A Cost-Efficient, Highly Modifiable Borehole Tilt Sensor for Borehole
Geophysical Studies
Abstract
We present a cost-efficient tilt sensor that was originally developed by
our team at Dartmouth College to study ice deformation as part of the
Jarvis Glacier Project, and we showcase our successful initial run that
includes the development, deployment, and data collection processes. In
this case study, we installed our tilt sensor system in two boreholes
drilled close to the lateral shear margin of Jarvis Glacier in Alaska
and successfully collected over 16 months of uninterrupted borehole
deformation data in a harsh polythermal glacial environment. The data
included gravity and magnetic data that we used to track the orientation
of our sensors in the boreholes over time, and the resultant kinematic
measurements enabled us to compute borehole deformation. While our
sensors were applied under polythermal thermal regime conditions, we
present use cases for our sensors in a variety of glacier thermal
regimes including Athabasca glacier, a temperate glacier in Canada, and
in Antarctic regions with similar polythermal regimes such as ice
streams and outlet glaciers. Sensors embedded in our tilt sensors can be
modified to suit different needs, and the tilt sensor can also be
modified for different boreholes and glacier conditions. Our goal is to
improve the accessibility of borehole geophysics research mainly through
supporting production efforts of our sensor for various research needs.
With an established sensor development plan, successful applications in
the field, and years of experience, our team is open to potential
research collaborations with researchers who are interested in using our
tilt sensors. Our team is working with Polar Research Equipment, a
Dartmouth alumni founded company that specializes in the development of
polar research tools, that will serve as a commercial resource for
researchers who may require support during the development process or
mass-production of our cost-efficient (~20% the price
of other commercial versions) yet effective tilt sensors.