This grant supports acquisition of an ten channel electrical resistivity (ER) system (IRIS Syscal Pro) for the Department of Geosciences at Penn State University. ER is sensitive to changes in the electrical conductivity of the shallow subsurface and has applications for spatially and temporally resolved observations of subsurface fluid content and composition. As measured resistances between source and receiver electrodes record the average electrical properties of porous media and conductive fluids along the path length, measurements are a useful complement to discrete in situ sampling and observations from wells. The ER system will support a range of research including remote time series monitoring of hydrologic tracer transport, imaging solute transport between aquifers and stream base flow, studies of groundwater transport in desert ecosystems, and studies of the kinetics of subsurface diagenesis of organics via bacterial iron reduction. The ER system will support research at a Critical Zone Observatory (Shale Hills) and research training through a three-week integrated hydrogeophysics summer course aimed at underrepresented undergraduates from three Historically Black Colleges and Universities partnered with Penn State (Jackson State University, MS; Fort Valley State University, GA; and Elizabeth City State University, NC).
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