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Dr Paul Wilkinson

Theoretical research geophysicist
BGS Keyworth
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Paul Wilkinson’s Biography

  • 2004 – ongoing : Theoretical Research Geophysicist, BGS
  • 2000 –2003 : EPSRC Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Nottingham, School of Physics and Astronomy
  • 1998 –2000 : Postdoctoral Research Assistant, University of Nottingham, School of Physics and Astronomy
  • 1997 –1998 : Physicist, Ultra Electronics Magnetics Division
  • 1993 –1997 : PhD, University of Nottingham, Theoretical Physics
  • 1990 –1993 : BSc (Hons), University of Birmingham, Physics

Research interests

  • Application of automated geoelectrical monitoring to landslide processes, leak detection, embankment stability, contaminated land remediation, and saline intrusion.
  • Development of 2D/3D/4D geoelectrical data-processing and inversion algorithms (including electrical resistivity, induced polarisation and self-potential)
  • Geophysical inversion with moving sensors
  • Time-lapse automated survey design
  • Tomographic image optimisation.

Current projects and collaborations

  • 2018 –2022 : Supervisor: Geophysical monitoring of the integrity of water-retaining earth structures. With Dr Jonathan Chambers (BGS) and Prof Andy Binley (Lancaster University).
  • 2018 –2022 : Supervisor: Quantum-enabled Magnetic Induction Tomography for Geophysical Surveys (PhD project). With Dr Jonathan Chambers (BGS) and Prof Mark Fromhold (University of Nottingham).
  • 2017 –2021 : Supervisor: Coupled hydrogeophysical and geomechanical modelling of slope stability for improved early warning of landslides (PhD project). With Dr Jonathan Chambers (BGS) and Prof Andy Binley (Lancaster University).
  • 2015 –2019 : Supervisor: Early warning of landslide events using computer vision and geophysical image analysis (PhD project). With Dr Jonathan Chambers (BGS) and Dr Li Bai (University of Nottingham).

Publications
NERC Open Research Archive — Dr Paul Wilkinson

Key papers

  • 2018 : BOYLE, A., WILKINSON, P.B., CHAMBERS, J.E., MELDRUM, P.I., UHLEMANN, S. and ADLER, A. 2018. Jointly reconstructing ground motion and resistivity for ERT-based slope stability monitoring. Geophysical Journal International, Vol. 212, 1167-1182
  • 2018 : UHLEMANN, S, WILKINSON, P.B., MAURER, H., WAGNER, F., JOHNSON, T.C. and CHAMBERS, J.E. 2018, Optimized survey design for electrical resistivity tomography: combined optimization of measurement configuration and electrode placement. Geophysical Journal International, Vol. 214, 108-121.
  • 2017 : LOKE, M.H., WILKINSON, P.B., CHAMBERS, J.E., and MELDRUM, P.I. 2017. Rapid inversion of data from 2D resistivity surveys with electrode displacements. Geophysical Prospecting, doi: 10.1111/1365-2478.12522.
  • 2017 : TSO, C-H.M, KURAS, O, WILKINSON, P.B., UHLEMANN, S., CHAMBERS, J.E., MELDRUM, P.I., GRAHAM, J., SHERLOCK, E.F., and BINLEY, A. 2017. Improved characterisation and modelling of measurement errors in electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) surveys. Journal of Applied Geophysics, Vol. 146, 103-119.
  • 2017 : UHLEMANN, S., CHAMBERS, J.E., WILKINSON, P.B., MAURER, H., MERRITT, A., MELDRUM, P.I., KURAS, O., GUNN, D.A., SMITH, A., and DIJKSTRA, T.A. 2017. Four-dimensional imaging of moisture dynamics during landslide reactivation. Journal of Geophysical Research: Earth Surface, Vol. 122, 398-418.
  • 2016 : WILKINSON, P.B., CHAMBERS, J.E., UHLEMANN, S., MELDRUM, P.I., SMITH, A., DIXON, N., and LOKE, M.H. 2016. Reconstruction of landslide movements by inversion of 4-D electrical resistivity tomography monitoring data. Geophysical Research Letters, Vol. 43, 1166-1174.
  • 2016 : KURAS, O., WILKINSON, P.B., MELDRUM, P.I., OXBY, L.S., UHLEMANN, S., CHAMBERS, J.E., BINLEY, A., GRAHAM, J., SMITH, N.T., and ATHERTON, N. 2016. Geoelectrical monitoring of simulated subsurface leakage to support high-hazard nuclear decommissioning at the Sellafield Site, UK. Science of the Total Environment, Vol. 566-567, 350-359.
  • 2016 : WARD, W.O.C., WILKINSON, P.B., CHAMBERS, J.E., NILSSON, H., KURAS, O., and BAI, L. 2016. Tracking tracer motion in a 4-D electrical resistivity tomography experiment. Water Resources Research, doi:10.1002/2015WR017958
  • 2015 : WILKINSON, P.B., UHLEMANN, S., MELDRUM, P.I., CHAMBERS, J.E., CARRIÈRE, S., OXBY, L.S., and LOKE, M.H. 2015. Adaptive time-lapse optimized survey design for electrical resistivity tomography monitoring. Geophysical Journal International, Vol. 203, 755-766.
  • 2015 : WILKINSON, P.B., UHLEMANN, S., CHAMBERS, J.E., MELDRUM, P.I., and LOKE, M.H. 2015. Development and testing of displacement inversion to track electrode movements on 3-D electrical resistivity tomography monitoring grids. Geophysical Journal International, Vol. 200, 1566-1581.
  • 2015 : LOKE, M.H., WILKINSON, P.B., CHAMBERS, J.E., UHLEMANN, S.S., and SORENSON, J.P.R. 2015. Optimized arrays for 2-D resistivity survey lines with a large number of electrodes. Journal of Applied Geophysics, Vol. 112, 136-146.
  • 2015 : UHLEMANN, S., WILKINSON, P.B., CHAMBERS, J.E., MAURER, H., MERRITT, A.J., GUNN, D.A., and MELDRUM, P.I., 2015. Interpolation of landslide movements to improve the accuracy of 4D geoelectrical monitoring. Journal of Applied Geophysics, Vol. 121, 93-105.
  • 2014 : CHAMBERS, J.E., WILKINSON, P.B., UHLEMANN, S., SORENSEN, J.P.R., ROBERTS, C., NEWELL, A.J., WARD, W., BINLEY, A., WILLIAMS, P.J., GOODDY, D.C., OLD, G., and BAI, L. 2014. Derivation of lowland riparian wetland deposit architecture using geophysical image analysis and interface detection. Water Resources Research, Vol. 50, 5886–5905.
  • 2014 : CHAMBERS, J.E., GUNN, D.A., WILKINSON, P.B., MELDRUM, P.I., HASLAM, E., HOLYOAKE, S., KIRKHAM, M., KURAS, O., MERRITT, A., and WRAGG, J. 2014. 4D Electrical Resistivity Tomography monitoring of soil moisture dynamics in an operational railway embankment. Near Surface Geophysics, Vol. 12, 61-72.
  • 2014 : GLENDINNING, S., HUGHES, P., HELM, P., CHAMBERS, J., MENDES, J., GUNN, D., WILKINSON, P., and UHLEMANN, S. 2014. Construction, management and maintenance of embankments used for road and rail infrastructure: implications of weather induced pore water pressures. Acta Geotechnica, Vol. 9, 799-815.
  • 2014 : GUNN, D.A., CHAMBERS, J.C., UHLEMANN, S., WILKINSON, P.B., MELDRUM, P.I., DIJKSTRA, T.A., HASLAM, E., KIRKHAM, M., WRAGG, J., HOLYOAKE, S., HUGHES, P.N., HEN-JONES, R., and GLENDINNING, S. 2014. Moisture monitoring in clay embankments using electrical resistivity tomography. Construction and Building Materials, doi: 10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2014.06.007.
  • 2014 : LOKE, M.H., WILKINSON, P.B., CHAMBERS, J.E., and STRUTT, M. 2014. Optimized arrays for 2-D cross-borehole electrical tomography surveys. Geophysical Prospecting, Vol. 62, 172-189.
  • 2014 : LOKE, M.H., WILKINSON, P.B., UHLEMANN, S.S., CHAMBERS, J.E., and OXBY, L.S. 2014. Computation of optimized arrays for 3-D electrical imaging surveys. Geophysical Journal International, Vol. 199, 1751-1764.
  • 2014 : MERRITT, A.J., CHAMBERS, J.E., MURPHY, W., WILKINSON, P.B., WEST, L.J., GUNN, D.A., MELDRUM, P.I., KIRKHAM, M., and DIXON, N. 2014. 3D ground model development for an active landslide in Lias mudrocks using geophysical, remote sensing and geotechnical methods. Landslides, Vol. 11, 537-550.
  • 2014 : WARD, W.O.C., WILKINSON, P.B., CHAMBERS, J.E., OXBY, L.S., and BAI, L. 2014. Distribution-based fuzzy clustering of Electrical Resistivity Tomography images for interface detection. Geophysical Journal International, Vol. 197, 310-321.
  • 2013 : CHAMBERS, J.E., WILKINSON, P.B., PENN, S., MELDRUM, P.I., KURAS, O., LOKE, M.H., and GUNN, D.A. 2013. River terrace sand and gravel deposit reserve estimation using three dimensional electrical resistivity tomography for bedrock surface detection. Journal of Applied Geophysics, Vol. 93, 25-32.
  • 2013 : GUNN, D.A., CHAMBERS, J.E., HOBBS, P., FORD, J., WILKINSON, P.B., and JENKINS, G. 2013. Rapid observations to guide the design of systems for long-term monitoring of a complex landslide in the Upper Lias, North Yorkshire. Quarterly Journal of Engineering Geology and Hydrogeology, Vol. 46, 323-336.
  • 2013 : LOKE, M.H., CHAMBERS, J.E., RUCKER, D.F., KURAS, O., and WILKINSON, P.B.,, 2013. Recent developments in the direct-current geoelectrical imaging method. Journal of Applied Geophysics, Vol. 95, 135-156.
  • 2012 : WILKINSON, P.B., LOKE, M.H., MELDRUM, P.I., CHAMBERS, J.E., KURAS, O., GUNN, D.A., and OGILVY, R.D., 2012. Practical aspects of applied optimized survey design for electrical resistivity tomography. Geophysical Journal International, Vol. 189, 428-440.
  • 2012 : CHAMBERS, J.E., WILKINSON, P.B., WARDROP, D., HAMEED, A., HILL, I., JEFFREY, C., LOKE, M.H., MELDRUM, P.I., KURAS, O., CAVE, M., and GUNN, D.A. 2012. Bedrock detection beneath river terrace deposits using three-dimensional electrical resistivity tomography. Geomorphology, Vol. 177-178, 17-25.
  • 2010 : WILKINSON, P.B., CHAMBERS, J.E., MELDRUM, P.I., GUNN, D.A., OGILVY, R.D., and KURAS O., 2010. Predicting the movements of permanently installed electrodes on an active landslide using time-lapse geoelectrical resistivity data only. Geophysical Journal International, Vol. 183, 543-556.
  • 2010 : WILKINSON, P.B., MELDRUM, P.I., KURAS, O., CHAMBERS, J.E., HOLYOAKE, S.J., and OGILVY, R.D. 2010. High-resolution Electrical Resistivity Tomography monitoring of a tracer test in a confined aquifer. Journal of Applied Geophysics, 2010, Vol. 70, 268-276.
  • 2010 : LOKE, M.H, WILKINSON, P.B., and CHAMBERS, J.E. 2010. Parallel computation of optimized arrays for 2-D electrical imaging surveys. Geophysical Journal International, Vol. 183, 1302-1315.
  • 2008 : WILKINSON, P.B., CHAMBERS, J.E., LELLIOTT, M., WEALTHALL P., and OGILVY, R.D. 2008.  Extreme sensitivity of crosshole electrical resistivity tomography measurements to geometric errors. Geophysical Journal International, 2008, Vol. 173, 49-62.
  • 2006 : WILKINSON, P.B., MELDRUM, P.I., CHAMBERS, J.E., KURAS, O. and OGILVY, R.D. 2006. Improved strategies for the automatic selection of optimized sets of Electrical Resistivity Tomography measurement configurations. Geophysical Journal International, Vol. 167, 1119-112.

Skills

  • Algorithm development
  • Geophysical tomography, modelling and visualisation
  • Near-surface geophysical methods
  • Scientific computing

Professional associations

  • 2016 –2021 : Adjunct Research Professor, Carleton University, Ottawa, Canada
  • 2005 – ongoing : Reviewer for Geophysical Journal International, Geophysics, Journal of Applied Geophysics, Near Surface Geophysics, Journal of Environmental and Engineering Geophysics, Computers & Geosciences
  • 1999 – ongoing : Chartered Physicist
  • 1995 – ongoing : Member of the Institute of Physics

Boards and committees

  • 2015 –2019 : BGS representative, UK National Quantum Technology Hub in Sensors and Metrology, Application and Technology Exploitation (ATEP) panel

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