1250
3, JULY 2010
Parameters Estimation of a Horizontal Multilayer
Soil Using Genetic Algorithm
Wesley Pacheco Calixto, Member, IEEE, Luciano Martins Neto, Marcel Wu, Member, IEEE, Keiji Yamanaka, and
Emerson da Paz Moreira
Abstract—This paper presents an optimization methodology by
using a genetic algorithm (GA) to obtain the parameters of a soil
that can be represented in a multilayer structure. The method uses
a curve of experimental apparent resistivity obtained from mea-
surements made in the soil. This experimental curve is compared
with another curve of apparent resistivity of the soil, theoretical,
produced by the GA. The theoretical curve is based on Sunde’s Al-
gorithm and is exactly the inverse process used for the horizontal
stratification of the soil in multilayers. With both curves in hand,
the error produced in the process of soil stratification can be esti-
mated. From the estimated errors, the parameters are optimized.
The main difference of this method, comparing the already devel-
oped methods is just that, besides optimizing the resistivities and
the thicknesses of each soil layer, the proposed method also op-
timizes the layers quantity, seeking the best soil stratification. The
obtained results of this paper are compared with other soil strati-
fication methods.
Index Terms—Apparent resistivity, genetic algorithm (GA), soil
stratification modeling.
I. INTRODUCTION
E LECTRICAL prospecting methods, where electrical cur-
rents are applied into the soil by means of electrodes, are
formulated from the soil electrical conductivity variations which
change the flow of current inside the soil, varying the distribu-
tion of the electrical potential [1]. The alteration degree of this
electrical potential on the soil surface depends, among others
variables, on the soil elements electrical resistivity. Therefore,
information concerning the soil can be obtained from measure-
ments of the electrical potential made on the soil’s surface [2].
A quantitative interpretation of the measurements can be
made considering the characteristics that usually present the
soils, in virtue of its own geological formation. A mathematical
Manuscript received September 08, 2009; revised December 13, 2009. First
published March 29, 2010; current version published June 23, 2010. This work
was supported in part by the National Electricity Board—ANEEL under project
P&D, in part by the Electricity Supply Company—CELG for the data collected,
and in part by the Coordinating Body for the Formation of Higher Education
Personnel—CAPES under Grant no. 0487-589492161-91. Paper no. TPWRD-
00675-2009.
W. P. Calixto, L. Martins Neto, M. Wu, and K. Yamanaka are with the De-
partment of Electrical Engineering, Federal University of Uberlandia-Electro-
magnetism and Electric Grounding Systems Nucleus Research and Develop-
ment, Uberlandia, Minas Gerais 38400-902, Brazil (e-mail: wpcalixto@ieee.
org; lmn@ufu.br; marcel.wu@ieee.org; keiji@ufu.br).
E. da Paz Moreira is with the Energy Company of Goias-CELG, Section
of Engineering of Lines of Transmission, Goiania, Goias 74805-180, Brazil
(e-mail: emerson.pm@celg.com.br).
Color versions of one or more of the figures in this paper are available online
at http://ieeexplore.ieee.org.
Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/TPWRD.2010.2040845
0885-8977/$26.00 © 2010 IEEE
IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON POWER DELIVERY, VOL. 25, NO.
modeling may possibly be developed, jointly with the measured
resistances, considering the soil as a set of horizontal layers,
overlaid in parallel planes, and with distinct resistivities to
each other [1] (i.e., a model of the soil stratified in horizontal
multilayers).
The process to obtain the thickness of each soil’s layer, with
its respective resistivities, is called, in this paper, a soil stratifica-
tion method. And for the accomplishment of a soil stratification
process, it is necessary to find the values of the soil apparent re-
sistivity in function of the distance between electrodes .
However, the well-known processes to produce the horizontal
stratification of the soil, in its majority, stratify the soil only in
two or three layers [3], [4]. In other words, they fix the number
of soil layers, not considering that the same can present a
different quantity of layers. A process that considers the real
number of layers that the soil presents would be able to achieve
more accurate stratification results. However, a process that con-
siders the actual number of layers presented by the soil, would
improve the stratification results accuracy. Nevertheless, the tra-
ditional methods of soil stratification into several layers, both
graphic and computational, generate large errors when the soil
layers do not have an even behavior [5]–[7]. This issue repre-
sents a serious problem once these errors (deviations) overtake
acceptable limits [8], [9], infringing the stratification reliability.
Gonos and Stathopulos [10] develop a GA to obtain the pa-
rameters of a soil stratified in multilayers, where the number of
layers is not estimated, but predetermined. Once the strati-
fication of the soil into multilayers, means to adopt a method
which allows from the values obtainment of resistivity
and thickness for each layer with , [11], [12].
Here, we include one more variable to be estimated: the number
of layers .
The methodology developed in this paper proposes the
accomplishment of the inverse process executed by the usual
methodologies employed in the soil horizontal stratifications.
The GA changes the values of the parameters , , and
, searching an optimized theoretical curve, adjusted to the
experimental curve of apparent resistivity of the soil. As the
experimental curve reflects in practice how the soil electrical
resistivity behaves, the stratification results accuracy improves
as the curve generated by the GA, nearly obtains the experi-
mental curve of the soil apparent resistivity.
In Section II, the development of the soil electrical resistivity
calculation is described. Section III describes the GA. In Sec-
tion IV, the used mathematical methodology in this paper is de-
scribed and in Section V, the obtained results are presented and
compared with the other three soil stratification methods.
CALIXTO et al.: PARAMETERS ESTIMATION OF A HORIZONTAL MULTILAYER SOIL USING GA
Fig. 1. Apparatus to measure the electrical resistance of the soil using the
Wenner Method.
II. RESISTIVITY CALCULATION
The electrical resistivity of the soil is calculated by using a
measuring instrument which has four terminals: 1) , 2) , 3)
, and 4) (see Fig. 1). Four probes are driven into the ground
in a depth , at a straight line and separated from each other by
the same distance at the points , , , and [13], [14].
This method was proposed by F. Wenner [15], where an elec-
tric current is injected into terminal and collected at ter-
minal . This current, passing through the soil between points
and , produces a potential difference at points and .
These potentials difference at points and are obtained by
using the image method, and are given as (1) and (2), respec-
tively
(1)
(2)
Therefore, the potential difference between points and
is given by
(3)
Dividing the potential difference by the current , the elec-
trical resistance of the soil is obtained [16]
(4)
(5)
1251
Then, isolating the in (5), the expression for the soil elec-
trical resistivity calculation is obtained
(6)
The most advisable way to apply Wenner’s Method in prac-
tice, is using a source which supplies the potential differ-
ence . However, a direct voltage generates a polar-
ization effect that should be avoided. To solve this issue, an
ac source is used, limiting the voltage frequency at values that
will allow neglecting all current temporal variation effects, re-
maining only with the resistive effects of the soil [2], [17].
III. GENETIC ALGORITHMS
The GA was chosen to solve the optimization problem of the
parameters , , and from the process of soil stratification as
it is dependent on stochastic factors and independent of deriva-
tives [18]. Evolutionary optimization techniques are heuristic
techniques, used in problems where techniques using exact al-
gorithms are incapable of obtaining satisfactory solutions.
In the GA structure, the following operations were used: the
guided crossover operator [19], the guided evolutionary oper-
ator [19], the tournament selection operator [18], elitism [20],
multiple descendent crossover operator [19], and variable mu-
tation operator [21]. GAs are flexible for working with arbitrary
restrictions and optimizing multiple functions which have con-
flicting objectives. They are also easily hybridized with other
techniques and heuristics [18], [21].
Mathematically, an optimization process consists in finding
the minimum and maximum values of a function of multivari-
ables, in a certain region of the multidimensional space [22].
Here, an attempt was made in order to adapt a mathematical
model applied to a real situation of soil horizontal stratification
modeling, applied at electrical grounding systems and formu-
lated as a mathematical problem of optimization [20].
An optimization problem, starting from a real problem, pro-
duces various mathematical problems of nonlinear optimiza-
tion, linked to different formulations or to different solution
techniques [23]. The basic idea for achieving this is to com-
pare an experimental curve, measured in field, with a theoretical
curve produced by the GA, using Sunde’s model [17]. The GA
will measure the least error and choose the best theoretical curve
in relation to the experimental curve . The main issue
is how to generate values of at the measured points , ,
, and for an infinity of combinations between the parame-
ters , , and so that the respective experimental values can
be compared with the theoretical values. This infinity of com-
binations must be understood as the set of all practical values
possibilities with quite reasonable accuracy, found by the GA
[18].
The number of layers is estimated through the experi-
mental resistivity curve , that is, the quantity of inflection
points of the curve plus 1 is calculated, so .
This is just an initial value, a seed (initial guess) for the value
of since is also part of the optimization process. To gen-
erate seeds of the values and for the theoretical curve ,
1252 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON POWER DELIVERY, VOL. 25, NO. 3, JULY 2010

Pirson’s Method [24] for stratifying soils into multihorizontal the soil [15]. Wenner’s Method for four electrodes provides the
layers is used. The result is used as the initial population for the apparent resistivity as a function of the distance between elec-
GA. trodes . Therefore, it is possible to relate
in (4) with the function . Thus, with some algebraic
IV. PROPOSED METHODOLOGY manipulation
With the values of , , and in hand, the inverse process
(14)
can be accomplished by using Sunde’s algorithm, assuming the
earth isotropic and, thus, the propagation constant remaining un-
is achieved, where , and the other terms in-
changed at any direction [17]. The theoretical apparent resis-
volved in calculating are presented
tivity curve is obtained through Sunde’s algorithm and the
GA is used to compare the theoretical and the experimental (15)
apparent resistivity curve. First, it is necessary to calculate
the stratification factors of Sunde’s algorithm through
(16)
(7)
(17)
Then, an iterative calculation process is applied, relating two
new functions, such as Having obtained the function in (14), it can be written
considering pairs of values for , i.e., pairs of values for and
(8)

(18)
where , is an independent auxiliary variable
which assumes values of zero at , and . Using (19)
some algebraic manipulation, it is possible to write
Dividing and subtracting (18) and (19), results in (20) and
(9) (21), respectively

(10) (20)

(21)
Making , one gets . It can be seen
from this equation that a variable changing from to can where and are defined
be made. As and , knowing the by
possible value of and estimating the values of and with
the GA, it is possible to obtain the function, through (22)
Sunde’s algorithm. The function can be decomposed in
an approximately 40 polynomial, defined by (11) [17] In (20) and (21), there is

(11) (23)

Through Sunde’s algorithm, it is possible to check that a (24)

assumption, gives and, therefore, . Applying
Sunde’s algorithm to 40 values of , 40 expressions resulting and
from (11) can be written
(25)

Expressions (20) and (21) represent two systems of equations

..
.
(12)
The system of (12) can be solved and the coefficients can
be obtained. The coefficients build the polynomial which
expresses the function given as
(13)
Expression (13) can be related to the apparent resistivity,
using Wenner’s Method to measure the electrical resistivity of
where the only unknowns are , , and . In Sunde’s algo-
rithm, to find , one layer is decomposed into multilayers of the
same resistivity, so that the sum of their thicknesses results in the
thickness of the original layer. When Sunde’s algorithm is ap-
plied to both conditions, the apparent resistances (i.e., the
function) give the same result. In this way, one can imagine the
first real layer of the soil decomposed into two virtual layers of
the same resistivity . As the thickness of the first real layer is
not known, a very low value for this first virtual layer is adopted
in such a way that a real layer of this thickness could never be
considered. Hence, both aforementioned equation systems can
be solved.
CALIXTO et al.: PARAMETERS ESTIMATION OF A HORIZONTAL MULTILAYER SOIL USING GA 1253

Determining and , the resistivity of the first layer TABLE I

can be obtained [17]. Having obtained , a system can be de- EXPERIMENTAL RESISTIVITY—CASE STUDY 1
veloped to calculate the other resistivities and all of the thick-
nesses. Consequently, the experimental curve is obtained from
the data gathered in the field and, from this curve, the values
of , , and are calculated, using the method already de-
scribed.
Expression (26) gives the theoretical curve of apparent resis-
tivity, from the stratification results. This curve is then compared
with the experimental resistivity curve

TABLE II
THEORETICAL RESISTIVITY VALUES— CASE STUDY 1

(26)

Using the expression (26), a metric can be formulated for the

GA evaluation function

(27)

where are the values of the apparent resistivity of the soil,

experimental curve, and are the values of the apparent re-
sistivity of the optimized or theoretical curve, and is the
GA evaluation function, which is the deviation. With the devia-
tion value, the best resistivities values , number of layers ,
and thicknesses of each layer can be obtained, thereby mini-
mizing the error.

V. RESULTS
In this section, the results obtained from three different soil
horizontal stratification cases are presented. The first case study
compares results obtained through the GA and the other two
methods used to stratify the soil in multilayers.
One method used at the comparison employs an algorithm
of exact optimization, known as Quasi-Newton. This method
also utilizes the experimental curve of apparent resistivity as ref-
erence and obtains the soil horizontal stratification parameters
through an optimized theoretical curve of apparent resistivity.
However, once it employs numerical differentiation and matrix
inversion during the optimization process, some restrictions are
inherent due to inconsistency and numeric indetermination.
The other method used in the results comparison is known
as the complex images method, described by Chow et al. [25].
This method is widely employed in the accomplished of works
in this field [5]–[7].
In the second case study, the parameters results of a soil’s
stratification process were taken from the work of Gonos
and Stathopulos [10]. The described values in this paper are
compared with the values obtained by the proposed GA. In the
third case, a comparison is made between a soil’s stratification
process which imposes a predetermined number of layers
and the proposed method that optimizes the number of layers
of the stratified soil.
Fig. 2. Experimental and theoretical curves of apparent resistivity of the
soil—Study of Case 1.
A. Case Study 1
For Case Study 1, measures in the field for obtaining ex-
perimental apparent resistivities of the soil values were made.
These values with the distances among electrodes are presented
in Table I. The values of theoretical apparent resistivity of the
soil computationally obtained from the proposed method can be
analyzed in Table II. Both experimental and theoretical values
are plotted in Fig. 2.
In Table III, the deviations values between experimental and
theoretical curves of apparent resistivity of the soil are listed.
These deviations were calculated by (27). In Table IV, the re-
sulting parameters from each method of soil horizontal stratifi-
cation used in Case Study 1 are presented.
1254 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON POWER DELIVERY, VOL. 25, NO. 3, JULY 2010

TABLE III TABLE VI

DEVIATIONS BETWEEN EXPERIMENTAL AND THEORETICAL RESISTIVITY
THEORETICAL CURVES— CASE STUDY 1 VALUES— CASE STUDY 2

TABLE IV
STRATIFICATION PARAMETERS RESULTS—CASE STUDY 1

TABLE V
EXPERIMENTAL RESISTIVITY—CASE STUDY 2

Fig. 3. Experimental and theoretical curves of apparent resistivity of the

soil—Case 2 study.

TABLE VII
DEVIATIONS BETWEEN EXPERIMENTAL AND
THEORETICAL CURVES—CASE STUDY 2

B. Case Study 2
In this case study, a comparison is made between the results
obtained by the soil stratification proposed method, and the re-
sults presented in Gonos and Stathopulos’s work [10]. For that,
the measured experimental values of apparent resistivity of the
soil and the parameters , , and computationally obtained
by the method used in the cited work are utilized for compar- with the theoretical curves of apparent resistivity of the soil ob-
ison with the same theoretical results computationally obtained tained by each method are plotted.
in this paper. The experimental values of apparent resistivity are Table VII presents the deviations calculated by (27), between
listed in Table V which is used as a reference for the theoretical the experimental curve of apparent resistivity of the soil and
curve of apparent resistivity, see Table VI, and the parameters the obtained theoretical one. Table VIII presents the comparison
, , and , which are obtained through the proposed GA. In between the parameters obtained with each soil’s stratification
Fig. 3, the experimental curve of apparent resistivity together method.
CALIXTO et al.: PARAMETERS ESTIMATION OF A HORIZONTAL MULTILAYER SOIL USING GA 1255

TABLE VIII
STRATIFICATION PARAMETERS RESULTS—CASE STUDY 2

TABLE IX
EXPERIMENTAL RESISTIVITY—CASE STUDY 3
Fig. 4. Experimental and theoretical curves of apparent resistivity of the soil
(two layers stratification)—Case Study 3.

TABLE XI
DEVIATIONS BETWEEN EXPERIMENTAL AND
THEORETICAL CURVES— CASE STUDY 3

TABLE X
THEORETICAL RESISTIVITY VALUES— CASE STUDY 3

TABLE XII
STRATIFICATION PARAMETERS RESULTS—CASE STUDY 3

C. Case Study 3
In this case, a comparison is made between a soil’s stratifi-
cation method where the number of layers is inferred to be
two, and the proposed method of stratification that estimates the TABLE XIII
number of layers. Optimizing the quantity of stratified layers, DEVIATIONS BETWEEN EXPERIMENTAL AND
the GA is able to obtain a theroretical curve of soil apparent re- THEORETICAL CURVES—CASE STUDY 3
sistivity closer to the experimental one. Table IX presents the
points of the experimental curve of apparent resistivity distance
function between electrodes. Table X contains the points of
the theoretical curves of apparent resistivity, calculated with
the two-layers soil stratification process through three different
methods: proposed GA, quasi-Newton method, and the com-
plex images method. The values from Tables IX and X are then
plotted in Fig. 4.
Table XI, presents the calculated deviations between the ex-
perimental soil apparent resistivity curve, and the theoretical
ones computationally obtained by the three methods. Table XII in Table XIII, and the stratification parameters obtained by the
lists the parameters values found from each one of the three proposed GA are in Table XIV.
stratification processes. Fig. 5 illustrates the soil stratification process for Case Study
Finally, Table XIII and Table XIV present the results of the 3 where the number of soil layers was not fixed, but instead,
stratification made by the proposed GA. The deviations between was optimized by the proposed GA, resulting in a three-layers
experimental and theoretical curves of apparent resistivity are stratification. The deviations values decreased, resulting in a
1256 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON POWER DELIVERY, VOL. 25, NO. 3, JULY 2010

TABLE XIV VII. CONCLUSION

STRATIFICATION PARAMETERS RESULTS— CASE STUDY 3
This paper presented a methodology and mathematical mod-
eling for the process of soil stratification into horizontal multi-
layers, using a GA, where the number of layers , the resistivity
, and the thickness of each layer were calculated and opti-
mized, initiating from an experimental curve of apparent resis-
tivity of the soil, compared with a theoretical curve, generated
by a GA also of apparent resistivity of the soil. This method-
ology provides means to find the deviations between the soil’s
experimental and theoretical curves of apparent resistivity and
minimizes them. The case studies presented results with smaller
deviations than those presented in the relevant literature; there-
fore, it was concluded that besides optimizing the quantity of
layers, this methodology presents results which are adequate for
the soil stratification into horizontal multilayers.

Fig. 5. Experimental and theoretical curves of apparent resistivity of the soil
(three-layers stratification)—Case Study 3.
theoretical curve of soil apparent resistivity closest to the ex-
perimental one.
VI. COMMENTARY
In all cases, the GA proposed in this paper achieved the best
performance. However, there will be cases where the obtained
results will not be coherent, not having any physical meaning.
This fact raises suspicions that at the stratified location, an
oblique crack, an immense rock, or some extremely alkaline
material is present, changing the soil’s layers behavior and,
thus, its resistivity values.
Another issue that usually occurs is concerned with the
number of layers estimation. The best estimation for the
number of layers , without taking into account an optimiza-
tion process, consists in the calculation of the numbers of
inflections at the curve of experimental apparent resistivity of
the soil in . A good demonstration of this fact
can be observed in Case Study 3, where a 2-layers stratification
was forced. Analyzing the curve of experimental resistivity of
Fig. 4, it is possible to observed two inflection points, causing
a stratification in three layers. Developing a stratification in
three layers for Case Study 3, the deviations values are reduced
considerably, see Fig. 5. However, not always does the exper-
imental curve of apparent resistivity really represent the soil
with its actual layers quantity. This occurs because the soil does
not have homogeneous behavior.
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Wesley Pacheco Calixto (M’09) received the B.Sc.
degree in physics and the M.Sc. degree in electrical
engineering from the Federal University of Goias,
Goiania, Brazil, in 2008.
He is currently a graduate student in the Depart-
ment of Electrical Engineering, Federal University
of Uberlandia-Electromagnetism and Electric
Grounding Systems Nucleus Research and De-
velopment, Uberlandia, Minas Gerais, Brazil, and
Lecturer at the Catholic University of Goias and the
Unified Institute of Higher Education. He works on
projects for the development and research into electrical grounding systems
at CELG—the Goias Electricity Supply Company. Interests: Electrical Ma-
chinery, Electric Grounding Systems and Optimization.
Luciano Martins Neto received the B.Sc. degree
in electrical engineering from the Engineer School
of Lins at São Paulo State in 1971 and the M.Sc.
and Ph.D. degrees in electric machinery from the
EESC—São Paulo University (USP), São Paulo,
Brazil, in 1976 and 1985, respectively.
He works on projects related to development and
research in electrical grounding systems at the Elec-
trical Center of Goias-CELG. His research interests
and activities include electric machinery and electric
grounding systems. Currently, he is Professor in the
Department of Electrical Engineering, Federal University of Uberlandia-Elec-
tromagnetism and Electric Grounding Systems Nucleus Research and Develop-
ment, Uberlandia, Minas Gerais, Brazil.
1257
Marcel Wu (S’10) received the B.Sc. and M.Sc. de-
grees in electrical engineering from the Federal Uni-
versity of Uberlandia-Electromagnetism and Electric
Grounding Systems Nucleus Research and Develop-
ment, Uberlandia, Minas Gerais, Brazil, in 2007 and
2009, respectively, where he is currently pursuing the
Ph.D. degree.
He is Professor at the Northwest College of Minas,
Minas Gerais. His fields of interest are electrical ma-
chines and electrical grounding.
Keiji Yamanaka received the Ph.D. degree in arti-
ficial neural networks from the Nagoya Institute of
Technology, Nagoya, Japan, in 1999.
Currently, he is Professor in the Department
Electrical Engineering, Federal University of Uber-
landia-Electromagnetism and Electric Grounding
Systems Nucleus Research and Development,
Uberlandia, Minas Gerais, Brazil. His areas of
interest include computational intelligence, pattern
recognition, optimization, and high-performance
computation.
Emerson da Paz Moreira received the B.Sc. degree
in electrical engineering from the Federal University
of Juiz de Fora, Juiz de Fora, Brazil, in 2004.
Currently, he is an Electrical Engineer and Ana-
lyst of the Energy Company of Goias—CELG, Sec-
tion of Engineering of Lines of Transmission. His
fields of interest include power systems, electronic
instrumentation, control and automation, and electric
grounding systems.