Capacitive Influence of High Voltage Overhead Transmission Lines on the Measurement of Soil Resistivity

Abstract

In this article, an analysis is presented of the impact of high voltage overhead transmission lines on the measurement of soil resistivity. Through analysis, the measurement noise level due to the vicinity of the phase conductors of a high voltage overhead transmission line is determined. The soil is modeled as an anisotropic homogeneous half-space of finite resistivity. In order for the article to be of practical use to engineers, simple mathematical instrumentation has been used. Detailed expressions and the physically objective hypotheses under which the cited model is valid have been derived. For the simplicity and generality of the presentation, analysis was performed using a practical example of the measurement of soil resistivity by the Wenner method. The example refers to a single system high voltage transmission line with a steel tower. The results obtained by the theory presented are compared to the results obtained with the software package CDEGS (Current Distribution, Electromagnetic Fields, Grounding and Soil Structure Analysis). The results obtained are presented analytically, graphically and are discussed.