8.5.

ELECTRODE LAYOUTS AND FIELD PROCEDURE

8.5.1. General
Anenormous number of electrode spreads have been used in resistivity at various
times; not more than a balf dozen have survived to any extent. In principle it is not
necessary to use a collinear array. Practically, however, the electrodes are almost
always in line; otherwise interpretation of results becomes difficult and the field work
is complicated. One drawback in resistivity work is the practical difficulty of moving
stakes with great lengths of wire attached, a slow and expensive task in relation to
magnetics, EM, and some other electrical survey methods. Thus it is an advantage to
use electrode spreads that may require only one or two electrodes to be moved, and
these at close spacing where possible. 8.5.2. Apparent Resistivity
Before discussing the various electrode spreads, it is necessary to consider what is
actually measured by an array of current and potential electrodes. We can rearrange
the terms in Equation (8.13) to obtain

where the parameter ρ has to do with the electrode geometry. By measuring ΔV and I
and knowing the electrode configuration, we obtain a resistivity ρ. Over homogeneous
isotropic ground this resistivity will be constant for any current and electrode
arrangement.If the ground is inhomogeneous, however, and the electrode spacing is
varied, or the spacing remains fixed while the whole array is moved, then the ratio
will, in general, change. This results in a different value of ρ for each measurement.
The magnitude is intimately related to the arrangement of electrodes. This measured
quantity is known as the apparent resistivity; ρɑ Although it is diagnostic, to some
extent, of the actual resistivity of a zone in the vicinity of the electrode array, the
apparent resistivity is definitely not an average value and only in the case of
homogeneous grounds is it equal to the actual resistivity.
Another term that is frequently found in the literature is the so-called surface
resistivity. This is the value of ρɑ obtained with small electrode spacing. Obviously it
is equal to the true surface resistivity only when the ground is uniform over a volume
roughly of the dimensions of the electrode separation.
8.5.3. Electrode Arrays (Spreads)
(a) Wenner array.
The most commonly used point-electrode systems are illustrated in Figure 8.18. The
first two examples, the Wenner and Schlumberger arrays, were formerly most popular;
since the development of the pseudodepth section (§9.5.1) in IP work, the
double-dipole configuration has become equally so. In the Wenner spread (Fig. 8.18a)
the electrodes are uniformly spaced in a line. Setting rl = r4 = ɑ and r2 = r3= 2a, in
Equation (8.26). the apparent resistivity becomes

In spite of the simple geometry. this arrangement is often quite inconvenient for field
work. and has some disadvantages from a theoretical point of view as well. For depth
exploration using the Wenner spread, the electrodes are expanded about a fixed center,
increasing the spacing ɑ in steps. For lateral exploration or mapping, the spacing
remains constant and all four electrodes are moved along the line, then along another
line, and so on. In mapping, the apparent resistivity for each array position is plotted
against the center of the spread.

(b) Schlumberger (gradient) array.

For the Schlumberger array the current electrodes are spaced much further apart than
the potential electrodes. From Figures 8.3 and 8.l8b, we find that

Substituting thesevalues in Equation (8.26), we get

If the smallest c:urrent-potential electrode distance is always considerably greater than

the distance betweenthe two potential electrodes (by a factor of 10 or more), then (L -
x) ::. 31 and we have to the first aproximation
This array is often used symmetrically, thatis, x - 0, in which case

Alternate symbols for the Schlumberger array are frequently found in the literature;
for example, A, B, M, and N are used for CI• C;, PI' and P2, respectively; in this case
L -lAB. 1- !MN.
In vertical sounding (§8.S.4b) the potential electrodes remain fixed while the
current-electrode spacing is expanded symmetrically about the center of the spread.
For large values of L it may be necessary to increase l also in order to maintain a
measurable potential. Equation (8.29a) applies in this case. This procedure is more
convenient than the Wenner expanding spread because only two electrodes need
move. In addition, the effect of shallow resistivity variations is constant with fixed
potential electrodes. Figures 8.42 and 8.44 illustrate vertical sounding results.

Lateral profiling (§8.S.4c) may be done in two ways. With a very large fixed
separation of the current electrodes (300 m or more), the potential pair is moved
between them, also with fixed spacing, subject to the limitation (L - x) ::. 3( [Eq.
(8.29a»). Apparent resistivity is plotted against the midpoint of the potential
electrodes.

The other layout is similar to the Wenner in that the electrode spacing remains fixed
(L » t) and the whole array is moved along the line in suitable steps. This arrangement
is less convenient than the first because it requires that all four electrodes be moved
for each station.
In lateral profiling with the Schlumberger array (and with the pole-dipole array; see
next section) it is permissible to measure potential somewhat off the line between
flxed current electrodes, that is, to map the surface in two dimensions (because C1
and c2 are far apart, the current density is roughly uniform over a considerable lateral
extent).

(c) Pole-dipole (three-point) array. One of the current electrodes is fixed at a great
distance from the other three, all of which can have various spacings. The values in
Equation (8.26) are now

or double the ratio in the Wenner array (Eq. (8.27»). When the potential spacing is
very small compared to the distance of either potential electrode from C1 (c2 still at
∞), we write r1 =ɑ-/2. r3 - a + 8a/2, and the apparent resistivity becomes