The physical properties of permafrost cores are largely measured using destructive methods. These approaches are time-intensive and sacrifice critical samples collected at great expense. The development of rapid, non-destructive methods to quantify permafrost physical properties shows great promise but is still poorly developed. In this study, we assess the potential of gamma ray attenuation and industrial computed tomography (CT) scanning to measure physical properties, including density and volumetric ice content, in a range of permafrost cores in the newly developed Permafrost Archives Laboratory at the University of Alberta. We describe the development of calibration standards and individual capabilities for both a GEOTEK multi-sensor core logger (MSCL; including imaging, magnetic susceptibility, non-contact resistivity and gamma density) and a Nikon XTH 225 industrial micro CT scanner. These results are compared with established destructive methods for permafrost-core analyses. The MSCL has a higher throughput capacity and lower cost per metre of core compared with the micro CT scanner. MSCL, once calibrated, shows the potential for processing 10s of metres per day to generate high-quality images, magnetics and density data. Gamma density data is broadly comparable with CT-generated density measurements (derived from linear attenuation of x-rays) but represents a narrow transit of the core compared with the potential for whole core analyses via CT scanning. CT scanning still remains one of the most useful tools but is limited by the relatively high costs and time required to image cores. We have found that a combination of MSCL for the rapid characterization of cores, complemented by detailed CT imaging, on a more limited subset of samples including quantitative analyses, provides a useful workflow for permafrost projects.