must be acknowledged when submitting an assignment. You must declare in the respective fields of the submission form whether you
- solved everything on your own,
- worked together as a group and contributed equally to the solution, and/or
- received helped from other classmates.
Any solutions violating this rule will not be considered without the chance of resubmission.
As the assignments accompany the progress of the class, the deadlines announced on the assignment sheet must be obeyed. A tolerance of 10 days is given for all assignments in sum. You may, e.g., be late by 3 days at one assignment, 4 days at another, and 3 days by a third one. Late submissions exceeding this limit will not be considered. Please keep in mind that the rule concerns individual assignments, not entire assignment sheet.

Two-layer master curves
Graphical curve matching
Master curve excel-sheet (Wenner-Array)
Master curve excel-sheet (Schlumberger-Array)

Assignment Sheets

Assignment sheets

Submission of Solutions

Solutions can only be submitted as PDF files using the form below. A submission of printouts or by e-mail is not possible. Details are given during the submission procedure.

Submission of Assignment Solutions

Solutions can only be submitted as PDF files using the form below. A submission of printouts or by e-mail is not possible. Please pay attention to the following points:

As there is no official list of participants, you have to register before you can upload any files. Registrations made for previous classes or for the fieldtrip registration system are valid here, too. If you are not sure whether you are already registered, please use the following form to test your registration or to register.

Enrollment number
PDF is the only accepted file format. Submissions must be either one file per assignment sheet or one file per assignment (preferred).
The file size must not exceed 64 MB.
Special characters ("Umlaute" etc.) and white spaces in the filename are not allowed.
Paper size must be similar to DIN A4 portrait (US letter or similar formats are also acceptable, but not much larger), and the font size should be at least 11 pt.
If appropriate for the respective assignment, scanned hand-written solutions are also accepted, provided that the technical quality is ok (no smartphone photos etc.). The photocopier close to the entrance of the CIP classroom offers scans of good quality for free.
Short MATLAB code sequences that you executed step by step in the command window should be included in your main PDF file. Larger codes that you saved in a MATLAB file (.m) must be attached as individual code attachments. However, all relevant information (figures, interpretations) must still be contained in your main PDF file.
If your solution requires data not included in your code (e.g., results of previous assignments), you must upload them as data supplements (MATLAB workspace, .mat).
If you use other programming languages, please ask for the details about uploading your codes.
After uploading your file you receive a mail with page images (at reduced resolution). Please check whether these page images are consistent with the submitted document and whether you submited your file for the correct class. Keep this mail as it is the proof of your submission.
If you receive an error message, your solution has not been submitted.

Near-Surface Geophysics
University of Freiburg
Institute of Earth and Environmental Sciences

Our Team

Teaching

Publications

Software
	OpenLEM
	MinVoellmy
	Generalized Swath Profiles
	Further Online Tools

BSc / MSc / Doctoral Theses

Services
	Submission of homework and reports