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Abstract
In order to test the efficacy of a cold-region evapotranspiration (ET) landfill cover against a conventional compacted clay (CCL) landfill cover, two pilot scale covers were constructed in side-by-side basin lysimeters (
) at a site in Anchorage, Alaska. The primary basis of comparison between the two lysimeters was the percolation of moisture from the bottom of each lysimeter. Between 30 April 2005 and 16 May 2006, 51.5 mm of water percolated from the ET lysimeter, compared to 50.6 mm for the the CCL lysimeter. This difference was not found to be significant at the 95% confidence level. As part of the project, electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) was utilized to measure and map soil moisture in ET lysimeter cross sections. The ERT-generated cross sections were found to accurately predict the onset and duration of lysimeter percolation. Moreover, ERT-generated soil moisture values demonstrated a strong linear relationship to lysimeter percolation rates (R–Squared = 0.92). Consequently, ERT is proposed as a reliable tool for assessing the function of field scale ET covers in the absence of drainage measurement devices.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Funding for this project was provided by the USAF Air Education and Training Command (AETC) and Weston Solutions, Inc. In addition, we would like to specifically thank John Mahaffey (USAF), Skip Koch (Weston), Tanya Kocinski (Weston), Dale Grenke (Weston), and Kyle Beatty (Goodfellow Brothers, Inc.) for their many technical contributions to the project. Finally, Leslie Simmons and Kim Stricklan from the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation deserve special thanks for their regulatory contributions.