Until 2020s, geophysical researches wasn't present in the Croatian Geological Survey. If there was a need for such data, the already interpreted data obtained from scientific institutions or companies which are producing that type of data were used. In recent years, it was noticed increasing importance of using geophysical methods in geological engineering. Therefore it was decided to establish a geophysical research team as a part of the Department of Hydrogeology and Engineering Geology. During 2016 and 2017 has been acquired the equipment for seismic profiling and the team of employees was educated, and in that period of time, for the first time it was used for practical purpose. During 2018 equipment for electrical tomography and magnetotelluric probes were purchased, and it began their use in scinetific, european and commercial projects. Any purchase of the new equipment was accompanied by education of our researchers in all steps of the way - from collecting data in the field , through specialized software processing, to interpretation.

Geophysical methods are based on the observation of the physical properties of rocks or soil, associated with their geological and petrological characteristics. The main goal is to discover the geological composition and structure of the terrain due to the solution of a specific research task. They are applied in water, hydrocarbon, mineral resources research and in solving of engineering geological and geotechnical problems. Geophysical researches are consist of three parts: measurements, data processing and interpretation. The measurements are mostly performed on the field, less frequent in laboratory, so they are physically and financially the most demanding part of the research. One of the fundamental reasons for use of geophysical research is to determine the optimal positions and quantities of exploration drilling in order to achieve significant savings in total explorations.

From the purchasing of first equipment to now, geophysical researches was applied or are applying for scientific purposes (Croatian Science Foundation projects ISSAH and HyTheC), European projects (DEEPWATER-CE and MU-HA) and numerous commercial projects such as the design of hydro power plants, exploration of the deep geothermal wealth of our undergound (in the first place in the Pannonian part).

Recording of seismic waves (Sljeme)

Magnetotelluric measurements near Zadar

Electrical tomography in Srijem