Abstract
In archaeological applications the accurate reconstruction of buried structures is mandatory. Electrical resistivity tomography is widely used for this purpose. Nevertheless, resistivity errors could be generated by wrong placement of electrodes. Papers in the literature do not discuss the influence of errors connected with the electrode position location (GPS-error). In this paper the first results of a Monte Carlo simulation analysis of data acquired on a tumulus are presented. The main research questions were: (i) if it is correct to ignore the GPS-error collect, and (ii) if a minimum threshold, that significantly affect the inversion, exists. Results, obtained considering planimetric GPS-errors of about one third of the fixed electrode distances, show that the GPS-errors affect resistivity, but the generated errors/anomalies: (a) are lower than that obtained without considering the topography, and (b) are significant from a numerical point of view, but do not affect the interpretation, being compatible with the soil resistivity ranges.
Highlights
IntroductionElectrical resistivity tomography (ERT) is a geophysical technique widely used in environmental investigations [1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8], hydrogeology [9,10,11], civil engineering [12,13], investigations on waste disposal sites [14,15], and archaeology [16,17,18,19]. 2D and 3D geophysical investigation of tumuli is a very challenging field of application, as a consequence of the prevailing rough topography conditions and complex subsoil resistivity distribution
In this paper we present the first results of an ongoing project among three different departments of the University of Firenze: the Etruscology Chair of the Department of History, Archaeology, Geography, Fine and Performing Arts (SAGAS), the Department of Earth Sciences (DST), and the Department of Information Engineering (DINFO)
Results suggest that the normal distribution is more suitable and reliable to approximate this type of uncertain data
Summary
Electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) is a geophysical technique widely used in environmental investigations [1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8], hydrogeology [9,10,11], civil engineering [12,13], investigations on waste disposal sites [14,15], and archaeology [16,17,18,19]. 2D and 3D geophysical investigation of tumuli is a very challenging field of application, as a consequence of the prevailing rough topography conditions and complex subsoil resistivity distribution. Ancient buried anthropogenic structures are usually resistive, have dimensions of a few meters, and are generally located at low depths from the ground surface [18,19,20,21,22]. Voltage errors are caused by many factors, i.e., ineffective electrode contacts, damages to the cables or problems in the resistivity meter and background noises. Potential errors are inversely proportional to the potential measured at the voltage electrodes. This kind of error is mainly related to the strength of the input signal [25]
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
