Interpretation of Soil Resistivity Measurements: Experience with the Model SOMIP

A method and a computer program for interpreting soil measurement data are presented. The method employs a statistical estimation of soil parameters from four pin or three pin measurements. The analysis provides (1) the best estimate of soil parameters, (2) the error of the parameters versus confidence level, (3) a pictorial view of how well the estimated soil model fits the measurements, and (4) the measurements which are not consistent (bad measurements). The methodology is applicable to data obtained with four or three pin method over a small or a large area. It performs best when applied to measurements taken at various locations of the area of interest. A computer program has been developed based on this methodology with the symbolic name SOMIP (SOil Measurements Interpretation Program). Implementation details are discussed in this paper. The performance of the methodology is compared with test model data. In addition, the experience gained in interpreting soil resistivity measurement with the program SOMIP is presented in this paper. Specifically, many sets of actual data, taken from four major utilities, has been analyzed and the results are presented and discussed.