First in Situ Test of a New Electrostatic Resistivity Meter

If field applications of the electrostatic method are limited to roughly the first ten meters due to the necessity of staying in the low induction number domain, the possibilities it opens in non-destructive testing, dry hole resistivity logging and laboratory studies of the complex resistivity justify the design of a new multi-frequency resistivity meter presenting a very low input capacitance and a high phase sensitivity. After a first series of sample measurements in laboratory, the new resistivity meter was tested in two different field contexts: the mapping of building remains in a Gallo-roman archaeological site under a flat meadow, the assessment of the anthropogenic layers thickness in a town. The first test allowed a comparison with galvanic resistivity previous measurements and proved a very good agreement between both magnitude and spatial distribution of the resistivity. The second test established its reliable measuring abilities in a very disturbed environment.