Monitoring of landfill leachate dispersion using reflectance spectroscopy and ground-penetrating radar

The utility of ground-penetrating radar and reflectance spectroscopy in the monitoring of landfill sites has been investigated. Strong correlations between red edge inflection position and chlorophyll and heavy metal concentrations have been demonstrated from grassland species affected by leachate contamination of the soil adjacent to the landfill test site. This study demonstrated that reflectance spectroscopy can identify vegetation affected by leachate-contaminated soil at a range of spatial resolutions. To identify the vegetation affected by leachate contamination, the spectroradiometer must have contiguous bands at sufficient spectral resolution over the critical wave range that measures chlorophyll absorption and the red edge (between 650 and 750 nm). The utility of ground-penetrating radar data to identify leachate escaping from breakout points in the contaminant wall has also been demonstrated. An integrated approach using these techniques, combined with field and borehole sampling and contaminant migration modeling, offers a possible cost-effective monitoring approach for landfill sites.