Using Fall-of-Potential Measurements to Improve Deep Soil Resistivity Estimates

When measuring the ground impedance of an electrically isolated grounding system, it sometimes happens that the test electrodes are placed at considerably greater distances from the installation under test than the maximum electrode spacing used during the soil resistivity measurements carried out during the predesign phase of the grounding system. As a result, ground impedance measurements carried out with the fall-of-potential method may contain valuable supplemental information about deep soil strata that can improve grounding system performance predictions made during the design phase with computer modeling software and explain discrepancies encountered between predicted and measured ground impedance values. These data can be also used during subsequent grounding design work associated with facility expansion. It is shown in this paper how, in the absence of interfering metallic infrastructure, such ground impedance measurements can be converted into apparent soil resistivity values corresponding to deeper soil layers, with an example showing how dramatic improvements in grounding system performance predictions can be obtained.