GROUNDING RESISTANCE OF BURIED ELECTRODES IN MULTILAYER EARTH PREDICTED BY SIMPLE VOLTAGE MEASUREMENTS ALONG EARTH SURFACE - A THEORETICAL DISCUSSION

The earth is modeled as inhomogeneous conducting medium with multiple horizontal layers. For known layer conductivity and thickness, tile vo ltage distribution and grounding resistance have been computed efficie ntly using an equivalent image method. In this paper, the reverse sequ ence is proposed, Without explicitly knowing the layer conductivities, thickness and number of layers, the equivalent images are determined by the voltage measurement results along tile earth surface. Then thes e images are linearly translated to compute the underground voltage pr ofiles and grounding resistance of buried electrodes. Such surface mea surements are simple and inexpensive, and should give very accurate re sults based on the experience of applying these images in the microwav e area.