Improved near surface soil characterizations using a multilayer soil resistivity model

•We develop multi-layer model for soil resistivity measurements.•We obtain soil resistivity ratio for multi-layer model.•We obtain reliable one-dimensional (1-D) resistivity ratio profile.•We compare the profile with SPT to show the accuracy.

This paper presents a method for determining near surface soil characteristics using multi-layer soil resistivity model. Usual soil resistivity model has its limitations in obtaining accurate soil characteristics because of the interrelationships between soil apparent electrical resistivity (ρ) and other soil physical or chemical properties. For most soils with varying layers, multi-layer resistivity profile is therefore more suitable to obtain near surface soil characteristics. The nobility of the research is to obtain soil characterizations using multi-layer resistivity model in near surface soil profile. In this multi-layer soil model, soil resistivity and resistivity ratio in soil medium at various depths are considered for soil field investigations. The results of multi-layer model are compared with the data from standard penetration test (SPT) and the profile from Multi-channel Analysis of Surface Wave (MASW) method to show the feasibility and reliability of using this model in soil profile. This method is also far simpler to perform compared to SPT and other methods.