John A. Cherry lecture

2018-11-15
Lecture:Depth-Discrete Multilevel Monitoring in Fractured Rock: State of the Technology and Implications

time:3:30-5:10pm,19th,Nov,2018

venue:Electronic Building, room 106

host:Prof. Jinsheng Wang

speaker:John Cherry (speaker)


 

Lecture introduction:

Well established engineered systems for depth-discrete monitoring in fractured rock boreholes (Multilevel Monitoring Systems-MLSs) are commercially available and offer much diversity in design options. They are used in diverse types of applications between depths of 10 to 1000 m below ground surface. However, they are used only minimally in professional practice and are seldom used use in groundwater research. MLSs provide information about groundwater pressure and hydro-chemistry from many different depth levels in each borehole and therefore they magnify greatly the knowledge value of each borehole. Conventional practice globally is devoted to standard monitoring wells alone or in clusters or in nests and remain the mainstay of the groundwater science and engineering community. This severely limits prospects for each borehole to provide the information needed to solve the typically complex problems posed by fractured rock. This talk outlines the nature and evolution of MLS technologies and shows how MLSs add important insights not accessible using conventional wells. Also it proposes why MLS technologies are so little used and suggests a path forward for advanced MLS designs to make MLSs more useful and accessible for high resolution data acquisition for groundwater system characterization and monitoring for research and practise and also to serve in groundwater education.


Speaker introduction

John A. Cherry, PhD, P.Eng., FRSC,holds geological engineering degrees from the University of Saskatchewan and the university of California, Berkeley and a PhD in geology from the University of Illinois. He currently is an Adjunct Professor at the University of Guelph, Canada, where he is Director, University Consortium for Field Focused Groundwater Research and Associate Director, G360 Institute for Groundwater Research, the largest university-based groundwater research institute in Canada. He holds the title of Distinguished Emeritus Professor, University of Waterloo, Canada, where he was based,1971-2006, and is an Honorary Professor, University of Hong Kong. He has received many awards and honours from scientific and professional organizations in Canada, USA and UK.