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Near-Surface Geophysics

Near-Surface Geophysics focuses on the development and application of any and all geophysical methods to study the near-surface region of the Earth, to advance the fundamental science of geophysical imaging (data acquisition, inversion, interpretation), and to address key questions about subsurface properties and processes.

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AGU Fall Meeting 2022 

The members of the Near Surface Geophysics section organized 10 oral and 12 poster sessions covering diverse topics ranging from Exploration Geophysics, groundwater, critical and vadose zone processes, to archaeology and the impacts of climate change. We also had sessions highlighting recent advancements in the application of near surface geophysics to the cryosphere, anthropogenic impacts, and natural hazards, and a session presented recent developments in OpenSource applications.

The week before AGU, the NS section had their business meeting, which included short section updates, awards recognition, and invited talk by our Early Career Achievement awardee. The recording can be found here.

The recording includes:

  • 0 - 17:15 ... Section updates, Fall Meeting preview, awards recognition
  • 17:15 - end ... "Near surface geophysics - a tool for early landslide warning", NS Early Career Achievement awardee invited lecture by Sebastian Uhlemann

Submit your Fall Meeting Session proposal!

AGU23 session proposals are now open! Relate your proposal to #AGU23’s theme of Wide. Open. Science. Proposals are invited for topics across a broad range of scientific disciplines and sessions. Submit your proposal by 12 April.We particularly encourage our Early Career members to submit their ideas and to help to facilitate our Fall Meeting program. You have an idea you want to discuss or you are looking for co-conveners, get in touch with our Fall Meeting representatives Greg Mount or Sebastian Uhlemann.

OSPA Winners announced

This year’s OSPA winners are Molly Zebker (UT Austin) presenting on “Spaceborne InSAR Deformation Data to Inform Texas Aquifer Properties”, Shu Li (UC Irvine) presenting on “Quantifying surface fuels using drone-based Lidar”, and Jessica Payne (University of Leeds) presenting on “Characterising Iran's rapidly subsiding regions using Earth Observation data”. Thanks to all the students that participated in the OSPA program and to all the judges for providing value feedback to the students. 


Nominate your colleague for an AGU Award, Medal, or Prize

Nominate a colleague for an AGU medal, award, prize, fellowship or section honor today. Rewarding excellence in scientific research, education and outreach strengthens our science and can further its impact and value to society. Honor a colleague today and submit a nomination by 12 April. In addition to the Union-wide honors, also consider nominating an early career scientist for the Near Surface Geophysics Early Career Achievement Award! An overview of the awards, medals, and prizes and their eligibility can be found here. Do you know an outstanding student or postdoc working on problems with direct impact on our society? Consider nominating them for the Science for Solutions Award! Is there a truly outstanding early career scientist in your team? You could nominate them for the James B. Macelwane Medal.

Adventures of a Geophysicist - 7 short stories


The field of Near Surface Geophysics has a rich history of innovation in methods, instrumentation, and software. Some of this history is preserved in the publications and textbooks from our field, but many of the interesting back-stories about the people and groups that led to important developments in our field are often lost. To preserve some of this history, the Near Surface Geophysics section will share seven short stories written by Niels Christensen, Professor Emeritus at Aarhus University, one per month posted in our newsletter and linked for posterity on our website. The stories will also be published in ASEG's Preview magazine. You can find the background and the seven stories as they are released here. 

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Google Maps - Near Surface Geophysics Map: submit your pin(s) for any of your present or past fieldsites for which a geophysical dataset exists. We just need your name, a location, name of geophysical method(s), and any other relevant information you want to provide (e.g. date of the dataset, additional methods, collaborators, etc…). The info can be submitted in two ways:

  1. add a pin directly to this shareable map, including a title, description, and link to data [search for the coordinates in the search box at the top of the map and select the option to ‘add pin’]
  2. Submit all relevant data to this form

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