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Seismographs and snow !

The South Island Japanese Strong Motion Network 10 years old and going strong. Every 6 months a team from Southern Geophysical Ltd undertakes maintenance of the network of  Earthquake seismometers across the top of the South Island. The work needs to be undertaken even in the middle of winter. Jack and Clara were out in the snow for 10 days and last week getting it done....

Southern Geophysical reducing our carbon footprint, thanks to Trees That Count

We are introducing a range of carbon reduction policies and are working towards becoming carbon neutral. Our first policy which we initiated in January 2022, Southern Geophysical Ltd is reducing our environmental impact from all our projects through our exciting new partnership with Trees That Count. With the aim of mitigating our carbon footprint, we now calculate each projects’ CO2 emissions, mainly due to air and land travel, and fund native trees that are then planted locally and throughou...

Southern Geophysical adds two more Geodes to its equipment pool

Southern Geophysical has added two new Geodes to our extensive seismic equipment pool. We now have the ability to undertake surveys with up to 168 channels....

Southern Geophysical gets GOLD

Vanessa, our Safety Manager, has guided Southern Geophysical to move from "Green" to GOLD level Sitewise certification. We are delighted with the result with thanks to Vanessa for all her hard work. What GOLD means:Southern Geophysical has demonstrated that it has high quality health and safety systems in place.We are now listed as a GOLD business in the Sitewise Prequalification database....

Southern Geophysical Ltd

Southern Geophysical is still open for Essential Work - Utility clearance - Infrastructure Failure - Emergency Response. Give us a call and we may be able to assist even in these difficult time....

NZ Response Team Recognition

In late May, 2021 a large flood event severely impacted the Canterbury region. One of our senior geophysicists, Christian Ruegg, is a member of the NZ Response Team, NZRT-1, and was deployed to the Ashburton District at short-notice to aid in the evacuation, medical assistance and management of the emergency response. We are proud to have a dedicated community service leader on the Southern Geophysical team. Well done, Christian!...

Southern Geophysical Ltd introduces thermal imaging to its "tool box" of non destructive testing equipment.

When used in conjuction with concrete scanning radar a great method to determine the location of on-slab and in-slab heating elements and pipes !...

Southern Geophysical Ltd invests in the latest sound monitoring equipment

To add to our existing Class 1 sound meters Southern Geophysical Ltd has purchased the Premium Pulsar Nova range (Model 45). Which meets UK and EU regulations for noise assessments.FeaturesA high performance integrating averaging sound level meter with additional key features including:Range 20dB(A) to 140dB(A) & 143dB(C)Real-time 1:1 Octave band filtersTWA/dose and Ln valuesData Logging and AnalyzerPlus softwareAudio recording, Audio Note, and Automatic TimersApplications:Ideal for compliant oc...

New developments in concrete floor slab investigations

Here at SGL we’ve been finding ways to answer a couple of the more challenging questions we’ve been asked during concrete scanning. What if there is a small void underneath the polystyrene insulation, too small to see using radar but large enough to impact concrete slab stability? What if drilling a hole in the concrete slab and poly’ disturbs the gravels below, impacting the downhole camera footage? To answer these questions we undertook a series of experiments using various epoxy pours d...

10th Texcel ETM purchased for vibration monitoring !

Due to the increasing demand for vibration monitoring during construction and demolition throughout New Zealand Southern Geophysical Ltd has been building up it fleet of vibration monitors over the last few months. From small single dwelling surveys up to the largest commercial projects Southern Geophysical Ltd can assist....

New GSSI hyperstacking ground penetrating system has arrived !

Southern Geophysical Ltd has just received one of the world's most advanced ground penetrating radar systems from GSSI - maybe perfect for your next project!  The GS Series, next-generation family of high-performance antennas, targets applications that require deeper penetration depths. The first antenna in the series is the 200 HS. This digital, wireless antenna features a 200 MHz center frequency and employs GSSI’s proprietary HyperStacking® technology. This technology improves signal ...

COVID-19 Update

Hoping you are all safe and well. The team at Southern Geophysical Ltd is fully operational. In accordance with level 4 guidance we have put on hold all non-essential data collection for the duration of the level 4 alert. Southern Geophysical Ltd is an essential business as defined by MBIE (Essential business – Critical Infrastructure, New Zealand, during Alert Level 4). Southern Geophysical Ltd has ongoing ground penetrating radar teams operating for essential utility and structural repairs a...

AUSIMM Reefton Explorers Forum Sponsorship by Southern Geophysical Ltd

Southern Geophysical Ltd was happy to sponsor the AusIMM Reefton Explorers Forum dinner on September 2nd, with Christian Ruegg and Dr Mike Finnemore in attendance. SGL was pleased to see the high attendance at the forum, and hope that the interest observed in geophysical applications for gold mining will translate to future geophysical work in the mining sector in New Zealand.  Southern Geophysical owns a full range of geophysical equipment suitable for mining applications including: 128 Ch...

Geophysical equipment now available to rent

Southern Geophysical has been a leader in geophysical surveying in New Zealand for the last 15 years. To assist environmental and geotechnical companies that do not always require our full services we now offer some of our geophysical equipment for rental. A selection of the systems available to rent are:     Ground conductivity – EM31     Metal/UXO detection – EM61-MK2     Shear-wave velocity and Vs30 site classification - MASW/ReMi     Vibration Mon...

The SGL crew eco-commute

Most of the SGL team members are now eco-commuting to and from our offices each day. In order to reduce our impact on the environment our employees are choosing to travel using a selection of alternative transport options including cycling, E-bike, E-scooter and carpooling. Eco-commuting is not only a great thing to do for the planet, but it is more cost effective and the open-air options are great for health and well-being. SGL and our employees are always looking for ways to reduce our enviro...

Rotorua Aquatic Centre Resistivity Survey

Learn about what Southern Geophysical has been up to at the Rotorua Aquatic Centre. https://spark.adobe.com/page/ApuCxiWWfZgda/...

The far corners of New Zealand

In the past few weeks, Southern Geophysical's concrete scanning and NDT team have worked in some of the more remote corners of New Zealand, from spillways in the North Island to the depths of Fiordland. They've tackled some adverse weather conditions, and tricky terrain. Accessing narrow lift shafts, tunnels, and dams requires confined space qualifications, the ability to work on rope with abseil teams, and experience operating 4WDs and ATVs. Getting to the sites is just the start of the day for...

New EM31 trolley

Southern Geophysical has added a new EM31 trolley to its field equipment (Design by Martin King). Along with the latest real time differential GPS systems the trolley allows even more accurate surveys to be undertaken, especially repeat surveys where slight height variations may introduce unwanted noise into the final results. ...

Spectral Analysis of Surface Waves now being undertaken by Southern Geophysical Ltd

Southern Geophysical have added the equipment to undertake spectral Analysis of Surface Waves (SASW) . The Spectral Analysis of Surface Waves (SASW-S) system is designed for the following applications: Determination of crack depth and repair auditDetermination of pavement system profiles including the surface layer, base and subgrade materialsDetermination of abutment depths of bridgesCondition assessment of concrete liners in tunnels, slabs, and other structural concrete membersEvaluation ...

Ground conductivity meter added to equipment pool

EM31-MK2The EM31-MK2 maps geologic variations, groundwater contaminants, or any subsurface feature associated with changes in ground conductivity. Using a patented electromagnetic inductive technique that allows measurements without electrodes or ground contact. With this inductive method, surveys can be carried out under most geologic conditions including those of high surface resistivity such as sand, gravel, and asphalt....

New member of our vibration monitoring family !

We have added a small Texcel GTM unit to our equipment inventory. It has reduced communication capability compared to the more advanced ETM unit but is small and has great battery life....The Texcel GTM delivers unparalleled ease of operation and simple set up for vibration and blast monitoring in a precision engineered, light weight package....

South Island Japanese Strong Motion Network 7 years old and going strong

Since 2011 Southern Geophysical has maintained and supported the Japanese Northern South Island strong motion seismic network. The network which now contains 54 stations was installed just after the Canterbury Earthquakes and has been operational ever since. Several stations were lost in the Kaikoura Earthquake but were rapidly replaced.  Thee network data is being analysed by a team of Japanese seismologists to allow a more detailed understanding of the New Zealand tectonic regime which ha...

New GSSI concrete scanning radar system added

Southern Geophysical has just added the world leading GSSI Structurescan MiniXT to our range of GPR/concrete scanning systems. The StructureScan Mini XT offers a 2.7 GHz antenna for superior target resolution and can reach depths up to 50 cm. With the addition of this system Southern geophysical has the largest range of GPR frequencies in New Zealand 100 MHz - 2.7 GHz....

New member of the team !

Nick received his BSc in Geology and Geography from the University of Canterbury in 2013 in Geology. Nick has several years experience working in the geophysics industry and specialises in data acquisition and processing and analysis for GPR. Outside work hours Nick spends most of his time mountain biking, where he has represented New Zealand and has taken him around the world....

Richard Mellis

Richard has joined Southern Geophysical part time. Richard received his BSc in Geology from the University of Canterbury in 2014, then went on to gain a Masters of Science in Geology. Richard is an outdoor enthusiast, who enjoys a wide array of activities in the elements including climbing and surfing. ...