Dr Adam Booth

Profile

Geophysical survey holds the key to understanding the physical properties of the subsurface, and how they may evolve through time. I work with applications of near-surface geophysics - the range of the subsurface 'in the zone of human interaction'. I conduct a range of engineering and environmental surveys, including leading geophysical investigations of geothermal reservoirs. Our NERC-funded SmartRes project is a mutli-institute collaboration involving Leeds, Imperial and the British Geological Survey and applies geophysics to understand the geothermal potential of major UK aquifers. We’re taking a similar approach to understanding geothermal reservoirs as part of Leeds’ geothermal campus, a living lab that includes a number of instrumented boreholes for long-term monitoring. This instrumentation includes fibre optic cable for distributed sensing, and I’m a co-lead of Leeds’ fibre optic research facility. Recent research in the engineering space has explored how radar imaging can help understand mechanisms of masonry failure, and I was a contributing author of recent CIRIA guidance for conducting geophysical surveys in ground investigation.

I also work in glaciology to characterise snow, ice and the subglacial environment. I have undertaken geophysical investigations throughout polar regions to understand ice structure, pioneering 3D nodal surveys and the application of fibre optic distributed acoustic sensing in ice. I’m a Co-I on the NERC/NSF funded TIME project, researching controls on the evolution of the margins of Antarctia's Thwaites Glacier, and also on the NERC-funded SLIDE project which explores the subglacial environment beneath a Greenland outlet glacier.

Since 2020, I have been an Associate Editor for the EGU’s journal “The Cryosphere”.  I was involved with the activities of the European Association of Geoscientists and Engineers, serving for 10 years as an Associate Editor for “Near Surface Geophysics”, and twice as lead academic for their "Geophysics Boot Camp" field acquisition courses. I also sit on the committee of the GeolSoc's Near Surface Geophysics Group, where I convene the Postgraduate Symposia and our annual fieldwork fund. 

I am also keenly interested in research communication, and developed the public engagement programme Quantum Sauce in collaboration with a local events team. A project that seeks to boost the accessibilty of geoarchaeological data was awarded a Research Impact and Engagement award by the University of Leeds, and tactile resources developed in this project will be featured in local museum exhibits.  My research has also been featured in the BBC's 'Animals with Cameras' documentary.

I am a member of Leeds’ Institute for Applied Geoscience, and its Geosolutions centre, and am a Fellow of the Geological Society. As an educator, I work closely with Leeds’ MSc Exploration Geophysics degree and hold a Fellowship of the Higher Education Academy.

Responsibilities

• MSc Exploration Geophysics - Programme Leader and Admissions Tutor
• Fellow of the Higher Education Academy
• Schools Liaison Lead

Research interests

Key to much of my research is the transfer of geophysical practice across different geoscience disciplines - what can one branch of geophysics learn from practice in another? A good example is my use of seismic reflectivity (AVO) methods, commonly applied to industrial seismic datasets, to characterise material in the subglacial environment. I am interested in any approach that improves the accuracy, and characterises the precision, of a geophysical interpretation, including multi-platform joint inversion strategies. My research has diverse applications at various depth ranges: from the shallowest-buried animal tunnels, through archaeological applications and geothermal exploration, into kilometre-thick ice sheets and subsurface reservoirs. I am also keen to explore pedagogic and perceptive research that benefits the public understanding of geoscience.

Interested in PhD Supervision?

For self-, industry- or government-funded applicants, I’d be interested to support research in the following areas:

– near surface geophysics, including enviromental and archaeological studies, using seismic and GPR methods

– seismic analysis of geothermal reservoirs, or other energy transition infrastructure

– applications including fibre optic sensing of acoustic or themal poperties 

– glaciology, including seismic and radar investigation of snow and ice masses

– development of novel fieldwork approaches

– formal research into the public understanding and engagement of geophysical data.

Current and Previous Research Projects

2022-2025 - NERC NE/X005496/1 – Smart Assessment, Management and Optimisation of Urban Geothermal Resources (SmartRes) (£453k).

2022-2025 - NERC NE/X000257/1 – Monitoring and Characterising Three Subglacial Lakes beneath the Greenland Ice Sheet (SLIDE) (£15k).

2022-2023 - Research England – Touching the Past: A participatory research approach to broadening access to heritage data (£26k).

2021-2022 - NERC – Making Environmental Science Equal, Diverse and Inclusive – Developing a virtual geophysics field trip (£58k).

2021 - National Productivity Investment Fund – Purchase of a Distributed Geophysical Sensing System (£382k). 

2020-2022 - University of Leeds Collaboration Fund – Transforming the UK’s rail infrastructure: a multi-disciplinary study on its past, present and future state (£30k). Co-Investigator.

2020-2021 - Royal Society International Exchange IES\R3\193115 - Computers in the Cyrosphere: machine learning approaches to characterise glacier seismicity. (£11k).  

2019-2022 - NERC Standard Grant NE/R010838/1 - Impact of deep subglacial groundwater on ice stream flow in West Antarctica (IGIS) (£610k). Project Partner.

2019-2020 - Royal Society Research Grant RGS\1\191100 - The inner workings of glacier ice: novel insight from borehole seismic techniques (£20k).  

2018-2023 - NERC/NSF Thwaites Call NE/S00677X/1 - Thwaites Interdisciplinary Margin Evolution (TIME) (£358k).  Co-Investigator.

2017-2018 - NERC Urgency Grant NE/R012334/1 - Ice shelf response to large-scale iceberg calving (£65k).

2017-2021 - NERC Industrial CASE Studentship NE/P009492/1 - Glaciological applications of seismic full waveform inversion (£88k).

Research Group - post-docs

Dr Katerina Kyrkou – Post-Doctoral Researcher in Geothermal Geophysics

Research Group - PhD students

Andrew Pretorius - Machine learning applications in the characterisation of passive DAS recordings of englacial seismicity. NERC/NSF Thwaites Call NE/S00677X/1, project co-supervised by Sjoerd de Ridder and Andy Nowacki.

Joseph Kelly - Reducing the risk associated with shallow geothermal exploration and deployment in the UK. Project led by Fleur Loveridge in Leeds Civil Engineering, and co-supervised by Simon Reece.

Emma Pearce - Density assessment of ice masses using seismic Full Waveform Inversion. Project co-supervised by Sebastian Rost, with NERC CASE support from ION-GXT and partnership with BAS (now at British Antarctic Survey).

Hannah Watts - Geophysical investigation of proglacial geomorphology; project led by Benny Reinardy, Stockholm University, and co-supervised by Bill Murphy (now at Vattenfall).

Ronan Agnew - Applications of converted wave seismology in characterising the base-ice environment.  NERC PANORAMA DTP, project co-supervised by Roger Clark and Alex Bribourne (now at British Antarctic Survey).

• Ice shelf stress response to large iceberg calving
• Monitoring and characterising three subglacial Lakes beneath the Greenland Ice Sheet (SLIDE)
• Nordeste
• Smart assessment, management and optimisation of urban geothermal resources (SmartRes)
• Thwaites Interdisciplinary Margin Evolution (TIME)

Qualifications

• PhD, Near Surface Geophysics, University of Leeds
• MSc, Exploration Geophysics, University of Leeds
• BSc, Geophysical Sciences, University of Leeds
• PGCert, Academic Practice, University of Leeds

Professional memberships

• European Association of Geoscientists and Engineers (EAGE)
• Society of Exploration Geophysicists (SEG)
• European Geosciences Union (EGU)
• International Society for Archaeological Prospection (ISAP)
• Geological Society of London
• Fellow of the Higher Education Academy

Student education

I am a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, having completed a Postgraduate Certificate in Academic Practice in January 2022.  I am the Programme Leader of MSc Exploration Geophysics, and work with our MSc Engineering Geology and BSc Geophysics programmes. My teaching is highly practical: if not based in the field, I demonstrate theory through the use of software, or reflect industrial practice of geophysical methods. I also support undergraduate and taught postgraduate students through their dissertation projects, typically involving analysis of near surface field data.

I am also a SEE mentor for Early Career Researchers beginning their teaching career, and lead School Liaison between SEE and (mostly) sixth form colleges.

Research groups and institutes

• Applied Geophysics
• Institute of Applied Geoscience
• Geosolutions Leeds
• Institute of Geophysics and Tectonics

Current postgraduate researchers

• Edward Taylor