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Measurements of earth resistivity in different parts of Saudi Arabia for

grounding installations

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 MEASUREMENTS OF EARTH RESISTIVITY IN DIFFERENT
PARTS OF SAUDI ARABIA FOR GROUNDING INSTALLATIONS

N.H. Malik1, A.A. Al-Arainy2, M.I. Qureshi3, M.S. Anam4

1: E.E. Dept., College of Engineering, King Saud University, P.O. Box 800, Riyadh
11421, nmalik@ksu.edu.sa
2: E.E. Dept., College of Engineering, King Saud University, P.O. Box 800, Riyadh
11421, aarainy@ksu.edu.sa
3: Research Center, College of Engineering, King Saud University, P.O. Box 800,
Riyadh 11421, mqureshi@ksu.edu.sa
4: Distribution Engineering Department (COA), Technical Support Division, Saudi
Electric Company, P.O. Box 57, Riyadh 11411, msanam@se.com.sa

ABSTRACT

Electrical supply systems are grounded to improve safety of equipment and personnel
and to enhance reliability of power supply. The nature of soil, specifically the soil
resistivity, strongly influences the performance of a grounding system. This paper
discusses the methods and tools used for measuring soil resistivity. Using such tools,
soil resistivity measurements were carried out in more than 40 locations covering major
areas of Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The results of these measurements are analyzed and
reported in this paper along with implications of measured parameters on the design and
performance of grounding installations in transmission and distribution networks. Steps
that must be taken to achieve acceptable grounding installations in high resistivity soils
are listed also.

KEYWORDS

Earth resistivity, grounding, earthing, grounding resistance, distribution networks.

INTRODUCTION

The term "ground" is defined as a conducting connection by which a circuit or

equipment is connected to the earth. The connection is used for establishing and
maintaining as closely as possible the potential of the earth on the circuit or equipment
connected to it [1-3]. Generally, three-phase, four wire power systems are grounded by
connecting one or more selected neutral points to buried earth electrode systems. Such
earths are referred to as system earths. At electrical installations, all non-live conductive
metallic parts are interconnected and also earthed to protect people against electric
shock, and in this role the earth is referred to as a protective earth. Under normal
conditions, there is only a residual current or no current at all in the earth path.
However, very high magnitudes of current return to source via the earth path under fault
conditions. The earth also conducts lightning currents and the current path may involve
part of a power system either directly or by induction. The earthing system, or part of it,
may therefore also be specifically designed to act as a lightning protective earth.

The earth is a poor conductor and, therefore, when it carries high magnitude current, a
large potential gradient will result and the earthing system will exhibit an earth potential
rise (EPR) or ground potential rise (GPR) which is defined as the voltage between an
earthing system and the reference earth [1-4].

The magnitude of power frequency earth fault currents can range from a few kA up to
several tens of kA, and earth impedances of electrical installations may lie in the range
from less than 0.1 Ω to over 100 Ω [5]. Consequently, there is a potential risk of
electrocution to people in the vicinity of a power network during earth faults, and
damage to equipment may also occur unless measures are taken to limit the earth
potential rise and/or to control the potential differences in critical places. Lightning
transients can also generate currents of several tens of kA in the earthing system, and
this requires the power system to be protected against over-voltages. The discharge of
transient current into earth may also present an electrocution hazard.

Thus, earthing systems are designed to control potential differences within and around
the electrical installation. These potential differences are specifically referred to as the
step and the touch voltages. Furthermore, consideration is also given to the maximum
earth potential rise of the grounding system. The extent of the rise of potential on the
ground surface around a substation can be described in terms of a hot zone, and this is
used to identify whether third party in the vicinity of the installation is affected.
Transferred potential levels are another important risk factor which is associated with
presence of metallic objects coming to the earthing installation under consideration
from other earthing installations and entering with it in the same earth fault current loop.

Thus, as mentioned above, although the purpose of earth connections in different parts
of the power system differs, generally the following requirements must be fulfilled for a
proper grounding [5]:

a) Proper Earth Fault Current Protection: the earth connection must provide a path
of low impedance and adequate thermal capacity for satisfactory operation of the
protective relays.

b) Proper Equipment or Protective Grounding: in order to ensure the safety of the

consumers and of the technical personnel as well as equipment, caused by
sparking.

c) Limitation of Earth Potential Differences: in order to avoid injury or death to

persons or to animals and to limit the damage caused to the buried equipment,
 for instance cable sheaths which could be overstressed and fail during normal
and fault conditions.

d) In order to provide safe discharge path for energy of lightning and switching
surges to dissipate to earth, proper lightning and protection grounding must be
provided.

To achieve the above objectives, a proper grounding system is required. A grounding

system generally consists of ground conductors, ground rods, items to be grounded and
the earth itself. Soil and rock resistivity may vary considerably from region to region,
and it is rarely constant either vertically or horizontally in the area of interest around an
electrical installation. This variability makes the construction of earth models for the
prediction of earth potential rise a very difficult task. The earthing resistance highly
depends on soil resistivity, which in turn depends on a number of factors, such as: soil
type, chemical composition of soil, salts dissolved in soil, moisture content of the soil,
temperature's seasonal variation, grain size and distribution, as well as soil composition
and pressure [6]. Earth resistivity plays an important role in the design and performance
of an earthing system. Saudi Arabia has a great variety of earth geology and as a result
different types of soils posses a large range of earth resistivity values. However, there is
lack of comprehensive information about the typical earth resistivity values found in
different types of Saudi Arabian soils.

The investigators have measured the earth resistivity in different parts of the Kingdom
with a view to develop a comprehensive data base that could be useful for the Saudi
Electricity Company in the design of transmission and distribution systems grounding
installations. This paper discusses the latest methods and equipment used for such
measurements [6-7]. It also presents the results of earth resistivity measurements along
with analysis and implications of the measured resistivity values for the design of
transmission and distribution systems groundings.

EARTH RESISTIVITY MEASUREMENTS

Earth resistivity measurements are useful for, (i) Estimating the ground resistance of a
proposed substation or grounding installation, (ii) Estimating potential gradients
including step and touch voltages, (iii) Computing the inductive coupling between
neighboring power and communication circuits.

Earth resistivity varies not only with the type of soil but also with temperature,
moisture, salt content, and compactness. The literature indicates that the values of earth
resistivity vary from 0.01 to 1 Ω.m for sea water and up to 109 Ω.m for sandstone. The
resistivity of the earth increases slowly with decreasing temperatures from 25°C to 0°C.
Below 0°C the resistivity increases rapidly. In frozen soil, the resistivity may be
exceptionally high in winter [6].

Several methods have been discussed in literature for measuring earth resistivity. The
most accurate method of measuring the average resistivity of large volumes of
undisturbed earth is the four-point method. In this method, four small electrodes spaced
at intervals a are driven vertically into ground, all at depth b. A test current I is passed
between the two outer electrodes and the potential V between the two inner electrodes is
measured. Then V/I gives the resistance R in ohms. Earth resistivity is related to R and
two different alternatives of the four-point method are often used:

1) Equally Spaced or Wenner Arrangement. With this arrangement the electrodes

are equally spaced as shown in Fig (1a). Let a be the distance between two
adjacent electrodes and b is the driven length of electrode into the soil. When a
≥ 10b, ρ is given as;

ρ = 2πaR

Here ρ gives approximately an average value for the resistivity of the surface layer of
soil having a thickness a. A set of readings taken with various probe spacings gives a
set of resistivities which, when plotted against spacing, indicates whether there are
distinct layers of different soil or rock and gives an idea of their respective resistivities
and depth.

Fig. (1): Four-point method of resistivity measurement ; (a) Equally spaced, (b)
Unequally spaced electrodes.

2) Unequally-spaced or Schlumberger-Palmer Arrangement. In order to be able to

measure earth resistivity with large spacings between the current electrodes, the
arrangement shown in Fig. 1(b) can be used successfully. If buried length, b, of
electrodes into soil is small compared to their separation d and c, then the
measured resistivity ρ can be calculated as follows:

ρ = πc(c+d)R/d

ELECTRICAL RESISTIVITY IMAGER

Electrical resistivity measurements are required to determine the resistivity distribution

in the sub-surface of a test location both in lateral (horizontal) and transverse (vertical)
directions. Single measurements at a fixed spacing of electrodes (e.g. Wenner method)
can therefore be misleading, and instead, several sets of arrays of different spacings
have to be obtained to produce a one-dimensional plot of ρ. This leads to a
cumbersome procedure. However, advanced field technology now allows a much
greater number of measurements in a shorter time. Sophisticated inversion strategies
based on finite element analysis and making use of increased computing performance
have been invented to obtain high-resolution spatial images of subsurface resistivity
distributions. This technology, known as Electrical Resistivity Tomography (ERT), is
a very fast and cost-effective technique for measuring resistivity profiles of earth for
delineating areas of changing resistivity.

The ERT instrument works on the principal of 4-electrode technique mentioned earlier
but using induced polarization method. To carryout measurements, a multi-electrode
cable sets (MECS) are laid on the ground and connected to electrodes which are placed
in a straight line at pre-determined spacings. The instrument selects four equally spaced
electrodes at a time and sends current signal pulses to the two outer electrodes and
receives back the voltage pulses from the inner two electrodes. Thus, when the
instrument is switched ON it will scan the first four electrodes (e.g. 1,2,3, and 4), then
the computer will move to the next set of electrodes (i.e. 2,3,4, and 5) and so on. If the
spacing of these electrodes is 1m, these iterations will generate lateral resistivity profile
encompassing a depth of 1m. After going up to the last connected electrode, the
computer will then shift to scan lateral profile of soil resistivity at a depth of 2m. In this
case, it will select the electrodes (1,3,5, and 7), (2,4,6, and 8), (3,5,7, and 9) and so forth
till the last available electrode in the cable set is reached. Similarly to scan the lateral
resistivity profile at a depth of 3m it will scan electrodes (1,4,7, and 10), (2,5,8, and 11),
etc., while for a depth of 4m, electrodes (1,5,9, and 13) and (2,6,10, and 14) will be
scanned. With MECS containing 16 electrodes, 5 layers of earth will be investigated
for soil resistivity. Then using these measured resistivity values and software inversion
tools, a 2D-plot of earth resistivity with lateral distance and depth can be obtained. Fig.
(2) exhibits a 5-layer resistivity profile of a site in Riyadh area, while Fig. (3) provides
its 2D-inverted plot. With such an imager, 3-D plots of ρ can also be obtained if the
measurements at different lines are carried out and proper software tools are available.

Fig. (2): Five layer resistivity profile of a site in Riyadh area.

 Fig. (3): Inverse model 2D-plot of data shown in Fig. (2).

RESISTIVITY MEASUREMENTS IN SAUDI ARABIA

Using an Electrical Resistivity Imager, earth resistivity profiles were determined at 40

locations covering main cities as well as various geographical regions of Saudi Arabia.
For each test site, layered resistivity profile as well as 2D inverse models were derived.
Fig. (4) shows an example of 2-D resistivity variation for a test site in Dammam near
the Arabian Gulf.

Fig. (4): Inverse model 2D-plot for Damman 1.

Besides the 2-D and 3-D resistivity tomography, the resistivity data can be used to
determine variation of average earth resistivity with depth. Different types of soils
display different behaviors in this respect. Measurements show that in areas near sea or
water channels (e.g. Dammam, Jeddah, Jizan, Hafoof, Khafji) the average resistivity
strongly decreases with depth. In other areas, resistivity can increase with depth, it can
decrease with depth or it can approximately stay the same. This mainly depends upon
the geology of the test site. Fig. (5) shows same examples of resistivity variations with
depth at few selected sites in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Soil Resitivity (Makkah 1)

150

120

Soil resitivity (Ohm - Meter)

90

60

30

0
3 6 9 12 15
Depth (m)

Soil Resitivity (Dawadmi 1) Soil Resistivity (Sabt Al-alaya)

200 600

180 525

160
450
Soil resitivity (Ohm - Meter)
Soil resitivity (Ohm - Meter)

140
375
120

100 300

80 225

60
150
40
75
20
0
0
3 6 9 12 15
3 6 9 12 15
Depth (m)
Depth (m)

Soil Resistivity (Mujardah) Soil Resistivity (Najran)

150 750

675

125
600
Soil resitivity (Ohm - Meter)
Soil resitivity (Ohm - Meter)

525
100
450

375
75
300

50 225

150
25
75

0
0
3 6 9 12 15
3 6 9 12 15
Depth (m)
Depth (m)

Fig. (5): Variation of average resistivity at selected sites in Saudi Arabia.

Since earthing installations usually make use of vertical rods that are driven into earth
for few meters only, the resistivity of earth for a 6m depth was determined at all test
locations. It was found that some sites have average resistivity of as low as 2Ωm,
whereas other sites had average resistivity of > 106 Ω.m. Reference [6] recommends
typical guidelines for soil resistivity range classification. Using this guideline, the soil
resistivity is classified as ρ ≤ 100 Ω.m. = Low, 100 Ω.m. < ρ ≤ 300 Ω.m. = Medium,
300 Ω.m. < ρ ≤ 1000 Ω.m. = High and ρ > 1000 Ω.m. = Very High. Table (1) shows
some examples of measured ρ and resistivity classifications. In areas that have low
resistivity, rod earthing electrodes may be sufficient for achieving satisfactory earthing
installation. For areas having medium soil resistivity, it may become essential to use
grounding grids. However, in areas that have high or very high earth resistivity, special
measures such as use of low resistivity material surrounding the earthing electrodes will
be required in many cases. Such materials are being developed and investigated at the
H.V. laboratory of King Saud University so that these may be used by Saudi Electricity
Company in earthing applications.

Table (1): Measured values of minimum, maximum and average soil resistivity at 6m
depth.

SEC Measurement Soil Resistivity (Ωm) Average

Operating Site Name Min. Max. Soil Type
Ave. Resistivity
Areas (Location) Classification
Riyadh−1 20 69 30 Hard rocky soil. Low
Riyadh−3 7105 8026 7658 Rocky soil. Very High
Riyadh−4 70 275 131 Sandy soil. Medium
Dwadmi−1 22 98 46 Hard sandy soil. Low
Dwadmi−2 − − 754 Soft sandy soil. High
Central
Kharj−1 − − 439,800 Stony soil. Very High
Kharj−2 18 20 19 Hard clay. Low
Gaseem−1 − − > 629000 Very loose Very High
sandy soil.
Gaseem−2 3 5 4 Moist sandy soil. Low
Jeddah−4 3 4 4 Sandy soil. Low
Western
Makkah−1 111 150 126 Soft soil. Medium
Dammam−2 7 9 8 Agricultural soil. Low
Hafoof−1 9 12 10 Agricultural soil. Low
Eastern Hafer-Al-Batin−1 85 152 128 Stony sand. Medium
Hafer-Al-Batin−2 69 115 90 Stony sand. Low
Khafji−2 17 26 21 Compact sand. Low
Atawala 121 161 135 Agricultural soil. Medium
Mandaq 357 473 412 Rocky soil. High
Mikhwa 174 297 229 Stony soil. Medium
Sabt-Al-Alaya 257 634 416 Sandy soil. High
Shudiq 106 266 172 Stony soil. Medium
Southern
Mujardah 71 103 85 Rocky soil. Low
Abu Areish 55 98 74 Mountain soil. Low
Byesh 41 63 55 Clay + sand. Low
Najran 200 1787 534 Stony soil. High
Sharourah − − 9800 Very loose sand. Very High
 CONCLUSIONS

Earth resistivity measurements methods including modern Electrical Resistivity Imagers

have been discussed. Using such tools, earth resistivity have been measured at 40
locations covering various geographical as well as geological regions of Saudi Arabia.
The results and analysis show that Saudi soils have a very large range of earth
resistivity. Stony soils and soils of very soft loose sand can have from medium to very
high soil resistivity, whereas areas near sea have normally low resistivity. In areas that
have higher soil resistivities, grounding network designers need care and may involve
use of low resistivity materials.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

The authors would like to thankfully acknowledge Saudi Electricity Company for
sponsoring this work through SEC Research Project No. S0803-R. Thanks are also
extended to Dr. Y. Khan and Eng. Nisar R. Wani for their support during this work.

REFERENCES

[1] ANSI/IEEE Std. 80-1986, IEEE Guide for Safety in Substation Grounding, 1986.

[2] ANSI/IEEE Std. 142-1982, IEEE Recommended Practice for Grounding of

Industrial and Commercial Power Systems, 1982.

[3] ANSI/IEEE Std. 141-1986, IEEE Recommended Practice for Electric Power
Distribution for Industrial Plants, 1986.

[4] NFPA-70, "National Electrical Code", 2002 Edition.

[5] A.T. Johns and D.F. Warne (Editors), "Advances in High Voltage Engineering",
Chapter 8 by H. Griffiths and N. Pilling, "Earthing", IEE Power and Energy Series
40, UK, 2005.

[6] ANSI/IEEE Std. 81-1983, IEEE Guide for Measuring Earth Resistivity, Ground
Impedance, and Earth Surface Potentials of a Ground System, 1983.

[7] F. Wenner, "A Method of Measuring Resistivity", National Bureau of Standards,

Scientific Paper, No. S-258, 1916, pp. 469.

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