montana tech geophysical engineering...ty and magneƟsm, field geophysics, senior design, and remote...

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MONTANA TECH GEOPHYSICAL ENGINEERING

July 2018 Volume 5, p. 1

Dඍඉකගඕඍඖග Hඍඉඌ: Dක. Mඉකඞඑඖ Sඍඍඋඍ 406-496-4188 ਬਲਯਤਤਢਤ@ਬਲ਼ਤਢਧ.ਤਣ

Fඉඋඝඔගඡ: Pකඎ. Jඉඕඍඛ Gඑකඉකඌ 406-496-4347 ਦਨਠਣ@ਬਲ਼ਤਢਧ.ਤਣ

Dක. Kඐඉඔඑඌ Mඑඉඐ 406-496-4165 ਪਬਨਠਧ@ਬਲ਼ਤਢਧ.ਤਣ

Dක. Xඑඉඊඑඖඏ Zඐඝ 406-496-4350 ਹਧਮ@ਬਲ਼ਤਢਧ.ਤਣ

Dක. Mඐඉඕඍඌ Kඐඉඔඑඔ 406-496-4216 ਬਪਧਠਫਨਫ@ਬਲ਼ਤਢਧ.ਤਣ

Dක. Sඐඉඕඑඕ Aඓඐගඉක 406-496-4888 ਲਠਪਧਲ਼ਠ@ਬਲ਼ਤਢਧ.ਤਣ

SEG: Sਲ਼ਣਤਭਲ਼ Aਣਵਨਲਮ: D. Mਠਵਨਭ Sਯਤਤਢਤ

Pਤਲਨਣਤਭਲ਼: Aਭਣਤਸ਼ Wਨਫਲਮਭ

Vਨਢਤ-Pਤਲਨਣਤਭਲ਼: Sඑඍකකඉ Lඝඕඉ

Sਤਢਤਲ਼ਠਸ ਤਠਲਤ: Rਨਢਧਠਣ Lਤਤ

Aਣਬਨਭਨਲਲ਼ਠਲ਼ਨਵਤ Aਲਲਮਢਨਠਲ਼ਤ II Tਧਤਤਲਠ Fਮਤਧਫਨਢਧ 406-496-4011 ਲ਼ਮਫਤਠਸ@ਬਲ਼ਤਢਧ.ਤਣ

LETTER FROM THE CHAIR

This is an exciƟng Ɵme for Montana Tech and the Geophysical Engineering Department. Recently, the Montana Board of Regents designated Montana Tech as a special‐focus insƟtuƟon with empha‐sis on engineering and related science and health programs. The Board of Regents also gave Mon‐tana Tech a new name: “Montana Technological University”. Montana Tech now has one successful PhD program in material science and plans to add several more PhD programs including in “Earth Science and Engineering”. The Geophysical Engineering Department will parƟcipate in the Earth Science and Engineering PhD degree.

This year the Department received $20,000 from Montana Tech capital equipment funds for new Unmanned AircraŌ Systems (UASs) and associated instrumentaƟon. Our current airborne plaƞorms include a DJI Phantom 2, five Phantom 3s, a DJI Inspire, a DJI Matric 600 Pro, and numerous fixed‐wing aircraŌ. Onboard sensors include a mulƟspectral imager, thermal camera, and other opƟcal cameras. We are building a fluxgate‐type gradiometer and an airborne EM system. We are also col‐laboraƟng with the Montana Bureau of Mines and Geology on the calibraƟon and use of LiDAR from a UAS plaƞorm. In addiƟon, we added the professional drone mapping and photogrammetry soŌ‐ware Pix4D to our soŌware inventory.

Newmont Mining CorporaƟon generously donated $10,000 in scholarships for geophysical engineer‐ing students and provided $20,000 to upgrade our fiber opƟcs Distributed AcousƟc Sensing (DAS) Laboratory.

On Friday, October 12, 2018, we will have our annual Industrial Advisory Board (IAB) meeƟng in BuƩe, Montana, to coincide with Homecoming weekend. The IAB provides industry input to our program and this is an important part of our assessment process. Please feel free to contact me if you are interested in serving on the IAB. The IAB is an important component of the accreditaƟon process and we take IAB input seriously.

The Montana Tech FoundaƟon Board recently approved a $60,000 capital campaign to increase Montana Tech’s endowment. Montana Tech plans to use these funds to create endowed professor‐ships and enhance the research profile of Montana Tech. The Geophysical Engineering Department plans to become ½ endowed in the next ten years by adding three endowed professorships in ap‐plied geophysics. The Department can grow and be strengthen by recruiƟng outstanding researchers and teachers to fill these endowed chair posiƟons. With declining state support in recent years, we have begun to rely heavily on Montana Tech FoundaƟon funds to support the Department. This is likely to be the funding model for the next several decades. In addiƟon, we have a growing need to replace aging equipment and provide scholarship support. If you would like to help us meet our fundraising goals and help support an endowed professorship, then please contact me and we can discuss how you might help. If you choose to send financial support, then please clearly indicate that your generous donaƟons are for the Geophysical Engineering Department and send you checks to the Department.

Marvin Speece, Professor and Chair



Generous Supporters of the Department: August 2017 ‐ June 2018

Corporate and FoundaƟon GiŌs

Chevron CorporaƟon

Newmont Mining CorporaƟon

Shell Oil Company FoundaƟon EducaƟonal Matching GiŌs

Individual GiŌs

Brian Church

Robert Garland

Jim Girard

Fredrick Hoffman

Mark and Catherine McRae and Family

Keith Sjostrom and Mary Ann Moore

Mario and Nancy Vacca

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Faculty News

Marvin Speece: Graduate student Megan Valdez is using a 3D seismic data set from West Virginia that was provided by alum Fred Hoffman and Bluescape Resources to compare trace aƩributes with P‐wave anisotropy for fracture detecƟon/orientaƟon in the Marcellus Shale. Brad Rutherford conƟnues to wo on his paper for the journal Tectonics that discusses the regional tectonics of northwestern Montana. am working with Jeremy Crowley in the Montana Bureau of Mines and Geology and Geophysical Engi‐neering undergraduate Jacob Clarke on a Montana Tech Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) project to calibrate a LiDAR system for drone use.

Xiaobing Zhou: I conƟnue to teach Gravity and MagneƟc ExploraƟon, Elements of Geophysics, Electrici‐ty and MagneƟsm, Field Geophysics, Senior Design, and Remote Sensing for both upper level undergradu‐ates and graduates. For research, I have finished a two‐year project “Enhancing Montana’s Energy Re‐sources: Research in Support of the State of Montana Energy Policy Goals” funded by Montana University System research iniƟaƟve. I am working on the drone project supported by Montana Tech’s capital equip‐ment funds. We now have 12 UASs in our department for educaƟon. We developed a fluxgate magneƟc gradiometer and integrated it with one of the UASs during a senior design project in Spring 2018. At the same Ɵme, I am trying to advise more undergraduate researchers on developing geophysical sensors to be integrated to UAS plaƞorms for geophysical exploraƟon.

I conƟnue collaboraƟon with researchers in universiƟes in China by applying remote sensing techniques to snow/ice monitoring and inversion for ice thickness and subglacial sediment thickness from IceBridge aerogravity and lidar/radar DEM data. We have one visiƟng scholar from China here in the Department. He is developing remote sensing image segmentaƟon/classificaƟon algo‐rithms.

DJI Matrix 600 Pro carrying a fluxgate gradiometer.



Shamim Akhtar: I served as a Visiting Assistant Professor of Physics at Colorado State University‐Pueblo, Colorado for the last two years. In the last two semesters, I taught advanced‐level electricity and mag‐netism and other algebra and calculus‐based courses including labs. Last Spring, I was involved in designing an advanced electricity and magnetism lab for the senior undergraduate physics students. I also mentored a senior undergraduate student last year who worked on energy loss calculations and determining the effi‐ciency of a neutron detector. He presented his work in June 2018. I attended a “Workshop for New Physics and Astronomy Faculty” organized by AAPT in College Park, Maryland in June 2017. I gave seminar talks at Colorado State University‐Pueblo on the topics of “Introduction to particle accelerators” and “Study of the 12C(α, 𝛾)16O reaction via the α‐transfer reactions: 12C(6Li, d)16O and 12C(7Li, t)16O” in 2017. This summer, I am working on designing an online introductory physics course. Apart from that, I am also working on my research paper about helium burning in stars under the guidance of my Ph.D. advisor Dr. Carl Brune. I am excited about the new position at Montana Tech and I am working on preparing material for the courses that I will be teaching in the Fall of 2018. I am looking for‐ward to moving to Montana.

Khalid Miah: I taught Seismic Prospecting, Inverse Theory, Numerical Computing, and general physics course in Electricity and Magnetism.

This summer, I am working with my graduate student (Ngoc Ha) to build a prototype fiber‐optic DAS (Distributed Acoustic Sensing) system. I am also collaborating with Professor Xiaobing Zhou on UAS & related research and a UAS certification program. I am looking forward to mentoring two undergradu‐ate students: Rachel Hadley has been awarded a grant from the Montana Academy of Sciences (MAS) to conduct research on the seismic interferometry, and Marihelen Held has applied for a URP award to

work on piezo‐electric energy harvesting.

Mohamed Khalil: I conƟnue teaching resisƟvity and electromagneƟc, petro‐physics, general physics and field geophysics for both graduate and undergraduate students.

Former graduate student Akpofure Orubu received his MS degree. His research paper was accepted for publicaƟon in the Journal of Applied Geophysics. His work dealt with dewatering of Lolo Creek, south of Missoula. Kristen Prudhomme is studying recent unexplained land subsidence in BuƩe, Montana by using 2D and 3D resisƟvity, Self‐PotenƟal (SP) and Frequency Domain ElectromagneƟcs (FDEM). This summer, I collected Time Domain ElectromagneƟc (TDEM) and resisƟvity data near Sydney, Montana for a joint project with Montana Bureau of Mines and Geology.



Jim Girard: Jim continues to teach Theresa Froehlich: AdministraƟve physics and manage the physics lab. Associate II.

Emeritus Professors: Curtis Link, Bill Sill and Chuck Wideman

Recent PublicaƟons

Farzamian, M., Monteiro Santos, F. A. and Khalil, M.A., 2017, Constraining Unsaturated Hydraulic Parameters Using the Latin Hyper cube Sampling Method and Coupled Hydrogeophysical Approach: Pure and Applied Geophysics, 174, 4471‐4487, https:// doi.org/10.1007/s00024‐017‐1656‐1.

Gebril, A., and Khalil, M., Carstarphen, C., and Orubu, A., 2017, Applying geophysical methods to estimate hydraulic parameters for the saturated zones in Lolo Creek, Montana: National Ground Water Association (NGWA), Denver, Colorado, ngwa.confex.com/ngwa/hdg2017/webprogram/Paper11296.html.

Khalil, M., Orubu, A., and Speece, M., 2017, 2D and 3D resistivity imaging to study dewatering of Lolo creek, Montana USA: Symposium on the Applications of Geophysics to Engineering and Environmental Problems, libraries.seg.org/ doi/10.4133/SAGEEP.30‐001, 28.

Khalil, M. A., Bobst, A. and Mosolf, J., 2018, Utilizing 2D Electrical Resistivity Tomography and Very Low Frequency Electromag‐netics to Investigate the Hydrogeology of Natural Cold Springs Near Virginia City, Southwest Montana: Pure and Ap‐plied Geophysics, Ohline First, https://doi.org/10.1007/s00024‐018‐1865‐2.

Lu, Y., Ke, C. ‐O., Zhou, X., Wang, M., Lin, H., Chen, D., and Jiang, H., 2018, Monitoring land deformation in Changzhou City (China) with multi‐band InSAR datasets from 2006 to 2012: International Journal of Remote Sensing, 39:4, 1151‐1174.

MacLaughlin, M., Kammerer, C., Speece, M., and Nesladek, N., 2018, Use of fiber optic systems for distributed monitoring of rock mass strain, temperature, and vibrations: an underground case study: 2018 SME Annual Conference & Expo, On‐site Program, 147‐148.

Miao, J., Zhou, Z., Zhou, X., and Huang, T., Improving Long‐term Quality and Continuity of Landsat‐7 Data Through Inpainting of Lost Data Based on the Nonconvex Model of Dynamic Dictionary Learning: 2017, Fall Meeting, AGU, https:// agu.confex.com/agu/fm17/meetingapp.cgi/Paper/263457.

Miao, J., Huang, T.‐Z., Zhou, X., Wang, Y., and Liu, J., 2018, Image segmentaƟon based on an acƟve contour model of parƟal image restoraƟon with local cosine fiƫng energy: InformaƟon Sciences, 447, 52‐71.

https://doi.org/10.1007/s00024-018-1865-2http:libraries.seg.org



Recent PublicaƟons, conƟnued

Nesladek, N. J., Kammerer, C., Speece, M. A., MacLaughlin, M., Wang, H. F., and Lord, N., 2017, Comparison of Distributed Acous‐tic Sensing (DAS) from fiber‐optic cable to three component geophones in an underground mine: 2017, Fall Meeting, AGU, Abstract S33B‐0868.

Wilson, A., Speece, M., and Masters, M., 2017, A ground penetrating radar survey of the unexcavated 24BE2206 site near Dew‐ey, in the Big Hole Valley of Montana: AGU Virtual Poster Showcase, 8.

Zhou, X., Zhou, Z., Apple, M., and Spangler, L., 2017, ComposiƟon and Structure of Microalgae Indicated in Raman and Hyper‐spectral Spectra: from Cyanobacteria to Isolates from Coal‐bed Methane Water Ponds: 2017, Fall MeeƟng, AGU, hƩps://agu.confex.com/agu/fm17/meeƟngapp.cgi/Paper/285671.

Zhou, Z., Zhou, X., Apple, M., and Spangler, L., QuanƟficaƟon of ConcentraƟon of Microalgae Anabaena Cylindrica, Coal‐bed Me‐thane Water Isolates Nannochloropsis Gaditana and PW‐95 in AquaƟc SoluƟons through Hyperspectral Reflectance Measurement and AnalyƟcal Model Establishment: 2017, Fall MeeƟng, AGU, hƩps://agu.confex.com/agu/fm17/ meeƟngapp.cgi/Paper/264740.

Zheng, W., Du, J., Zhou, X., Song, M., Bian, G., Xie, S., and Feng, X., 2017, VerƟcal distribuƟon of snow cover and its relaƟonship to temperature over the Manasi River Basin of Tianshan Mountains, Northwest China: Journal of Geographical Sciences, 27(4), 403‐419, DOI: 10.1007/s11442‐017‐1384‐6.

Recent MSc Theses:

Zhaoming Zhou, 2018, Algorithm Development for Quick Measurement of Cell ConcentraƟon of Microalgae as Biofuel using Hy-perspectral Reflectance and ExƟncƟon Coefficient.

Akpofure Orubu, 2017, Geophysical InvesƟgaƟon of Dewatering in Lolo Creek, Montana, USA.

Mo Li, M. S., 2017, AeromagneƟc and Spectral Expressions of Rare Earth Element Deposits in Gallinas Mountains Area, Central New Mexico, USA.

2018 Senior Design Project:

Sierra Luoma & Joseph Natale, 2018, ConstrucƟon of a Small Unmanned AircraŌ System Based MagneƟc Gradiometer.

Shane Namie & Jonathan Rice, 2018, Montana Tunnels Mine InvesƟgaƟng the Unstable Slope above the Northwest Wall.

ScoƩ SchmiƩ & Christopher Smith, 2018, Mapping of Bedrock Topography and the IdenƟficaƟon of a Possible Fault Located at Wagner Nursery & Landscape Co. in BuƩe, Montana using Geophysical Methods.



FIELD CAMP 2018


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montana tech geophysical engineering...ty and magneƟsm, field geophysics, senior design, and remote...

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