Posted 13 January 2011
CWI team members put the new geoprobe through its paces.
UNSW has taken delivery of a new state-of-the-art 7822DT Geoprobe that will greatly assist with groundwater and soil moisture studies.
Funded by Education Infrastructure Fund (EIF), the Geoprobe will be used to support EIF studies in the Namoi catchment, North Stradbroke Island and at the Wellington and Baldry research sites in the Macquarie catchment. This in turn will support research activities across several programs of the National Centre for Groundwater Research and Training (NCGRT).
Staff from UNSW Connected Waters Initative completed training and testing of the new Geoprobe at the Wellington research station and training centre for the NCGRT.
Peter Graham, the Wellington research manager, says the Geoprobe will be essential for direct observations of the soil profile and shallow groundwater. Research staff Hamish Studhome and Sam McCulloch joined Peter at the Wellington site for training by the Geoprobe company.
The 7822DT Geoprobe includes significant direct push capabilities for profiling and coring below ground including these tools:
Under ideal probing conditions in soft sediments, the Geoprobe will be able to reach approximately 20 meters below the ground. However, over the coming months the Geoprobe's capability in different sediment and moisture conditions in the Murray-Darling Basin, and in coastal sediments will be tested. The 3.4 tonne, 4.7 m high Geoprobe is fitted on caterpillar tracks to access difficult sites.
Further information is available from Peter Graham p.graham@wrl.unsw.edu.au at the UNSW Wellington Research Station and NCGRT training centre.
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