A monitoring method is introduced that creates, in near real-time, two-dimensional (2D) maps of the soil gas distribution. The method combines linear gas sensing technology for in-situ monitoring of gases in soil with the mapping capabilities of Computed Tomography (CT) to reconstruct spatial and temporal resolved gas distribution maps. A weighted iterative algebraic reconstruction method based on Maximum Likelihood with Expectation Maximization (MLEM) in combination with a source-by-source reconstruction approach is introduced that works with a sparse setup of orthogonally-aligned linear gas sensors. The reconstruction method successfully reduces artifact production, especially when multiple gas sources are present, allowing the discrimination between true and non-existing so-called ghost source locations. A first experimental test indicates the high potential of the proposed method for, e.g., rapid gas leak localization.
A 400 m2 soil test field with gas injection system was built up, which enables an experimental validation of linear membrane-based gas sensors – a sensor technology which was developed based on the selective permeation of gases through membranes. Several soil watering and injection experiments with carbon dioxide at different days with varying boundary conditions were performed showing that the sensor behaves mostly insensitive to the environmental conditions investigated, i.e., barometric pressure fluctuations, soil temperature, air temperature and humidity, sun duration, and wind speed. Furthermore, depending on water infiltration, a gas phase displacement could be observed in-situ based on the changed measurement signal. The results of the validation experiments highlight the potential of the method for rapid leak detection and localization qualifying the sensor particularly for safety applications, e.g., in underground gas storage areas.