Department of Electrical & Electronics Engineering

Universiti Pertahanan Nasional Malaysia

Electrical & Electronic Laboratory III

EEE 3142
Measurement of Soil Resistivity

Supervised by:
Dr Fakroul Ridzuan Hashim
Dr Muhammad Faiz Md Din
En Suresh Thanakodi
En Ahmad Loqman Ahmad Mazuki
Cik Nazatul Shiema Moh Nazar
Pn Nuraishahtul Amirah Mohd Fadzil

EEE3142 Measurement of Soil Resistivity 1/8

 Lab Marking Scheme
Lab title:

Date:

Report Evaluator:

Group No: Course: 3ZK25 / 3ZK50

Group Members Name Matrix No

1.

2.

3.

4.

Overall Assessment

Assessment Component \ Bands I. II. III. IV. V.

CO3 0-14M 15-17M 18-20M 21-23M 24-30M

1 Analysis Of Result & Discussion (30M)

CO1 0-9M 10-11M 12-13M 14-15M 16-20M

2 Prelab Simulation (20M)

3 Experimental Results (20M)

CO2 0-4M 5M 6M 7M 8-10M

4 Introduction / Theory / Objective (10M)

5 Conclusion (10M)

CO2 1M 2M 3M 4M 5M

6 Report Format & Organization (5M)

7 References (5M)

Total Marks (100%)

%

EEE3142 Measurement of Soil Resistivity 2/8

 EXPERIMENT HV: MEASUREMENT OF SOIL RESISTIVITY

Related course: High Voltage Engineering

OBJECTIVES:
1. To measure soil resistivity in Universiti Pertahanan Nasional Malaysia using 2 different
methods.
2. To compare the results between 2 different methods of soil resistivity measurement.
3. To identify the types of the soil being measured.
4. To estimate the depth of the upper layer of the soil using Sundes graphical method.

EQUIPMENT:
Soil resistivity measuring equipment: MEGGER DET4TCR2 instrument

INSTRUCTIONS:
1. For safety reason, do not perform this experiment in rain, stormy weather and wet
grass. Students may bring their own umbrellas or caps to avoid sunburn.
2. Record all your results and observations in a log book.
3. Follow the demonstrators instructions throughout the experiment.

REFERENCE(S):
High Voltage Engineering Book

TESTS:
TEST 1: Soil resistivity measurement using Wenner method.
TEST 2: Soil resistivity measurement using Schlumberger method.

INTRODUCTION:

Soil resistivity is a parameter of how strong the soil resistant to the flow of electricity. It is a
critical factor in systems designs that depend on passing current through the Earth's surface.
An understanding of the soil resistivity and how it varies with depth in the soil is necessary to
design the grounding system, such as for electrical substation and lightning conductors. It is
also crucial for design of grounding electrodes for high-voltage laboratory.

There are certain values above which the impedance of the earth connection must not
exceed to avoid danger condition in surroundings. The soil resistivity depends on the moisture,
temperature and chemical content of the soil. Typical values of soil resistivity are between
10 to 1000 m. There are two methods to measure soil resistivity; Wenner method and
Schlumberger method.

DET4TCR2 is the instrument that is used to measure soil resistivity in this experiment. The
instrument offers a wide measurement range of 0.01 to 200k, ground noise voltage
measurement from 1 V to 100 V and ground current from 1 mA to 20 A. Accurate results can
be obtained in electrically noisy environments since the instrument is capable of rejecting
noise voltages of 40 V peak to peak and the user can select different test frequencies to
minimise the effect of interference. The maximum output voltage of the instrument is 50 V. It
is possible to reduce the output voltage to 25 V for operation in situations which require it.
This instrument makes resistance measurements using a switched DC signal at a frequency,
either 94 Hz, 105 Hz, 111 Hz or 128 Hz as the test frequency.

EEE3142 Measurement of Soil Resistivity 3/8

 TEST 1: Soil resistivity measurement using Wenner method

Figure 1 shows the setup of soil resistivity measurement for Wenner method. The soil
resistivity measurement works by injecting a current through the current electrodes and a
voltage is measured by the potential electrodes. The distance between each electrode, a is
kept constant. For Wenner method, the soil resistance R measured by the equipment is
changed to soil resistivity W using

W = 2 aR (in m) (1)

where a is the distance between two electrodes.

V Potential
Current electrode electrodes

Current electrode

C1(E) P1(ES) P2(S) C2(H)

Black Green Yellow Red Ground
Soil

a a a
Total length
Figure 1: Schematic diagram for soil resistivity measurement using Wenner method

PROCEDURES:

1. Choose an open grass field for this experiment to be conducted.

2. Ensure the rotary selector switch is in the OFF position.
3. Connect the instrument as shown in Figure 1, where black, green, yellow and red
wires are connected to the equipment and electrodes.
4. Set a to 1 m. Insert the electrodes in the soil as deep as possible.
5. Set the rotary selector switch to the 4P position.
6. Select the desired test voltage at 50 V using the 25 V/50 V button.
7. Select the desired test frequency to 128 Hz using the Hz button.
8. Press and release the TEST button. The instrument will perform pre-measurement
check, where the status is indicated on the display.
9. The instrument will show the value of soil resistance, R. Record this value.
10. Turn the rotary selector switch to the OFF position.
11. Repeat steps 5 to 10 for a = 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14 and 15 m.
12. Taking a as 15 m, set the rotary selector switch to the 4P position.
13. Select the desired test frequency to 111 Hz using the Hz button.

EEE3142 Measurement of Soil Resistivity 4/8

 14. Press and release the TEST button.
15. Record the value of R as shown by the instrument.
16. Repeat steps 13 to 15 for test frequency of 105 Hz and 94 Hz.

Notes:
The instrument will display the warning triangle and an excessive noise voltage
indicator if the ground noise voltage is above 40V pk-pk (14 Vrms).
The instrument will display the warning triangle and a voltage over-range condition if
the ground noise voltage is above 100V, no resistance reading is possible.

EEE3142 Measurement of Soil Resistivity 5/8

 TEST 2: Soil resistivity measurement using Schlumberger method

Figure 2 shows the setup of soil resistivity measurement for Schlumberger method. The soil
resistivity measurement works by injecting a current through the current electrodes and a
voltage is measured by the potential electrodes. For Schlumberger method, the soil
resistance R measured by the equipment is changed to soil resistivity w using

(+)
= (in m) (2)

where d is the distance between two potential electrodes and c is the distance between a
current electrode and a potential electrode.

V Potential
Current electrode electrodes

Current electrode

C1(E) P1(ES) P2(S) C2(H)

Black Green Yellow Red Ground
Soil

c d c
Total length

Figure 2: Schematic diagram of soil resistivity measurement using Schlumberger method

PROCEDURES:

1. Ensure the rotary selector switch is in the OFF position.

2. Connect the instrument as shown in Figure 2, where d is 5 m and c is 1 m. The
stakes are inserted in the soil as deep as possible.

EEE3142 Measurement of Soil Resistivity 6/8

 3. Set the rotary selector switch to the 4P position.
4. Select the desired test voltage at 50 V using the 25 V/50 V button.
5. Select the desired test frequency to 128 Hz using the Hz button.
6. Press and release the TEST button. The instrument will perform pre-measurement
check, the status of which will be indicated on the display.
7. The instrument will give the value of soil resistance, R. Record this value.
8. Turn the rotary selector switch to the OFF position.
9. Now, change c to 2 m, without changing d, and repeat steps 3 to 8.
10. Repeat steps 3 to 8 for c = 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14 and 15 m.
11. By repeating steps 3 to 8, maintain c as 10 m and change d to 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8,
9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14 and 15 m.

OUTSIDE LAB TASKS:

1. From your measurement results, plot the soil resistivity from Wenner method, W vs.
a. Discuss the obtained graph of W vs. a.
2. Plot the soil resistivity, W vs. test frequency. Discuss the obtained graph of W vs.
test frequency.
3. Plot the soil resistivity from Schlumberger method, S vs d. Discuss the obtained
graph of S vs. d.
4. Plot the soil resistivity, S vs. c. Discuss the obtained graph of S vs. c.
5. Plot a graph of W vs. overall distance, 3a (from question 1) and S vs. overall
distance, 2c+d (from question 4) on the same axis. Compare the two graphs and
check the similarity. Comment on your answer.
6. From your graph of W vs. a (from Outside Lab Tasks no. 1), estimate the depth h of
the upper layer of the soil using Sundes graphical method.

QUESTIONS:

1. From your results, what would be the condition of the soil that you have measured
(e.g. loamy soil, sandy, etc.)? Justify your answer.
2. What are some of the possible ways to improve your measurement results?
3. Why it is not recommended to perform this experiment on wet soil surface?

END OF EXPERIMENT

EEE3142 Measurement of Soil Resistivity 7/8

 APPENDIX: SUNDES GRAPHICAL METHOD

Figure A: Sundes graphical method

Steps:
1. Chose soil resistivity of the upper and lower layer, 1 and 2 from your W vs. a
graph. Ensure that the value of the chosen 2/1 is available on Sundes graphical
method.
2. From Sundes graphical method, select any a/1 based on your chosen 2/1.
3. From Sundes graphical method, find a/h using the chosen 2/1 and chosen a/1.
4. Compute a from your chosen a/1 (from step 2) and chosen 1.
5. From your W vs. a graph, find a using the computed a from step 4.
6. Compute h using a/h (from step 3) and a (from step 5).

EEE3142 Measurement of Soil Resistivity 8/8