A catchment scale GPR application potential zonation. Case study from SW China

The epikarst together with its soil stocks (subcutaneous structure) are crucial to the fact that they may contribute to the canopy growth and can significantly influence the ecological restoration and organic carbon sequestration. Geophysical techniques especially, the ground penetrating radar (GPR) are advantageous for such investigations. However, the complicated karst environment due to numerous influencing factors (i.e., the forest, epikarst slope, peak-cluster depression, soil humidity,high voltage power lines) can significantly influence the exploration with GPR. In the past, such applications were limited to local scales without considering the aforementioned factors together. Hence, the present study analyses the influences of these factors on the performance and reliability of GPR results considering the central Guizhou plateau of south-west China as a case study. These site-specific findings are summarized into a GPR application potential zonation map at the catchment scale. The zones were rated as low, moderate and high potential degree regions, each reflecting results reliability which can be considered as a cost-effective feasibility reference for the future GPR applications in complex karst terrain characterization, as well as the areas having similar karstic conditions.