A new borehole wire extensometer with high accuracy and stability for observation of local geodynamic processes

Very stable and reliable instruments with high accuracy are required in field measurements for continuous monitoring local geodynamic processes, such as tectonic movements, ground motions in landslide prone areas, etc. A sensitive borehole wire extensometer with low energy consumption was developed in the Geodetic and Geophysical Research Institute of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences to observe very small vertical movements (in the order of a few millimeters) of the upper layer of the soil due to hydrological, meteorological and biological processes. The newly developed instrument eliminates the disadvantages of the borehole wire extensometers which are presently used. Its sensitivity and stability are much higher than these parameters of the previous instruments. The instrument is able to measure distance variations without instrumental drift in a range of 0-4 mm with a resolution of better than 1 Am. Since the effect of the yearly temperature variations can be easily removed from the extensometric data record, the compensation for the short-periodic (daily) thermal effects on the instrument was of high priority during the design of the instrument. This paper describes the construction and calibration of the extensometer. The extensotrieter was installed for monitoring vertical ground movements due to hydro-meteorological processes on the high loess wall of the Danube River at Dunafoldvar, Hungary. The efficiency of the temperature compensation of the instrument was investigated in detail on the basis of the measured data series. (C) 2012 American Institute of Physics. [doi:10.1063/1.3676652]