Foreword from Editors

The past decade has seen a distinct change in the way that geophysical methods are utilized in solving geotechnical and geo-environmental problems. Advances in instrumentation design, computer hardware and data processing software, and availability of new data have all led to novel and highly sophisticated geophysical techniques being routinely applied to geotechnical and geo-environmental problems.

In response to this rapid and exciting expansion of research, the Journal of Environmental & Engineering Geophysics and Near Surface Geophysics have produced a collaborative “Special Issue on Geotechnical Assessment and Geo-environmental Engineering” to showcase the state-of-the-art and most pertinent research currently being undertaken in the discipline.

We are delighted to present a jointly worked special issue addressing an active topic in both research and practice, i.e., the application of geophysics for geotechnical and geo-environmental issues. Increasing demand and efforts to meet the needs of activities for environmental issues, such as site exploration and assessment and characterization of materials, need a platform to communicate the achievements of science and technology and bring communities together working and doing science in the same subject area.

We brought together individuals well known in the professional community for their scientific and technical work to serve as Guest Editors for this special issue: Moe Momayez and Fred Boadu from the U.S. and Nigel Cassidy and Denis Jongmans from Europe. Their efforts shaped the content and quality of the contributions. For this, our appreciation and gratitude are due for the engaged work.

The unique feature of this special issue is that it is produced jointly by the two journals, with each journal addressing different geophysical methods that are complementary. Subscribers of each journal will receive both the NSG and JEEG issues of the special issue as on-line access and hard copy (if given). Using this approach, a large community can be addressed and informed about the newest developments, and allows authors to get their work to the attention of a much larger audience and producing more impact. We are confident and hopeful for the impact of the close cooperation between the two societies. Thus, we would also like to thank the managing and technical handling of the special issue in EEGS and EAGE for this unique approach on cooperation and production. Special thanks go to the publication office of EAGE, namely to Kasia Zuk, for the handling of all papers using the Near Surface Geophysics manuscript submission site in Manuscript Central.

We hope you enjoy the presentations and find the production scheme of this cooperative issue advantageous and informative. We certainly would like your feedback.

December 2013