{"id":29529,"date":"2026-09-10T13:47:44","date_gmt":"2026-09-10T17:47:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/?post_type=story&p=29529"},"modified":"2026-09-10T13:51:28","modified_gmt":"2026-09-10T17:51:28","slug":"grant-funded-physics-research-uses-ai-to-explore-deep-within-the-earth","status":"publish","type":"story","link":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/2026\/09\/10\/grant-funded-physics-research-uses-ai-to-explore-deep-within-the-earth\/","title":{"rendered":"Grant-funded physics research uses AI to explore deep within the Earth"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n

For over two decades, Clark Physics Professor Arshad Kudrolli<\/a> has studied the flow of fluids and gases that erode and reshape the Earth underground. His foundational research contributes to identifying new energy and water sources, preventing human-induced earthquakes during fracking, and storing carbon beneath the land, allowing industries to avoid releasing CO\u2082 into the air.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now, funded by a two-year, $125,000 New Directions grant<\/a> from American Chemical Society\u2019s Petroleum Research Fund, Kudrolli will introduce AI \u2014 specifically, \u201cphysics-informed neural networks\u201d \u2014 to develop models that will be tested via physical experiments in the lab. Working with a Ph.D. student and undergraduate funded by the grant, he seeks to develop a more efficient, accurate process to reconstruct and predict changes in porous rocks and sand beneath the Earth\u2019s surface, pinpointing underground flows of hydrocarbons and water.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe materials underneath us are constantly evolving, shaped by flows due to the interaction between water and sediments. Pores open or close, depending on whether there is erosion or deposition,\u201d he explains.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWith advances in computers and training models, we can explore questions we were not previously able to. For example, if I measure the speed of the flow in certain places, and give the neural network these references, can I reconstruct what the entire basin looks like, even in regions I do not have access to?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Arshad
Physics Professor Arshad Kudrolli applies fluid mechanics to his research into how water and gases erode and reshape the Earth underground. Photo by Steven King, University Photographer<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

However, human-brain-inspired neural networks \u2014 which scientists train to search for patterns in huge amounts of data \u2014 are not always smart. If the research team were to feed data on underground structures and fluid flow to a neural network, \u201cit would make wild guesses and completely ignore the physics, which is important in determining these flows,\u201d Kudrolli says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To avoid these miscalculations, the researchers will introduce Darcy\u2019s Law \u2014 the equation used to describe how fluids flow through porous earth \u2014 as constraints on the neural network, forcing it \u201cto respect the underlying physics,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis is a significant departure from purely data-driven machine learning models that don’t consider underlying physical principles,\u201d Kudrolli explains.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe know more about faraway galaxies than we do about the Earth just a few miles underneath us.\u201d<\/p>\u2014 professor arshad kudrolli<\/cite><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Ultimately, this AI-driven modeling could make underground exploration projects less expensive and invasive, he says. Applying the laws of physics, the neural network could discard nonsensical or improbable scenarios, and surveyors could become more precise in their explorations for water and hydrocarbons.

\u201cInstead of a surveyor digging everywhere and destroying the field to determine where fluids are located, we can start with computers,\u201d Kudrolli explains. \u201cWe can give the neural network a few data points to determine where a surveyor might dig a hole for measuring and figuring out what is hidden beneath the surface.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although their research could contribute to identifying new pockets of hydrocarbons like oil and gas, Kudrolli says he\u2019s even more excited about the potential to uncover additional sources of water underground.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAs time goes on, water will become more challenging than petroleum. There will be a point where we may not need as much petroleum, but we will certainly need clean water,\u201d he says. Access to clean water now affects three-quarters of the world\u2019s population, according to the United Nations University\u2019s Institute for Water, Environment and Health.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kudrolli\u2019s research team could explore questions crucial to uncovering new water sources, he says, like, \u201cHow is the subsurface shaped, which determines how the water flows? Or if you have a pollutant at one location underground, how far does it spread?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Answering such questions and making predictions about shifts in the subsurface could ultimately help us adapt as the Earth changes, he points out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe know more about faraway galaxies,\u201d Kudrolli says, \u201cthan we do about the Earth just a few miles underneath us.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Professor Arshad Kudrolli is using \u201cphysics-informed neural networks\u201d to develop a more efficient, accurate process to reconstruct and predict changes beneath the Earth.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":29524,"template":"","meta":{"story_color":"var(--clarku-color-orange)","story_headerImg":29524,"section_label":"","footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[227],"displayed_author":[242],"featured":[495],"topic":[160,125,162,163],"class_list":["post-29529","story","type-story","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-science-technology","displayed_author-meredith-woodward-king","featured-research","topic-faculty-research","topic-physics","topic-research","topic-sciences"],"yoast_head":"\nGrant-funded physics research uses AI to explore deep within the Earth | ClarkU News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" 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