SIMPLE DATA-PROCESSING OF TRIPOTENTIAL APPARENT RESISTIVITY MEASUREMENTS AS AN AID TO THE INTERPRETATION OF SUBSURFACE STRUCTURE

The advantages of the Wenner tripotential method for apparent resistivity profiling are described and two new data processing techniques introduced as an aid to the interpretation of apparent resistivity sections. Oscillatory components present in anomalies on tripotential profiles and related to electrode spacing are shown to be effectively removed by linear filtering that also simplifies their form and aids recognition. Model data indicates that, over a wide range of conditions, enough subsurface information can be obtained by inspection of tripotential resistivity and ratio profiles and from space sections to make possible a useful - and sometimes semi-quantitative - interpretation. A rationale for the general interpretation of tripotential data is developed.