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Technique, analysis routines, and application of direct push-driven in situ color logging

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Abstract

Color data are a useful proxy for soil/sediment parameterization since they reflect material characteristics. We introduce direct push color logging for real-time and depth-resolved, in situ colorimetric record of colors in unconsolidated sediments in terrestrial environments. Until now, no routines exist on how to handle highly resolved (mm-scale) data. To develop such routine, we transform colorimetric data (CIEXYZ) into color surrogates of selected color spaces (CIExyZ, \({\text{CIE}}L^{*} a^{*} b^{*}\), \({\text{CIE}}L^{*} c^{*} h^{*}\), sRGB). We obtain interpretable color logs over depth by filtering with Haar and Daublet4 wavelet functions. We verify the approach, according to repeatability of in situ sediment color measurements, with related lithological determination gathered by state-of-the-art direct push-based cone penetration testing and soil sampling data. The developed routine is appropriate for unambiguous transformation of color data into interpretable color surrogates and filtering small-scale variability. We observe that soil color logs are repeatable and proved to correlate with lithological/chemical changes. Thus, the technique allows enhanced profiling by means of providing a reproducible high-resolution parameter for analysis of soil/sediment characteristics. This opens potential new areas of application and new outputs for in situ-obtained colorimetric data in and beyond geotechnical site characterization.

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Abbreviations

a :

Coefficient

\(a^{*}\) :

Green–red ratio

α :

Coefficient

B, b :

Blue color

b :

Coefficient

\(b^{*}\) :

Blue–yellow ratio

BI:

Brightness index

b j :

Horizontal distance

\(c^{*}\) :

Chroma

CI:

Coloration index

CPT:

Cone penetration testing

CLT:

Color logging tool

DP:

Direct push

DPT:

Direct push technologies

DT:

Dual-tube coring

\(\Delta E_{ab}^{*}\) :

Euclidian distance between \(a^{*}\) and \(b^{*}\)

f S :

Sleeve friction

F :

Number of pairs

G, g :

Green color

H :

Layer thickness

\(h^{*}\) :

Hue angle

\(\Delta H_{ab}^{*}\) :

Hue distance between \(a^{*}\) and \(b^{*}\)

HI:

Hue index

H RGB :

Decorrelated hue

I :

Current

I RGB :

Decorrelated intensity

k :

Coefficient

\(L^{*}\) :

Luminosity

λ :

Wave number/length

LIF:

Laser-induced fluorescence

N :

Number of elements

M :

Transformation matrix

φ :

Father wavelet

ϕ λ (λ):

Color stimulus function

ψ :

Mother wavelet

q c :

Measured cone resistance

q t :

Corrected cone resistance

R, r :

Red color

R f :

Friction ratio

R(λ):

Reflectance factor

ρ :

Density

SI:

Saturation index

S RGB :

Decorrelated saturation

S(λ):

Transmission

t :

Time

T CWT :

Continuous wavelet transformation

T DWT :

Discontinuous wavelet transformation

u 2 :

Pore pressure measured at position 2 (behind the cone)

ν:

Transformation matrix (\({\text{rgb}}\))

V :

Transformation matrix (\({\text{RGB}}\))

WT:

Wavelet transformation

x :

Value

X 10; x 10; X; X 0 :

Colorimetric coordinates

\(\overline{x} \left( \lambda \right)\) :

Color matching function

y :

Depth

Y 10; y 10; Y; Y 0 :

Colorimetric coordinates

\(\overline{y} \left( \lambda \right)\) :

Color matching function

Z 10; z 10; Z; Z :

Colorimetric coordinates

\(\overline{z} \left( \lambda \right)\) :

Color matching function

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Acknowledgments

We would like to thank Andreas Schoßland, Helko Kotas, and Simon Kögler for their excellent field work and support; and Marcus Jenderka for providing programming assistance. The reviewers are acknowledged for their constructive comments that helped to improve the manuscript. This work was funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) under grant 03G0745 (MuSaWa).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department Monitoring and Exploration Technologies, UFZ - Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research, Permoserstrasse 15, 04318, Leipzig, Germany

    Jörg Hausmann, Peter Dietrich, Thomas Vienken & Ulrike Werban

  2. Center of Applied Geoscience, University of Tübingen, Hölderlinstrasse 12, 70724, Tübingen, Germany

    Peter Dietrich

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  1. Jörg Hausmann
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Correspondence to Jörg Hausmann.

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This article is part of a Topical Collection in Environmental Earth Sciences on “NovCare 2015-Novel Methods for Subsurface Characterization and Monitoring: From Theory to Practice”. Guest edited by Uta Sauer and Peter Dietrich.

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Figure A.1

Conjunctional figure transforming colorimeter tristimuli data XYZ in norm standardized color systems: A) Normal distribution of the three color matching functions \({\overline{x}} ({\lambda})\), \({\overline{y}} (\lambda)\), and \({\overline{z}} ( \lambda)\) (CIE, 1931); B) \({\text{CIE}XYZ}\) color system (CIE, 1931) with the proportions of the tristimuli XYZ gained by conversion of the color matching functions; C) CIE (1931) 2° standard colorimetric observer and CIE 1964 10° supplementary standard colorimetric observer within the \({\text{CIE}xyY}\) system with added wavelength in nm; D) cubic \({{RGB}}\) color system as a mixture between red \({{R}}\), green \({{G}}\), and blue \({{B}}\) base colors; E) Cartesian \({\text{CIE}}L^{*} a^{*} b^{*}\) color system with luminosity \({{L}}^{ *}\) (0 – 100), green/red ratio \(\it {\text{a}}^{ *}\) and yellow/blue ratio \({{b}}^{ *}\); F) cylindrical \({\text{CIE}}L^{*} c^{*} h^{*}\) color system with chroma \({{c}}^{ *}\) and hue \({{h}}^{ *}\). (TIFF 11636 kb)

Table A.1

Summary of applied formulas, key parameters, and related references of soil color surrogates; color space indicated by letters: A) \({\text{CIE}XYZ}\), B) \({\text{CIE}xyY}\), C) \({\text{CIE}}L^{*} a^{*} b^{*}\), D) \({\text{CIE}}L^{*} c^{*} h^{*}\), E) \({{sRGB}}\), F) \({{RGB}}\). (DOCX 30 kb)

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Hausmann, J., Dietrich, P., Vienken, T. et al. Technique, analysis routines, and application of direct push-driven in situ color logging. Environ Earth Sci 75, 957 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-016-5515-7

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