A comparison of peak and plate electrodes in electrical resistivity tomography: application to the chalky groundwater of the Beauvais aquifer (northern part of the Paris basin, France)

Abstract

Abstract Electrical resistivity tomography was used in order to explore an experimental site of the LaSalle Beauvais Polytechnic Institute (France). The test was conducted along a profile line of 315 m length, using 64 electrodes deployed at an inter‐electrode spacing of 5 m, and the data were recorded using gradient, Wenner and pole–dipole arrays. The performance of plate electrodes (non‐conventional flat‐based) is compared with the performance of peak electrodes (conventional spike). The hydrogeophysical investigation of the chalk aquifer system of Beauvais shows that the performance of plate electrodes is satisfactory, leading to inversions of small root‐mean‐square errors. Peak and the plate electrodes were tested before and after injection of a salt tracer in the piezometer of the experimental site. The study demonstrates the usefulness of plate electrodes (efficient, less time consuming) and the possibility of aquifer characterization by a salt tracer. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.