ERTLab Studio_User Guide

USER MANUAL

www.geostudiastier.com

V. BETA 1.0

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I. INTRODUCTION

This document describes the main features of the software ERTLab Studio/ViewLab
3D, produced by Geostudi Astier s.r.l.

It is a software programmed to manage geophysical data, to design, processing, visualize,

and analyse geoelectric data.

The software has two different levels of license:

• ViewLab 3D: with the Basic Level of Licence, it works as a viewer, integrating in
a single 3D graphical area ERT data and models. It is possible to visualize data in
3D visualization mode through the insertion of custom sections, volumes, surface,
and to integrate it with images, three-dimensional graphic objects and DXF file.
• ERTLab Studio: with the Advanced Level of Licence, it works as a
resistivity/chargeability/IP inversion software, managing every phase of an ERT
survey, from the survey design to the pre-processing and inversion of collected data.
All the Basic Level licence functions are included.
With ERTLab Studio it is possible to:

▪ Design the electrodes geometry: ERTLab Studio manages any type of array
configuration, also unconventional configuration (as loop around buildings);
▪ Generate 2D/3D sequences, on surface, cross-hole or surface-to-hole;
▪ Compute the forward model of resistivity and chargeability;
▪ Compute sensitivity analysis;
▪ Compute the optimized sequence for multichannel instruments;
▪ Import ERT data;
▪ Compute a pre-processing of the measurements through advanced features
as statistical analysis and filtering;
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▪ Create a custom mesh: it is possible to choose the dimension, the cells size, the
boundary conditions, and there is the possibility to import a topography file
and to insert stratigraphic layers;
▪ Set starting model with a lot of customization possibilities;
▪ Compute data inversion;
▪ Compute operation between file (useful in case of time-lapse survey);
The structural layout of the software is the same for both levels of license; if only the
Viewer tool is active (Basic License, ViewLab 3D) many functions are not available; the
function available only with the Advanced Licence active (ERTLab Studio) are
highlighted in this document with a light blue vertical line ( ).

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II. USER INTERFACE

1. MAIN INTERFACE

After installing ERTLab Studio/ViewLab3D, insert the proper dongle key in the PC
and open the application; the following “splash screen” will be visualized (Figure 1).

ERTLab Studio.exe

Figure 1: on the left, USB protection dongle; on the right starting splash screen.

After a few moments, the application will open showing the main interface, which is
shown in Figure 2.

Tools selection
(Tree Menu)

Visualization of graphics
elements (3D Space)

Tools settings

Figure 2: interface at the software opening.

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This is divided into 3 main areas:

• At the top left there is the tree menu (Figure 3), which allows to select the object
to act on and to operate and manage the entire project; at the beginning of the
work the tree already shows some tool, but when a project will be loaded further
elements will be shown.

Figure 3: tree menu at the beginning of the work.

• At the bottom left of the screen, various tools will appear when one voice of the
tree is selected. Through these tools it is possible to manage the properties of the
various graphic elements shown on the right. Therefore, the contents of this part
of the screen changes depending on the selected tree node and the level of licence
installed.
• On the right there is the 3D space where the elements selected in the tree menu
are shown; if none project or object is loaded, it is empty. To easily understand
how to interact with the scene, in the next paragraph an object has been placed in
it; the creation, the insert mode and the setting of this and other items will be
discussed later.

2. INTRACTION WITH 3D AREA

The panel of the 3D scene is interactive; it is possible to move the shown objects acting
directly on it with the mouse. Clicking in different areas of the panel, it is possible to
carry out different actions, as it is shown in detail in the following figure (Figure 4).

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Figure 4: 3D empty scene; each area allows a specific movement of the object, as it is suggested by the arrows.

The area is divided into four main parts; each of them has its specific function:

• TRANSLATION: Clicking at the centre of the scene, a little circle of light grey
will appear; clicking and holding with left mouse button inside this inner circle the
object on the scene will stiffly shift, as it is shown in the following figure ( Figure 5
, the dashed arrow suggests the direction of mouse dragging). To easily understand
how to interact with the scene, an object (House) has been placed in it; how to
create it, the insert mode of this object and other items will be discussed later.

Figure 5: diagonal shift of the object originally positioned at the centre of the scene, acting on the yellow area of the panel.

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This is the procedure to move an object even if it is not located at the centre of the scene,
and the inner circle is not overlapped to it (Figure 6).

Figure 6: horizontal shift of the object originally positioned at the top left of the scene, acting on the yellow area of the panel.

• ROTATION (Orthogonal to the 3D scene panel): outside the little inner circle
there is another bigger one; through it the 3D scene can be rotated horizontally,
dragging the mouse to the left or to the right, or vertically, moving it upwards and
downwards. It is possible to start the movement in any points within the big circle
highlighted in yellow in the following figure. To rotate the object, hold the left
mouse button and drag the mouse inside this area; when the button is released the
rotation stops.

In the following figure it is shown an example of horizontal rotation: starting from

a frontal point of view of the House (Figure 7__B ) and dragging to the left the mouse
holding the left button, the house rotates anticlockwise (Figure 7_C, in green). On
the contrary, dragging to the right the mouse the house will be rotate clockwise
(Figure 7_D, in blue). The direction of rotation is suggested by the arrows in the
following figures ( Figure 7_A).

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C B D
Figure 7: in A an object (House) is in the scene in a casual position; the rotation direction is suggested by the arrow. In B the house in original position; in
C and D rotation of the house in anticlockwise and clockwise horizontal directions.

The same applies to vertical rotation (Figure 8); starting from a generic point of
view of the House (Figure 8B) and dragging upward the mouse holding the left
button, the house rotates vertically upward too (Figure 8_C, in green). On the
contrary, dragging downwards the mouse the house will be rotates downwards
(Figure 8_D, in blue). The rotation direction is suggested by the arrows in the
following figures (Figure 8_A).

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C B D

Figure 8: in A an object (House) in the scene in a casual position; the rotation direction is suggested by the arrow. In B the house in original position; in C and
D rotation of the house upwards and downwards in vertical directions.

• ROTATION (parallel to the 3Dscene panel): the outer part of the panel rotates
the object through right and through left, in direction parallel to the panel, as it is
shown in the following figure (Figure 9). Starting from a frontal point of view of
the House (Figure 9B) and dragging to the left the mouse holding the left button,
the house will be rotate anticlockwise (Figure 9C, in green). On the contrary,
dragging to the right the mouse the house will be rotates clockwise (Figure 9, in
blue). The rotation direction is suggested by the arrows in the following figures
(Figure 9A).

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C B D

Figure 9: in A the object in a casual position with the direction of rotation suggested by the arrow; in B house in original position, in C and D rotation of the
house in anticlockwise and clockwise direction, parallel to the yellow panel.

• ZOOM: at the right side of the panel there is a vertical band which lets to zoom
in (shifting upwards) and zoom out (shifting downwards) the object in the scene.
To do this, drag the mouse vertically on the band, holding the left mouse button
and releasing it when the desired zoom is reached; it is also possible to achieve the
same results through the use of the mouse wheel in each point of the 3D area
(Figure 10).

A B C

Figure 10: in A the object in the original position, with the direction of rotation suggested by the arrow; in B zoom out of the house, in C zoom in of the house.

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III. TREE MENU

This is the main menu, with a tree structure; through it is possible to manage each element
of the 3D scene; when one voice is selected through the proper node, some dedicated
functions will appear on the panel at the bottom of the screen.

Home is the main node of the tree; when no one project is loaded, it is composed by
four secondary nodes, Camera, Orientation Tools, Axes, Graphic Objects. The ERT Data node
will appear when a project is loaded or created. These voices are themselves composed
by further nodes with a lot of dedicated tools, and further items will be added if Advanced
Licence is activated. In this document they will be described in detail.

To easily understand how the properties described below modify the scene, a cube has
been placed in it (Figure 11Errore. L'origine riferimento non è stata trovata.); the
inserting mode and the setting of this and other items will be discussed later.

Figure 11: a cube in the scene.

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Clicking on Home node, two panels will appear at the bottom of the screen, Scene and
Settings:

• Scene Panel: it manages the Rototranslation parameters of the entire 3D project;

The related panel is shown in Figure 12 .

Figure 12: Scene Panel

It has the following items:

• Visible: it makes the whole scene visible or not;

• Rototranslation Table: to set the Position, the Rotation and the Scale of the object
(useful if there is the necessity to emphasize one dimension); some example are
shown below (Figure 13). This is only a “graphical” rototranslation, the coordinates
of the datafile does not change. It is an useful tool to visualize the project in a
coordinates reference system different from the current one, with which data were
collected (in this case the axes numbers will refers to the new coordinates, but
exporting the datafile nothing was changed in it and it is still in the original system)
or to make some quick evaluation tests to find the correct values to apply to the
ERT data to actually rototranslate it through the proper tool (refers to Paragraph
4.1 ERT DATA_ERT Data Rototranslation), which is more time-spending.

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A B

45° C D

Figure 13: some example of rototranslation. In A the cube in the original position, with the default values in the table; in B translation along X axis of 0.5; in C
rotation along Y axis of 45° and in D decrease in the scale ratio of 0.5 along Z axis.

Through the Position X, Y and Z it is possible to choose the position of the object in the
scene; through the Rotation X, Y and Z it is possible to rotate the object up to 360° in the
three directions and through the Scale X, Y and Z, it is possible to change the scale of the

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entire 3D scene (sometimes it may be useful to change the scale of one direction to
emphasize the trend of one property, for example an alignment along one direction).

This table is useful when it is necessary to place the scene in a specific point and/or
rotate it of a defined quantity, expressed by an exact number; otherwise, if it is required
to manually shift the scene, it is possible to use the dedicated Pick buttons.

Figure 14: Pick Button in rototranslation panel

Clicking on one of these buttons, it is possible to act along the selected plane; a specific
panel will appear overlaid to the object, as it is shown in the following figure (Figure 15).

Diagonal
Stretching
Horizontal
Stretching

Translation

(x,y,z) (x’,y’,z’) Rotation

Vertical
Stretching

Figure 15: manually rototranslation panel.

For example, to stretch one cube along X axis drag the mouse until the desired position,
holding the right mouse button. The X dimension will be changed (from 1 to 2 in this
example) and the other two dimensions will remain unchanged (Figure 16).

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1.ORIGINAL CUBE 3.THE ROTOTRANSALTION PANEL APPEARS

2.CLICK ON ZX BUTTON

4. Place the mouse in one

of the vertical bars on the
panel, hold the right mouse
button ad drag the mouse
(in this case horizontally)
until the desired position.
Release the mouse button

Dragging mouse direction Stretching direction Mouse Pointer

THE CUBE IS HORIZONTALLY

STRETCHED

Figure 16: example of manually stretching of a cube in one direction.

If Lock Ratio is checked, dragging the mouse in one direction even the others two
dimensions of the same plane will change of the same quantity. In the following example,

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the cube is deformed vertically through the mouse, but it is stretch horizontally too (Figure
17).

Figure 17: example of manually stretching of a cube in two dimensions, with Lock Ration active.

In the following paragraphs it will be shown how to insert the various objects in the scene.

Each object has its position, its rotation and its size, editable independently from other
objects. Through the panel just explained, instead, all the objects are treated as a single
group. In the following example in the scene there is only one cube, but if more objects
were inserted into the scene each of them will be subjected to changes made through the
table.

In the following example 5 spheres are placed in the scene (Figure 18).

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A B

Figure 18: in A, objects in original position; in B the same objects after a change of position and scale in Scene panel.

From image A to image B the position changes from 0 to 1 for X and Y axes and the Z
axis is scaled of a factor of 3; the scene is shifted and stretched along Z axis, and the
spheres turns into 5 ovoid shape objects, but the relative position between the objects
does not change.

• Setting Panel
In the Setting panel (Figure 19) there are the
general information about the software,
the version currently installed, the button
for any updates (if “Automatically check for
Updates” is selected, ERTLab
Studio/ViewLab3D will verify the
availability of any updates every time the
software starts) and the Languages
(currently, English and Italian versions are
available). In the lower part of the panel a Figure 19. Setting Panel

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proper area shows the various Log information; the same information are available as
text files in the subfolder “Log”, which is located in the installation path.

The node Home is composed by 5 voices: Camera, Orientation Tools, Axes, Graphic Objects
and ERT Data project, if it is loaded. Each voice has some dedicated tool, and further
items will be added if Advanced Licence is active.

1. CAMERA
This voice (Figure 20) allows to operate on the 3D scene to modify the visualization mode,
through some tools which are described below.

Figure 20: Camera panel

• Background Colour: it lets to change the background colour, which is white by

default. As an example, in the following figure (Figure 21) it is set a grey and orange
background colour.

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Figure 21: sub-node Camera, different choices of background colour

• Capture: it allows to save what is currently shown in the 3D scene as an image file;
the same button is in the 3D scene, on the top of the panel (Figure 22).

Save visualized
image (.PNG)

Figure 22: Capture tool to save the current image

It is possible to choose the width and the height (in pixels) of the image to save; below it
is shown what is obtained inserting, for example, 1000 pixels as width value and 2000 pixels
as height value, and vice versa (Figure 23).

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2000 pixels
1000 pixels

2000 pixels

1000 pixels

Figure 23: sub-node “Camera”, different choices of width and height values

• -X, +X, -Y, +Y, -Z, +Z buttons: they allow to rotate the scene along one of
the three axes (X, Y, Z) and to specify from which direction (“-” and “+”) to
observe it. An example with three objects (a cube, a sphere and a pyramid) from
different points of view is shown in the following figure (Figure 24).

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G (-Z)
E (-Y)
C (-X)

F (+Z) D (+Y)
A B (+X)

B C

D E

F G

Figure 24: sub-node “Camera”, different points of view of objects along one of the 3 axes ; in A view from a
casual point of view, in B view from positive X axis (+X), in C view from negative X axis (-X), in D view
from positive Y axis (+Y), in E view from negative Y axis (-Y), in F view from positive Z axis (+Z) and
in G view from negative Z axis (-Z)

• Auto Centre: it sets automatically the object at the centre of the scene, as it is
shown in Figure 25.

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Figure 25: : sub-node Camera, in A the object is in a general position, in B it is at the centre of the scene after the application of Auto Centre
tool

• Perspective: it switches from a perspective view to an orthogonal view, as it is

shown below (Figure 26). The red dashed lines help to appreciate the difference
between the two approaches to visualize the same object.

Figure 26: sub-node "Camera", in A prospective view, in B orthogonal view

• Azimuth and Elevation: as an alternative to placing the object in the scene through
the direct action of the mouse, it is possible to set specific values of azimuth and elevation.
Starting from the point of view “+Y” (Figure 30A), the value of the Azimuth determines the
angle of rotation in horizontal, so around the Z axis (simulating a view of the object from
the right with positive values, Figure 30B, and from the left with negative values, Figure 30C),
while the Elevation value determines the angle of rotation in vertical, around the X axis
(simulating a view for the top with positive values, Figure 30D, and from the bottom with
negative values, Figure 30E). In F it is shown an example in which both values are different
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from zero (+35° of Azimuth and Elevation). In order to better appreciate the direction of
displacement of the cube, the logo of the software has been inserted in the face of the cube
parallel to XZ plane.

35°

B C

35°
F

D E

Figure 27: sub-node "Camera", different cases of Azimuth and Elevation values

• Favourite POVs: thanks to this tool it is possible to save some specific positions
of the object in the 3D scene and to reload it later.

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Figure 28: Point of View panel

To save the current view click on “Save Current Point of View” button; it is possible to give
a name to this setting using the proper box (it is empty in the figure) and clicking Apply.

Clicking on “Delete POV” button the selected Point Of View is deleted.

• Custom POV: it is possible to set a specific Point Of View by inserting the

desired coordinates X, Y, Z of POV (Point Of View), FP (Focal Point) and N (Normal)
in the proper table. The “Get Current POV” button updates the table to the values
currently used in the 3D scene; it is possible to edit them to set the desired view mode
(Figure 29).

Figure 29: autofill of table POV-FP-N, in function of the position of the cube

2. ORIENTATION TOOL
Through this panel (Figure 32Figure 32) it is possible to set the properties
of the object shown in the near figure (Figure 31), which shows the
orientation of the 3 axes (X, Y and Z) in the 3D space. Figure 31: Orientation Tool

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Figure 32: Orientation Tools panel

• Visible: it allows to visualize or not the object, checking or not the box.
• Transparency: it allows to set the transparency of the object. When the slide
is totally at left the object is completely visible; when it is on the right it is not
visible at all and at the intermediate positions it is more transparent as the slide
goes towards the right, as it is shown in the following figure (Figure 33).
A B C

Figure 33: sub-node " Orientation Tools ", different level of transparency of the object. In A the transparency is set at the
minimum (in the detail the axes are completely visible), in B the transparency is set at an intermediate level (in the detail the
axes are semi-transparent) and in C the transparency is set at the maximum level (in the detail the axes are not visible at all).

• Size: it allows to change the size of the object, between a maximum (slide at right) and
a minimum (slide at left).

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A B C

Figure 34: sub-node " Orientation Tools ", different sizes of the orientation tool; in A minimum size, in B an intermediate
size and in C maximum size.

• Horizontal Position: it allows to choose the horizontal position of the object,

between a maximum left side (slide at left) and a maximum right side (slide at right),
with all the intermediate positions available, as it is shown in the following figure
(Figure 35).
• Vertical Position: it allows to set up the vertical position of the object, between
a maximum lower side (slide at left) and a maximum upper side (slide at right), with
all the intermediate positions available, as it is shown in the following figure (Figure
35Figure 35).

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C D E

Figure 35: different positions of the Orientation Tool Icon in the 3D scene panel

• View Cross: if it is checked, the little white cross at the centre of the scene is visible,
otherwise it is not.
• View Picker settings: this is a very useful tool, which will be recall many times in
this manual because it is useful in more cases. The “picker” is a black point which
follows the cursor when it moves in the 3D space. It lets to know the coordinates

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of the position occupied by the cursor in real time, to insert a point in the 3D scene
and to save the coordinates of one picked point.
Clicking on the View Picker setting button, the proper panel will appear (Figure 36):

Figure 36: Picker Tool Panel

The same tool is on the top of the 3D scene, as well as in the Orientation Tool
node.

o View Mouse Position: if it is checked, a black point which follows the

cursor will appears in the 3D scene and at the same time at
the bottom of the 3D scene the X, Y and Z coordinates will
appears. Clicking with the right mouse button in the 3D
scene with this tool activated, the coordinates of the position occupied by
the cursor in that moment are saved and the point remains fixed in the scene
until a new point is picked; at the bottom of the 3D scene the stored
coordinates are shown as “Last Picked X, Y, Z”.
o Select plane: it lets to choose through the pop-up menu the plane on which
the point will appears, as is shown in the following figure (Figure 37):

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Figure 37: Picker Tool_Select Plane

To make the point visible, the plane chosen in this menu must be the same
currently visualized in the 3D scene.

o Plane offset: the Picker Point moves on a 2D plane, the third dimension
is set to 0 by default. Through this tool it is possible to change this value
and to define the third dimension and so the positon of the point in the
direction perpendicular to the selected plane.
In the followng example(Figure 38), a cube is inserted in the scene, with a
Zmax of 3m; the selected plane is XY, so X and Y coordinates are
readable directly on the axes.The plane offset in this case determine the
Z coordinate, which is 0 in one case and 3 in the other. To make the
point visible, the Z of the picker must be equal or higher that the Z
coordinate of the examined object (otherwise it goes under the object
and it is not visible).

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A
Picker point NOT
visible (it is under
the cube)

B
Picker point visible
(it is over the cube)

Figure 38: Plane offset of Picker Point

o Step [m]: this tool helps to insert a point at defined value of X and Y
coordinates or a sequence of points at a certain interval distance. The
number set in this box is the step with which the point moves on the 3D
space. To make it moves fluidly, set this number at very low value (0.001m
by defaut); at the contrary, to make it moves of a defined interval value
(0.5m in the example in Figure 39Figure 39), write this number in the proper
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box and the point will moves from its position to the next just when the
cursor will be moved of the defined distance.
In the following example (Figure 39Figure 39), in A the step is 0.001m so
moving the cursor from X=0 to X=-0.5 in the direction suggested by the
red arrow the point follows the cursor fluidly; at the contrary, in B the
step is set to 0.5 so the point moves directly from X=0 to X=-0.5, in one
single step.

Figure 39: different Steps of Picker Point

Once the Picker Tool is set, it can be used to read the coordinate in real time, to
insert electrodes through the direct interaction of the user with the scene (Paragraph
5.3.2), or simply to obtain the coordinates of a specific point of the 3D scene. This
is the case of the following example, where an object was inserted in the 3D scene
(house). The selected point of view is +Y, so it is necessary to select the XZ plane
in the picker point setting panel. It is advisable to uncheck the prospective view.
Clicking with the right mouse button on the top right of the house, the proper
coordinates is saved and they appear at the bottom of the screen (Figure 40).

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Figure 40: example of coordinates obtaining

3. AXES
Through this panel it is possible to set the property of the axes shown in 3D figure (Figure
41Figure 41).

Figure 41: sub-node “Axes” panel tools

• Visible: it allows to visualize or not the axes, ticking or not the checkbox.
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• Transparency: it allows to set the transparency of the axes; when the slide is totally
at left the object is completely visible, when it is on the right it is not visible at all
and at the intermediate positions it is more transparent as the slide goes towards the
right, (in the same way described in paragraph 3_Orientation Tools).

• X, Y, Z-Axis name: it allows to give a name at each axis ( X(m), Y(m), Z(m) are
the default name), as it is shown in Figure 42.

Figure 42: detail of sub-node “Axes” panel

• All X, Y, Z Axis: it allows to show or not each single axis independently from the
others two; in the example in the figure below the Z axis is visible in the first case
(Figure 43Figure 43_A) and not visible in the second case (Figure 43_B).

A B
Figure 43: sub-node Axes, in A all the three axes are visible, in B the Z axis is not visible

• X, Y, Z-Title: it allows to show or not each single axis title independently from the
others two; in the example in the figure below the title of X axis is visible in the
first case (Figure 44_A) and not in the second case (Figure 44_B)

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Figure 44: sub-node Axes, in A the title is visible, in B not

• X, Y, Z- Label: it allows to show or not each axis labels independently from the
others two; in the example in the figure below the labels of X axis are visible in the
first case (Figure 45_A) and not in the second case (Figure 45Figure 45_B)

A
A

B
B

Figure 45: sub-node Axes, in A all the X axis value (labels) are visible, in B they are not visible

• Object Type: in the box with a pop-up menu it is possible to set the behaviour
of the axes when the object is moved, choosing between three options:

o Outer Edges: it puts the axes along the o u t e r edges of the object of the
scene (the cube in the example) and they maintain this position even if the
object is moved (they are not linked to the object), as it shown in Figure 46A1,
Figure 46A2.

o Closest Triad: it puts the axes along the nearest triad from the point of view
of the observer and they maintain this position even if the object is rotated
(they are not linked to the object), as t is shown in Figure 46B1 and Figure 46B2.

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o Fixed: it puts the axes in a fixed triad (starting from the Xmin, Ymin,
Xmin) which is hooked to the object; if the object is rotated the axes rotates
with it (Figure 46C1, Figure 46C2).

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Figure 46: sub-node Axes, before (left columns, A1, B1, C1) and after (right columns, A2, B2, C2) a rotation of the object. Only in the “closest
Triad” case the axes do not follow the cube

• Colour: it allows to change colour to the axes; some examples are shown below
(Figure 47Figure 47).
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Figure 47: sub-node Axes, different choices for axes colours

• Number of digits: it allows to set the decimals of the axes labels. It is possible
to specify the value both graphically, with the "slider", that numerically, using the
text box.

As an example, in the following figure the number of digits is set at 2 and 4.

Figure 48: sub-node Axes, example of different numbers of digits

• Size of labels: it is possible to choose the size of the numbers near the axes,
specifying graphically the value through the "slider" or numerically editing the text
box (Figure 49).

Figure 49: sub-node Axes, example of different labels sizes

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• Auto Fit Live: if it is selected, there is an automatic and continuous control by the
software, which adjusts the size of the axes according to the size of object shown
in the 3D figure (Figure 50).
• Auto Fit now: it has the same function of the Auto Fit Live checkbox just exposed
but it works only when activated by the user and not constantly during all the work
section (Figure 50).

Figure 50: sub-node Axes, in A the axes does not fit the object, in B they follow the
object because ‘Anti Fit live’ or ‘Auto Fit Now’ tool is active

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• The table in the lower part of the screen: it allows to set the dimensions of the 3
axes and the way to display them. The following examples shows some
customization possibilities. In this case (Figure 51Figure 51), the axes are setting in
automatic way, through the Auto Fit Live tool, so the minimum and maximum
dimensions of the axes are the same of the object.

Figure 51: example of axes with ‘Auto fit Live’ tool activated

It is possible to change the axes length; in the following example (Figure 52) the X
axis starts from -1.5 and ends at +1.5, while the object size is still between -1 and
+1.

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Figure 52: example of axes longer than the object

It is possible to change the features of axes labels, as well; it is possible to set the Step
(how many digits t o s k i p b e t ween one label and the other) or the Ticks (how many
labels to display); the two quantities are dependent each other, so setting one of them
ERTLab Studio/ViewLab3D will calculate automatically the other one (greyed out
numbers in the table).

In the following example (Figure 53), in A the X axis Step is set at 0.25 and the Step of Y and
Z axes are not modified (they are still at step 0.5, as the table shows); the Thick is
automatically calculated, and it is 9.

In B the Ticks of X label are set at 3 instead that 5, as Y and Z axes; the Step is
automatically calculated, and it is 1.

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Figure 53: examples of different Step (A) and Tick (B) of the X axis

4. GRAPHIC OBJECTS
This node allows to insert in the 3D scene various types of objects.

Figure 54: graphic Objects panel

Using the "Visible" property, it is possible to display or not all the objects placed in
the scene. Each inserted object is automatically positioned at the origin of the three axes
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(0,0,0). Through the table X-Y-Z it is possible to change this, making a Translation (to
translate the origin to a point in space different from 0 0 0), a Rotation (rotation in degrees
around each axis) or using a Scale tool (useful if there is the necessity to emphasize one
dimension or to work with many objects of different dimension).

Clicking with the right mouse button on Graphic Objects node, it is possible to load an
object saved in a personal folder, using Load button, or to insert one of the available
object through Insert Object button; in this case a panel with a list of tools will appears, as
is it shown in Figure 55.

Figure 55: objects available for the insertion in 3D scene

4.1 DATA FOLDER

It is possible to create and to save some custom objects using a combination of the other
simple object; to do it, insert a new “Data Folder” through the proper voice Insert Object.
A new node “Graphic Object” will be added at the tree menu (Figure 56).

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Figure 56: graphic Object node added to the menu

In the following example a house is created using:

o n°1 Cube
o n°1 Pyramid
o n°2 Image
The Image is a photo of a front of a house; in this example it is used two times, to cover
two sides of the cube. The setting of each object used to make the house are shown below
(Figure 57):

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Pyramid

Image Cube

Cube Pyramid

Image Image

Figure 57: example of creation of custom object

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Once the new object is created, it is possible to give to it an appropriate name through the
setting panel (“House” in this example) and to save it through the “Save As” voice in the
menu which appears clicking with the right mouse button on the object name (Figure
58Figure 58).

Write here the

object NAME

Figure 58: saving new created object

In this way it is possible to load it again for further projects using the appropriate voice
“Load” in the object menu.

It is a very useful instrument, which lets to customize the project with personal photos of
the survey area (for example, the building facade of the investigate site to which the project
refers to, recreating the real aspect of the studied area).

4.2 IMAGE
This tool (Figure 59) lets to import an image from a file (in common formats 'bmp', 'jpg',
'png', …). A new node will be added at the tree menu (one new node for each created
object).

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Figure 59: detail of sub-node “Data” panel, property of “image”

Through the box “Name” it is possible to give a name to the object (“geostudi” in this
example). The transparency of the image is editable through the “Transparency” property
(shifting the slide at the desired point, in the same way exposed in 2.Orientation Tools
Paragraph); it is possible to rototranslate the image through the appropriate table (setting
the Position, the Rotation and the Scale of the displayed object) or manually through Pick
button, as explained at the beginning of Paragraph III.

4.3 DXF

It is possible to import a CAD file (*.DXF format) selecting the appropriate voice in Insert
Object menu. The CAD file is the only object which is automatically located in its real
coordinates and not in the origin 0,0,0.

This format is very complex and constantly improving, so it possible to import just the
basic elements as points, lines, poly-lines, arcs, circles, and text (and blocks made from
these items); more complex objects are not imported nor represented. However, this tool
is very powerful and can be used in many situations.

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Figure 60: example of dxf; in red, electrodes

4.4 LABEL

It is possible to insert in the scene some labels as words, text or numbers (Figure 61).

Figure 61: detail of sub-node “Graphic Object” panel, property of “Label”

As for the objects explained before, it is possible to set the Transparency of the object,
the Colour, the Size (writing the desired number in the box or setting it using the slide),
the Position in X, Y and Z, to make the label visible or not and to give it a Name (“Label”
in the example) writing it in the appropriate space. It is also possible to rototranslate
the label manually through Pick button, as explained at the beginning of Paragraph
III.TREE MUENU.
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4.5 PLANE

It is possible to insert a plane in the scene through the appropriate voice in Insert Object
menu (Figure 62).

Figure 62: Plane Panel

As for the objects explained before, it is possible to set the Transparency of the object,
the Colour, the Size (writing the desired number in the box or setting it using the slide),
the Position in X, Y and Z, to make the label visible or not and to give it a Name (“Plane”
in the example) writing it in the appropriate space. It is also possible to rototranslate
the plane manually through Pick button, as explained at the beginning of Paragraph
III.TREE MUENU.

4.6 CUBE

It is possible to insert a cube (Figure 63) in the scene through the proper voice Insert Object
menu, as was done at the beginning of this document.

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Figure 63: Cube panel

Even in this case, it is possible to set the Transparency of the object, the Colour, the Size
(writing the desired number in the box or setting it using the slide), the Position in X, Y and
Z, to make the label visible or not and to give it a Name (“Cube” in the example) writing
it in the appropriate space. It is also possible to rototranslate the cube manually through
Pick button, as explained at the beginning of Paragraph III.TREE MUENU.

4.7 SPHERE

It is possible to insert a sphere (Figure 64) in the scene through the proper voice Insert Object
menu.

Figure 64: Sphere Panel

As for the other object exposed before, it is possible to set the Transparency of the
object, the Colour, the Size (writing the desired number in the box or setting it using the
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slide), the Position in X, Y and Z, to make the label visible or not and to give it a Name
(“Sphere” in the example) writing it in the appropriate space. It is also possible to
rototranslate the sphere manually through Pick button, as explained at the beginning
of Paragraph III.TREE MUENU.

4.8 CYLINDER

It is possible to insert a cylinder (Figure 65) in the scene through the proper voice Insert
Object menu.

Figure 65: Cylinder Panel.

As for the other object exposed before, it is possible to set the Transparency of the
object, the Colour, the Size (writing the desired number in the box or setting it using the
slide), the Position in X, Y and Z, to make the label visible or not and to give it a Name
(“Cylinder” in the example) writing it in the appropriate space. It is also possible to
rototranslate the cylinder manually through Pick button, as explained at the beginning
of Paragraph III.TREE MUENU.

4.9 CONE

It is possible to insert a cone (Figure 66) in the scene through the appropriate voice Insert
Object menu.

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Figure 66: Cone Panel

As for the other object exposed before, it is possible to set the Transparency of the object,
the Colour, the Size (writing the desired number in the box or setting it using the slide), the
Position in X, Y and Z, to make the label visible or not and to give it a Name (“Cone” in
the example) writing it in the appropriate space. It is also possible to rototranslate the cone
manually through Pick button, as explained at the beginning of Paragraph III.TREE
MUENU.

4.10 PYRAMID

It is possible to insert a cone (Figure 67) in the scene through the appropriate voice Insert
Object menu.

Figure 67: Pyramid panel

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As for the other object exposed before, it is possible to set the Transparency of the object,
the Colour, the Size (writing the desired number in the box or setting it using the slide), the
Position in X, Y and Z, to make the label visible or not and to give it a Name (“Pyramid” in
the example) writing it in the appropriate space. It is also possible to rototranslate the
pyramid manually through Pick button, as explained at the beginning of Paragraph
III.TREE MUENU.

5. ERT DATA
In ERTLab Studio is possible to load many types of files. Clicking with the right mouse
button on Home node and then on action tool with the right mouse button, a panel will
open (Figure 68):

Figure 68: Action Tool panel

With the full license (ERTLab Studio) all the buttons are active, with the basic license
(ViewLab3D) only Load and Recent Files are active. The tools available only with the full
license are highlighted in this document with a light blue vertical line ( ).

• Load: it opens a .DATA file, so a project that has already been created.
• Recent Files: it opens recently opened project.
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• Load Multisource: this is an additional package to process datasets acquired
using a multi-source approach (measurements where multiple dipoles can transmit
simultaneously). It loads a .wDat file, so field data collected with MTP-
Multisource instruments.
• Load Bin: it loads a .BIN file, so field data collected with IRIS Syscal instruments.
• New Project: it opens an empty project, so it adds the Data node to the tree but
without load any data files.
• File Operation: it loads two projects and makes operations between them; it is a
useful tool for time lapse evaluation (to compare the resistivity response before-
next an event).
• New 4D Project: this is an additional package to run time-lapse inversions using
the differences approach.

Each Syscal .BIN file (Load Bin button) can be associated to a conversion table to assign
coordinates (absolute or relative) to the electrodes to which the measurements are
associated to. Without the conversion table, data will be loaded with the coordinates
used for the sequence acquisition.

The conversion table is a 7-column .txt file (Figure 69):

ELECTRODE SEQUENCE REAL COORDINATES

NUMBER COORDINATES (absolute or relative)

Figure 69: example of conversion table

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ERTLab Studio automatically reads the conversion table when the .BIN file is load,
provided that the two files have the same name:

File .BIN Example Line.BIN

Associated Conversion table Example Line.TXT

In case of acquisition with remote pole it is possible to operate in two different ways:

▪ After having load the project: check in REM column of the

corresponding electrode (in electrode table, Paragraph 5.3.1).
▪ Before load the project: insert the remote pole in the conversion table,
associating it at the ELECTRODE NUMBER = -1; in this case, ERTLab Studio will
automatically identify it as a remote pole (Figure 70).

Figure 70: insertion of remote pole in the conversion table

The sequence coordinates of the remote pole (in the red box in Figure 71) can be inserted
as random coordinates (9315, 7181, 178 in the example, but 0,0,0 is valid or any numbers
combination) because only the real coordinates are used (in green in Figure 61).

Whatever kind of file is opened, a lot of tools are added to the tree, in the node ErtDATA.
To explain its property and tools, a .data file has been loaded and a new node appears
(ERT data_Example 1).

The node “ERT Data_Example 1” represents the loaded ERT Project; as for other nodes
exposed in the previous paragraphs (refers to III TREE MENU_1.CAMERA), even for this it
is possible to give it a Name, to make it Visible or not and to set the Rototranslation

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parameters, numerically through the table or manually through Pick button, with or
without Lock Ratio activated , to custom and save many points of view.

Figure 71: ERT Data panel

This is only a “graphic” rototranslation, the coordinates of the datafile does not change.
It is an useful tool to visualize the project in a coordinates reference system different from
the one whose data were collected (for example, in this case the axes are in the new
coordinate, but exporting the datafile nothing was change in it and it is still in the original
system) or to make some quick evaluation tests to find the correct rototranslation values
to apply to the ERT data to actually rototranslate it through the proper tool (refers to
Paragraph 4.1 ERT DATA_ ERT Data Rototranslation), which is more time-spending in
rototranslate all the dataset.

Clicking with the right mouse button in the ERT Data node it is possible to:

Figure 72: ERT Data tools

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• Save As: in any time, through this button it is possible to save the Data-File.
• Centre Camera to this: through this tool it is possible to place automatically
the selected project at the centre of the scene. It is particularly useful in those
cases where many projects are loaded and the selected one is not visible
because it is out the scene (by default, the scene is cantered in the first loaded
project).
• Append Configuration: through this tool it is possible to apply to the
current project the configuration used in another previous project; it includes
all the setting of “Run Mesh Generation” (refers to Paragraph 5.3.8) and “Run
Inversion” Panel (refers to Paragraph 5.3.11).
• Append Electrodes and Data: through this tool it is possible to add at the
current project electrodes and data belonging to another data-file. It is useful
to load two or more ERT line together.

To merge two or more lines into one project, it is possible to act in two different
way:

o It is possible to load the first file with Load/Load Bin/Load Multisource and then
add the second file through “Append Electrodes and Data” tool; in this way the

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project maintains the name of the first loaded (but it is possible to change it in
the Name box);
o It is possible to load an empty project with New Project button and then upload
all the file together through “Append Electrodes and Data” tool; in this way the
project maintains the default name ERTData (but it is possible to change it in the
Name box);
• ERT Data Rototranslation: this tool acts an effective rototranslation of
the dataset, unlike the table explained in III.TREE MENU and in this
paragraph in ERT Data panel, which acts only a graphic rototranslation. Using
this tool and exporting data these are not in the original reference system but
at the new coordinates.
• Show Project Info: it opens a window with File Summary (Figure 73), where
there are reported information about the number of electrodes and
measurements of the project, the dimension of the mesh and the possible
presence of topography file and Resistivity/IP/Sensitivity Models.
Originally, Resistivity IP and Sensitivity are “Empty” because no one
inversion is computed. When the Resistivity/IP inversion is computed the
proper voices becomes “Found” because ViewLab 3D/ERTLab Studio
recognize the presence of an inverted Model. For IP voice there is an
intermediate state, “Homogeneous”: it suggests that there is a unique value of
IP which comes from the generation of the mesh (and so the project contains
IP measurements), but the inversion has not been computed yet. In the
following table all the possible cases are summarized.

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Empty Homogeneous Found

The project contains a

RESISTIVITY There is no inverted __ Resistivity model which came
Resistivity model in from an inversion process.
the project

There is no inverted The project contains The project contains an IP

IP model in the an IP homogeneous model which came from an
IP
project value, but there is not inversion process.
an inverted IP model

There is no calculated The project contains a

__
SENSITIVITY Sensitivity model in calculated Sensitivity model
the project

In the example in figure (Figure 73) the loaded project:

▪ contains 97 Electrodes;
▪ contains 12308 Measurements;
▪ has no topography information (Topography:
Empty);
▪ the Mesh has been calculated (accordingly the
IP voice is “Homogeneous”) and it is
composed by 101 x 53 x 31 cells;
Figure 73: example of Summary File message
▪ contains a Resistivity Model, which came from an
inversion already computed (Resistivity: Found);
▪ doesn’t contain an IP Model, but it is present a homogeneous value which came
from the mesh generation;
▪ doesn’t contain a calculated Sensitivity Model (Sensitivity: Empty);

This main node “ERT Data_Example 1” represents the entire project and is in turn
composed by other many nodes, which are described in detail below.

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5.1 GRID
It is possible to insert a grid (Figure 74) in the scene; it is useful to have a reference for the
objects, similar to the "Axes”.

Figure 74: Grid Panel in ERT Data node

In addition to the usual setting of Visibility, Transparency, Colour and Rototranslation (refers
to Paragraph III.TREE MENU_3. AXES), in this case there is the to set the Orientation of the
grid and Number of cell to insert in two dimensions (inside the dashed red line in Figure 75).

Figure 75: Grid panel

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By selecting one of the 3 options available in "Orientation" (3 primary plans "XY", "XZ"
or "YZ") it is possible to choose the plan on which to visualize the grid, as it is shown in
the following figure (Figure 76Figure 76).

Figure 76: different orientation of the grid in the 3D space

To set the size of the grid it is possible to use the slider or to insert manually the number
of grid boxes (10 by default) between a minimum dimension of 1 box and a maximum
dimension of 100 boxes. Within this interval, it is possible to set a relative minimum and
maximum value (in orange in Figure 77), writing the corresponding number in the dedicated
boxes; in this way the extreme values of the slider change from 1-100 to the new selected
values.

Choice of dimension CCustom Min_Max range Min_Max available range

Figure 77: changing maximum and minimum values

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For example, if the minimum size should be 15 and the maximum 60, writing this numbers

in the boxes the slide will have 15 as minimum value when it is totally at left, 60 as

maximum value when it is totally at right, and intermediate value in any other point of the

sliding bar (Figure 78).

Figure 78: example of setting of minimum and maximum number of cells

The two dimensions are editable separately (Number of dim1-dim2 cells in Figure 79).

5
4
3
2
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Figure 79: example of number of cells setting in the two dimensions

5.2 GRAPHIC OBJECT

This element is completely analogous to that described at Paragraph III TREE MENU_4.
GRAPHICBJECT, so refers to that to more information.

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Figure 80: graphic object panel

The graphic objects added in this node belongs the project, so each graphical modification
applied to it involved the objects too. For example, if the project is rototranslate, the
objects are rototranslate too. Otherwise, if the objects are added in the node exposed in
Paragraph 4, they are unlinked to the project, so they do not move.

5.3 ELECTRODES
This element is used to display and manage the electrodes used for data acquisition.

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Figure 81: Electrodes Panel

As for other nodes exposed in the previous paragraphs, even for this it is possible to make
it Visible or not and to set the level of Transparency (refers to III.TREE MENU_3. AXES). In
addition, there are other dedicated tools, which are described below.
• Colour: it is possible to choose the colour of the electrodes; by default it is red.
Clicking on the Colour button, the colour panel will open, and is possible to choose
another colour.

Figure 82: Electrode colour setting

Alternatively, in those cases where more cables are loaded in the same project, it is possible
to associate one specific colour to each cable, to easily recognize them. To do this, click
in View Palette button (Figure 83).
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CABLE 6

CABLE 5

CABLE 4

CABLE 3

CABLE 2

CABLE 1

Figure 83: Electrodes palette setting

Each colour of the palette belongs to one cable (Figure 83). In Figure 83 it is shown the
default palette, but it is possible to customize it changing the number of bars and the
colours. In the following example, the third bar is deleted and one yellow is added as last
colour of the sequence. With Delete Selected button, the clicked bar is deleted (3 in Figure

84) and with Grow a bar is added at the end of the sequence; clicking on it, it is possible to
choose the colour (yellow in Figure 84).

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2t

CABLE 6

CABLE 5

CABLE 4

CABLE 3

CABLE 2

CABLE 1

Figure 84: changing colour to electrodes palette

In the following example the colours are changed (Figure 85).

CABLE 6

CABLE 5

CABLE 4

CABLE 3

CABLE 2

CABLE 1

Figure 85: new palette colours

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If the number of the cable are bigger that the numbers of the palette bars, the cycle of
colour starts again (in fact in the examples the first and the last cable are of the same
colour, pink).

• Show Marker: if the checkbox is selected, the electrodes positioned in the scene
are visible, otherwise they are present in the dataset but they are not visible in the
3D scene (Figure 86).

Figure 86: sub-node electrodes; in A the electrodes are visible, in B not

• Show Line: if the checkbox is selected, the line that links the electrodes is visible,
otherwise it is not, as it is shown in Figure 87.

A B

Figure 87: detail of electrodes with (at right, B) and without (at left, A) the line
between electrodes
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• Show as Label: if the checkbox is selected, the labels of the electrodes are visible,
otherwise they are not. Clicking in the drop-down (Figure 88) menu it is possible to
choose between 3 types of labels:

Figure 88: Labels menu

o Group ID: this label contains the name associated to each electrode during
the creation of the project, and it is composed by the “Group” (PD in the
following example) and the identification number “ID” (from 1 to 96 in the
following example) of each electrode (Figure 89);
o ID only: this label contains just the identification number associated to each
electrode during the creation of the project (Figure 89):
o Absolute numbering: this label contains the numeration of electrodes; it may
coincide with the ID, as in the example in (Figure 89Figure 89).

Group-ID ID only or
Absolute numbering

Figure 89: example of different kind of electrodes labels

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• Size: by default, the option “Auto” is checked so the dimension of the electrodes is
automatically determined. It is possible to change it unchecking the Auto box and
using the dedicated tools: it is possible to use the slider or to insert manually the
size number (in green in Figure 90, 0.5 by default) between a minimum and maximum
value in meters (0 and 30 in this case, in the red circles in Figure 90). Within this
interval, it is possible to set a relative minimum and maximum value (in orange in
Figure 90), writing the corresponding numbers in the dedicated boxes; in this way the

extreme values of the slider change from 0-30 to the new selected values.

Figure 90: tool for electrodes size setting

For example, if the minimum size should be 5 and the maximum 15, writing this
numbers in the first two dedicated boxes (in orange in Figure 91) the slide will have
5 as value when it is totally at left, 15 when it is totally at right, and intermediate
value in any other points of the sliding bar (Figure 91).

Figure 91: example of variation of extreme values of the sliding bar, from 0-30 to 5-15

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As an example, in the following figure (Figure 92) the electrodes are represented in two
different sizes.

A B

Figure 92: sub-node electrodes, example of two electrodes sizes, 0.5 in A and 1 in B

• Show remote pole: in case of acquisition with the remote pole, it is possible to
visualize or not it through this check box. For a better representation of the scene
using auto centre button, it is advisable to do not visualize the remote pole because
it is far from others electrodes and including it into the scene the investigated area
may appears too small.

5.3.1 Electrodes_Tools_TABLE
Clicking with the right mouse button on the node “Electrode”, and choosing “Tool”, it
is possible to manage the electrodes information.

Figure 93: Electrode Tools_Table

It is a table containing the electrode information. By default, the table shows the
following columns (Figure 94Figure 1):

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Figure 94: Electrodes table

• Group: name of the cable. It is an editable column.

• ID: it is a counter that is used to identify each element of the group. It is a not
editable column. It's not possible to associate a common 'ID' to more than one
electrode of the same group, but two or more electrodes of different groups can
have the same 'ID'.
• X(m), Y(m), Z(m): coordinate of the elements in the space. It is possible to
change the value of X/Y/Z by double-clicking the proper box.
• Zsurf (m): Z coordinate of the surface (if electrodes are positioned on the
surface of the investigated area the Z and the Zsurf have the same value). It is
possible to change the value by double-clicking the proper box. For borehole
survey, the two values are different.
• REM: flag of remote electrode. All electrodes have the red cross symbol except
the electrode relative to the remote pole, which is instead identified by a green
‘V’. It is possible to change the flag by double-clicking the proper box.

By clicking with the right mouse button in any column and choosing “Select visible column”
the list of information that can be displayed in the table will be opened. It is possible to
choose the item one by one or to visualize all of them selecting “Show all”, as in the
following example (Figure 95):

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Figure 95: ‘show all’ columns in electrodes table

In addition to those of default, it is possible to add the following columns:

• TX: if it is flagged with the green ‘V’ it means that the relative electrode works
as a transmitter. If it is flagged with a red cross ‘X’, instead, the electrode works
just as receiver. This occurs especially with not-polarizable electrode, which
would be damaged if they would send current.
• RX: if it is flagged with the green ‘V’ it means that the relative electrode works
as receiver. If it is flagged with a red cross ‘X’, instead, the electrode works just
as transmitter.
Generally, the electrodes work both as transmitters that as receivers, so both flags
are green by default.
• BOR: if it is flagged with the green ‘V’ it means that the relative electrode belongs
to a borehole survey (and Zsurf is different from Z); if it is flagged with a red
cross, instead, the electrode is located on the surface of the investigated area.
• SKIP: measurements flagged with the green ‘V’ are not used for the inversion,
but they are still in the dataset (they are not deleted). For example, if one

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electrode did not work during acquisition, it is possible to delete the related
measures from the inversion following this procedure:
▪ Mark the Skip box of the electrodes with the green flag, double-
clicking the proper box (in the example, electrodes 3, 6 and 7);
▪ Right-click anywhere inside the electrodes table;
▪ Click on Skip Measurements using skipped electrodes; with this function
the measurements involving the electrodes marked by the flag
are not used for inversion, but they are still in the dataset (they are
not deleted, so it is possible to retrieve them later).

Figure 96: electrodes Table_Skip measurements

• ROLL: if during the acquisition the roll method was adopted, the electrodes
common at two consecutive lines are marked with the green “V”, otherwise
they are marked with the red “X”. In the following example (Figure 97), the
electrode in blue have “roll = V”.

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L1

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

L2
Figure 97: example of roll method; when the line L1 is acquired, the L2 line is positioned moving the electrodes from 1 to 7 and leaving the other electrodes
in place. So the electrode 8, 9 and 10 of line 1 becomes electrode 1, 2 and 3 for line 2 (for convenience of representation L1 and L2 are here represented
separated but in reality they would be on the same line and the electrodes in blue are not moved); all this six electrodes have the green “V” in the roll column

Clicking with the right mouse button in one box, a popup menu will appear (Figure 98).
It is possible too:

• Append Row: clicking with the left mouse button in one raw (ID 7 in Figure 98)
to select it and using this tool, a new raw will be added under the selected line
(highlighted in yellow in Figure 98). By default, it will have the same value of the
raw from which it was copied but is possible to modify it.

1 2

Figure 98: ‘append new raw’ in electrode table

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• Delete: to delete one row, just click with the right mouse button on the row and
choose Delete. To delete an interval of rows, select the desired rows by holding
the left mouse button (the area will be highlighted in blue), clicking the right
mouse button and then “Delete”. In the following example lines from 5 to 10 are
deleted.

Figure 99: delete some electrodes from the table

• Update Position from Picker: through this tool it is possible to move one
electrode from one position to another. If a point in the space has been stored
through Pick Tool (refers to Paragraph III. TREE MENU _2.0 ORIENTATION
TOOL) his coordinates can be used to replace those already present in one row
of the table.

In the following figure, a point is picked in the space (point out by the arrow in
(Figure 100Figure 99) at the coordinate:

X = -8m Y = -6m Z=0

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Figure 100: one point in the space selected by the picker point.

If this point must replace one already present in the electrodes table, click with the right
mouse button in the row to replace and choose “Update Position from Picker “. In the
following example the picked point (point black in Figure 101) replaces the coordinate of
the electrode 72 (point blue in Figure 101, highlighted by the blue arrow), which was
positioned in 0,0,0.

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Figure 101: update electrode position using Picker Point coordinates

As is shown in the table and in the plot the electrode 72 was moved to the new position.

• Append point using a picker: through this tool it is possible to add one or more
electrodes to those already existing, clicking with the right mouse button in the

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row of the table where to add the point and using the coordinates saved with the
picker point (as explained in Update position from Picker).

Figure 102: a point in the space is selected to add one or more electrodes

In the window that appears it is possible to choose the Step a Number values; these
buttons are useful for multiple insert, where the first point corresponds to the one
selected in the table and last to the coordinate of the picker point.

"Step" determines the space between one point and another (the number of intermediate
electrodes is calculated accordingly); vice versa, “Num” determines the number of
electrodes to insert between the first and the last electrode (and Step is calculated
accordingly). There are different combinations available of the two values:

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• Step=0; Num=0 (default): only one electrode is inserted at the position

determined by the picker point.

73

Figure 103: one electrode is added to the scene at the picker point coordinates

o Step= n; Num=0: some electrodes are inserted in line, starting from the
point of the selected row of the table until the clicked picker point, proceeding
with steps equal to the specified value. The electrodes are placed in the scene
automatically, as a consequence of the step and the starting-ending position
choices, so the numbers of added items is automatically found (Figure 104).

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1 73

82

Figure 104: more electrodes are added to the scene, choosing the spacing of 1m from each other’s

o Step = 0; Num = n: a defined number “n” of electrodes is inserted inline,

starting from the selected row of the table until the clicked picker point. The
sensors are placed in the scene automatically, so the step between them is
automatically found.
In the following example, 3 electrodes are added from electrode 72 (row
highlighted in blue in the table) to 75, which coincides with the coordinate of
the picked point.

73
3 74
75

Figure 105: more electrodes are added to the scene, choosing the number of electrodes to add from the position of the selected electrode in the table to
the picker point coordinates

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o Step = n; Num = m; in this case it is placed exactly the specified number of

electrodes, spaced by a value which is also specified. It starts from the selected
element of the table and it proceeds in the direction of the picked point (which
can be overcome by some elements, or never reached).

picked 73
point 76

Figure 106: more electrodes are added to the scene, choosing the spacing and the number of electrodes. In this case the last electrode (num 76) does
not reach the position of the picker point.

• Set to: through this command it is possible to manually edit more than a single
cell value in the table.

Figure 107: The “Set to ...” menu

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It is possible to select just one cell and use the “Set to ...” command to change
its value, or it is possible to select more contiguous cells (in the same column)
and use the command “Set to ...” to change them all. In this paragraph there is
a description of the different results obtained selecting cells from different
columns of the table.
o Group: selecting one or more cells on this column it is possible to change
the Group Name to the related electrodes. A window will be shown to
ask to the user the new name; click on “OK” button to apply. The
specified name can be a new one or the name of an already existing group.

Figure 108: provide the group name

o ID: this column is automatically generated, so it is not possible to edit it.

o X [m]: selecting one or more cell on this column it is possible to change
the X coordinate of the related electrodes. A window will be shown to ask
to the user the new value(s); to apply, click on “OK” button. If the “Start
Value” and the “Stop Value” are the same, all the cells will be filled with
the same value; if they are different, the selected cells will be filled to fit
the range specified computing the needed increment automatically.

Figure 109: provide the range values.

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The following image shows an example of how to set a value of 10 as
“Start Value” and a value of 32.5 as “Stop value” to a selection of 10 cells;
a step of 2.5 and 9 increments between cells are automatically found to
satisfy the specified range.

Figure 110: example of setting a linear range of values for cells on “X” column

o Y [m]: this is completely analogous to X [m] column, so refers to that for

details.
o Z [m]: it is quite the same of the “X” column, but with some difference.
The window shown has some more parameter to be checked before
continuing.

Figure 111: provide the range values

If “Length by Z interpolation” is checked the increment automatically found to

fill the cells will be not constant but proportional to the electrode distance
on the “XY” plane.
In the following example 10 electrodes are used, all of them are lying along
the “X” axis, the first 5 electrodes are located with a spacing of 1m, then it
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becomes 4m. In Figure 112A it is shown how the “Z” values are computed
with the default setting, so it is possible to note that the gap between
electrodes along “Z” axis is constant (always 0.8m). In Figure 112B, it is shown
the effect of the “Length by Z interpolation” tool; the gap between
electrodes along “Z” axis is not constant (it is 0.3m for the first 5 electrodes
and 1.2m for the other electrodes which are more distant from each other).
The graphic achievement is that in the second case the electrodes can be
fitted with a straight line.

Figure 112: example of using the “Length by Z interpolation” tool

If “Copy ONLY Z and Z Surf ” is checked, all the other parameters specified
in the window will be ignored and the “Z” column will be filled with the
values found on the “Z surf ” column.

o Z surf [m]: same of the “Z” column. The only exception is that when “Copy
ONLY Z and Z Surf ” is checked then the result will be the opposite, so
the “Z surf ” column will be filled with the values found on the “Z”
column.
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o TX, REM, BOR, Skip Roll”: these columns contains binary flags, when
the “Set to ...” command is invoked it will be shown the windows shown
in Figure 113 to ask the user the new status that the cells need to have, so it
is required to check or leave unchecked the parameter displayed and to
press the “OK” button to apply to all the cells selected .

Figure 113: provide the range values

5.3.2 Electrodes_Tools_CREATE/EDIT
Clicking with the right mouse button on the node “Electrode”, choosing “Tool” and
Create/Edit the proper panel will open.

Figure 114: Electrode Tools_Create/Edit

This panel contains a complete subset of tools to manage electrodes.

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Figure 115: Create/Edit tool

• Current working group: on the top of the panel there is a list where it is possible
to select the Group Name to edit. When the project does not contain any
electrode, the previous list contains only the “All” option, else the list contains
also all the electrode group names (Group_A/B/C/D in this example).

Figure 116: Current working group selection

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If a group name is selected then any modification that is done with the following
tools will be applied to the selected group, else if the “All” option is selected the
modification will involve all the groups together (they are managed as a unique
big group). In this last case a message is displayed before proceeding.

Figure 117: confirm to continue

It is strongly suggested to check the “Current working group” every time before to
apply any modification to avoid unexpected behaviour of the program.

• Linear Group generation: The following group of tools are related to the
creation of linear array of electrodes. To define correctly the group properties it
is necessary to specify some information as the length of the line, its direction
and its starting/ending point. The tools available in the program interface lets the
user set all these parameters; there are more ways to give the necessary
information but in any case the unset parameters are estimated by the program
and displayed for the user benefit.

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Figure 118: Linear group generation tool

o Electrodes - Count: specify the number of electrodes on the linear

group. It is related to the instrument used in the field, typically it is
a number like 24, 48, ...
o Electrodes - Spacing [m]: specify the distance between
electrodes. Only equally spaced arrays are accepted.
o Group Start - X[m]- Y[m] - Z[m]: specify the starting point of
the linear group in the 3D space. If the user desired to work in local
coordinates it is often set to (0,0,0).
o Group End - X[m] - Y[m] - Z[m]: specify the ending point of
the linear group in the 3D space. If the user desired to work in local
coordinates, Y and Z are set to 0 to have an alignment along the X
axis.

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o Dir X - Dir Y - Dir Z: specify the direction of the line. It is possible
to set only one of them at a time, but in special situations it is
allowed to have none of them selected.

Because is it not possible to freely edit all the previous parameters together,
the program helps the user to understand the derived values (written with a
grey colour) from the ones provided. In the following a couple of examples.

If “Count”, “Spacing”, “Group Start” and “Dir X” are specified, “Group End” is
automatically computed.

Figure 119: an example of linear group definition. Derived values highlighted in the blue rectangle

When the information is provided, click on one of the following buttons:

• Insert: a new group will be created. It will be asked for the name of
the new group (it can not be an already used one). The “Current
working group” will be automatically set to the new one, so it will be
easy to apply to it some other editing using the other tools available
in the panel.
• Update: the selected group is modified to the linear array specified.
It is possible to use this tool only if a specific Group is selected, so if
“All” is selected as current working group then the button is not
active If any change of the current working group happens then the
values shown in the current sub-panel are updated to fit the selected
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group features. If the selected group is not linear, the values shown
will be anyway useful to get some important characteristic of the
group, as the number of electrodes. When the editing is finished the
checkbox must be unchecked to disable the tool and to came back to
the default window.

• Continuous mouse append: this tool is used to freely add one or

more electrodes to the selected group, with a single click.

Figure 120: Continuous mouse append tools

When “Enable” is checked, the tool becomes active and further toll will
appears in the sub-panel, as it is shown in Figure 121; the main panel hides the
other tools because they can not be used at the same time, and the window
is locked on top of all the other windows to remember the user that this tool
is active.

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Figure 121: the Continuous mouse append tools is active

The new tools of the extended panel are already explained in this document:
the first one named “Continuous mouse append” is related to the method to add
electrodes and it is explained in 5.3.1 ELECTRODES_Tools_Table Paragraph; the
second one, the “Picker Tool” is related to the visibility of the mouse position,
as explained in III.TREE MENU_2. ORIENTATION TOOLS. The right
approach to use this tool is to select the desired group that needs to be
enlarged, then click on the 3D view with the right mouse button to add single
electrodes as is shown in the following picture. The electrodes are always
added at the end of the group.

Figure 122: an example obtained with single click on every electrode to create in the group

It is possible to add more electrodes with a single operation editing the fields “Num”
and “Step”, so with few clicks can be easily draw a complex layout, as it is shown in Figure
123.

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Figure 123: an example obtained with few click

If “All” option is selected as the “Current working group”, it will be created a new group,
and it will be asked to the user the new group name.

Figure 124: provide a group name

When the editing is completed, the checkbox must be unchecked to disable the tool and
to came back to the default window appearance.

• Modify current group: the following group of buttons are related to the
modification of existing group(s).

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Figure 125: Modify current group tools

o Delete: clicking this button the selected group will be permanently

removed from the dataset; a message box will be showed before
proceeding.

Figure 126: confirm message for “Delete” action

o Clone: clicking this button the program creates a new group exactly equal
to the selected group. The name of the new group must be specified.

The new group will be not easily visible in the 3D scene because the cloned
group source is displayed also. Cloning a group is often not the final target,
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but a starting point to something more complex: for example, a cloned
group can be moved to obtain parallel lines easily.

Figure 127: an example of a cloned group to obtain parallel lines

o Flip: clicking this button, the electrodes position in the group does not
change, but the direction is reversed. This can be easily verified visualizing
the ID of each electrode in the group.

Figure 128: the blue group is the flipped version of the red group

This operation is useful to define geometry and IDs of each cable in the
correct way, accordingly to the syntax needed by the instrument that will
be used in the field.

o Rotate: clicking this button, it is possible to rotate the selected group.

First, it will be asked for an angle of rotation (in degrees), so it is needed
to provide a value typically in the range from 0 to 360.

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Figure 129: it is needed to provide an angle of rotation

Then, it will be asked for the rotation centre, which will be the barycentre
of the group (by default, it is centred in X=0, Y=0).

Figure 130: it is needed to provide the centre of rotation

The following figure (Figure 131) shows two rotations of 30 degrees; the red
group is rotated using his barycentre to obtain the green group, or is
rotated centring on its first electrode to obtain the blue group.

Figure 131: an example of group rotation

o Scale: clicking this button, it is possible to change the size of the selected
group. First, it will be asked for the size ratio change; the default value is

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1 and it means that any variation will be applied. A scale factor greater
than 1 means that the group will be enlarged, a scale factor smaller than 1
(but greater than 0) means that the group will be made smaller.

Figure 132: it is needed to provide the scale factor

Then, it will be asked for the centre point for the scaling operation. In
the message that will be displayed the default (X,Y) values are the
barycentre of the group.

Figure 133: it is needed to provide the centre for scaling

The following figure shows two scaling factors applied: in the first
example, the red group is scaled of a factor 2, using his barycentre, to
obtain the green group. In the second example, the red group is scaled of
a factor 0.5, using as centre point its first electrode, to obtain the blue group
(Figure 134).

Figure 134: an example of the use of the “Scale” tool

• Move current group: the following group of buttons can be used to translate
group(s) of electrodes along the main axes.

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Figure 135: Move current group tools

The names of the buttons refer to the axis along which to make the
translation (the following images helps to understand the type of
movement applied by each button).

Figure 136: an example of the four basic displacement that can be applied along the X/Y axes (A) and along Z axis (B)

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The “Move amount” parameter can be used to set the amplitude of the
displacement at each mouse click. The default value is 1 (meter) but can
be changed to move the groups of the desired step.

5.3.3 Electrodes_Tools_REMOVE DUPLICATED

Click with the right mouse button on the node “Electrode”, choose “Tool”, and then
Remove Duplicated tool (Figure 137).

Figure 137: Electrode Tools_Remove Duplicateed

Through this tool it is possible to remove the duplicate points, which are two or
more measurements belonging to the same quadrupole. Duplicate measurements
may originate from an electrode recorded by the topographer two times with a small
difference or from two 2D lines which intersect each other not in correspondence
of the same electrode.

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Figure 138: setting of minimum distance for duplicated electrodes

The ‘Min Distance’ is the tolerance of the distance between two electrodes; at values
higher than those indicated the electrodes are considered as two individual entities;
at lower values the two electrodes are merged into a single electrode.

At the end of the process a window will appears with the information about the
number of duplicated quadrupoles removed, as it is shown in the following figure
(Figure 139).

Figure 139: skipped electrode message

5.3.4 Electrodes_Tools_IMPORT
Click with the right mouse button on the node “Electrode”, choose “Tool”, and then
Import tool (Figure 140).

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Figure 140: import electrodes tool

Through this tool it is possible to import some electrodes. It is possible to load:

• XYZ file (*.xyz; *.txt);

• DATA file (*.data; *.wDat; *.txt);
• Google Earth file (*.KMZ). In this last case the coordinates of the electrodes
must be in UTM system.

5.3.5 Electrodes_Tools_EXPORT
Click with the right mouse button on the node “Electrode”, choose “Tool”, and
then Export tool (Figure 141).

Figure 141: Electrode Tools_Eexport

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Through this tool it is possible to export a file with the coordinate of the electrodes
used in the loaded project. The exported file is a 3 column .txt file, as shown in Figure
142.

Figure 142: part of electrodes exported file

(X,Y,Z coordinates)

5.3.6 Electrodes_Tools_CENTRE CAMERA TO THIS

Figure 143: Electrode Tools_Centre camera to electrodes

Click with the right mouse button on the node “Electrode” and choose “Centre Camera
to This” (Figure 143).

When more than one item is load (object, electrodes, dxf…) it is possible that the
camera remained focused on one of these items and the others are out of the scene.
Whit this tool it is possible to centre the camera to the electrodes.

In the following example a cube is in the scene; with Auto Centre button (refers III.TREE
MENU_1. CAMERA) the camera zooms automatically to include all the object in the

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scene. If one or more objects are far from the others it is possible that one or more
items appears too small to be visualized. In fact, in the example the cube is too far
from the acquisition area to make electrodes visible (Figure 144). With this tool it is
possible to focus on what is in that moment more important to visualize.

CUBE INVESTIGATED
AREA

Figure 144: with ‘Auto Centre’ button the cube and the investigated area are included in the scene, but both of them are too small
to be appreciate

Through Centre Camera to This it is possible to centre the camera to the electrodes
(Figure 145).

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INVESTIGATED AREA

CUBE

Figure 145: centre camera to the Electrodes

In the same way, it is possible to centre the camera to the cube, clicking with the right
mouse button in the proper node (Figure 146).

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INVESTIGATED AREA

CUBE

Figure 146: Centre Camera to the cube

5.3.7 Electrodes_Tools_ RUN SEQUENCE GENERATION

By clicking with the right mouse button on the node “Electrode”, and choosing “Run
Sequence Generation”, it is possible to generate the desired data acquisition sequence.

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Figure 147: Run Sequence Generation

A. Select the array type

The first step consists in the choice of the type of array; the main configurations are
available (Figure 148).

Figure 148: Sequence generation, step 1; array definition.

Under each box is schematically represented the geometry of the relative sequence,
which are also described below. After having checked the desired sequence type, click
on Next button.

Figure 149: main electrodes array

B. Choose the array parameters

Once the array type has been selected, the Next button will open the panel for the choice
of the array parameters (Figure 150).
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Figure 150: Sequence generation, step 2; set array parameters

• Set the length of the RX-dipole (“a”), by

applying one of the mathematical notations
listed in IV. ADDENDUM_Mathematical Notations.

In the example, 1:1:5 is starting value: increment value: end value, so it gives the values
1,2,3,4,5.

The values are reported as electrodic distances,

so 1 means a length equal to the length of the
electrodes spacing, 2 a length equal to 2x length
of the electrodes spacing, 3 a length equal to 3x
length of the electrode spacing, etc.

• Set the increment for moving TX, by

applying one of the mathematical notations
listed IV. ADDENDUM_Mathematical Notations.
This value is expressed ad electrodes distance and is set to 1 by default but it can
be increased to reduce the number of measurements.
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• Set the distance between RX-dipole and TX-
dipole (“n”), by applying one of the
mathematical notations listed in IV. ADDENDUM_Mathematical Notations.
• In the example, -48:1:48 is starting value: increment value: end value, so it gives the
values -48,-47,-46,-45, ….,0,1,2,3,……47,48.
The values are reported to the dipole
distances, so 1 means a length equal to the
length of the TX-RX dipole, 2 a length equal
to 2x length of the TX-RX dipole, 3 a length
equal to 3x length of the TX-RX dipole, etc.

• Constrain the generation of quadrupole to geometric factor. If one of both the

options are selected, the quadrupoles are
generated only if the geometric factor K is
greater or less than the entered value. This
parameter is used to limit the number of measures and avoid the generation of
quadrupole with low signal/noise ratio (for example quadrupole with high “n”
value, so with a long distance between TX and RX). The second term is the most
important to set of the two, and indicatively it is correct to use a value of 1500*n
(with n the sampling distance, for example 1500 for electrodes 1m apart from
each other, 3000 for 2m and so on).

C. Select Insertion Mode

There are two methods for the generation of sequences:

• CABLE MODE: it generates the sequences for cross-cable mode, which is with
transmitters and receivers on different cables.

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Group_a Group_a
Group_b Group_b

Figure 151: Sequence Generation_Cable-mode insertion panel

It lets to manage borehole acquisition, surface acquisition with L or C

configuration and borehole-surface acquisitions.

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The panel is separated in TX cable tools and RX cable tools; in both cases it is
possible to choose if put the TX or RX in the same cable (Common-Cable fagged)
or in separated cable (X-Cable flagged). The following figure shows an example
for TX dipole (Figure 152); the same happens for RX dipole.

TX

TX TX TX

Figure 152: example of Common Cable/Cross Cable TX

The Group on which to put the RX and the TX is selectable on the bottom of the panel
checking the proper box (in Figure 153 two cable are load in the project, Goup_a cable
and Group_b cable.)

Figure 153: Groups where to put TR/TX.

Clicking on Run Sequence Generation button, an information message will appear when
the generation is done (Figure 154).

Figure 154: quadrupole generated information message

Starting again from the beginning of the sequence generation procedure and creating
new sequence, a new message will appear, to choose if add the new sequence to the
previous or to delete the older and keep only the last generated. In both cases the new
message will show the numbers of new quadrupole generated.

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Figure 155: panel to choose if remove or not the previous sequence

• GRID MODE: it generates the sequences for 2D surface profiles or 3D grids.

Figure 156: Sequence generation_Gird-mode insert panel.

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Through this panel it is possible to choose the quadrupole direction, which can
be along the main X and Y Axes and in diagonal; in the figure below each button
helps to make the right choice (Figure 157).

Figure 157: Choice of quadrupole acquisition direction

To switch to one insertion mode to the other, click on “Back” button (in yellow
in Figure 158) and choose the desired tool.

BOREHOLE
2D
L CONFIGURATION LINE

C CONFIGURATION

LOOP CONFIGURATION

BOREHOLE/SURFACE

Figure 158: Choice of sequence mode generation

5.3.8 Electrodes_Tools_ RUN MESH GENERATION

Clicking with the right mouse button on the node “Electrode”, and choosing “Run Mesh
Generation”, it is possible to configure the mesh.

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Figure 159: Mesh generation panel

The panel is divided into two main screens, Mesh and Model.

The Mesh panel is in turn divided into three main areas: Mesh Setting, Foreground Region
and Background Region.

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A. Mesh
▪ Mesh Setting

In this area there are tools for setting the mesh in relation to the topography and the
disposition of the electrodes in the 3D space.

Figure 160: Mesh Setting panel_shape of the mesh

If Flat Grid is active, the top and the bottom of the mesh surface are flat, so there is
not topography information.

Otherwise, if the Flat Grid is not active, the top of the mesh follows the topography
trend. The geometry of the bottom of mesh is set by “Flat Z bottom foreground
bound” tool: if it is active, the bottom of the mesh is flat, otherwise it also follows the
topography trend.

The icons of the tool changes in function of their checking and this helps to make the
better choice.

Summarizing, there are three possible cases:

▪ 1° case: Flat Grid active:

In this case, the mesh is flat so there is no topographic information.
▪ 2° case: Flat Grid not active, Flat Z bottom active:
In this case the top of the mesh follows the topography.
The volume of the individual cells of the mesh does not change, so there will be
parts of the mesh with cells more "stretched" and areas with cells more
"squeezed".
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▪ 3° case: Flat Grid not active, Flat not Z bottom active:
In this case both the top and the bottom of the mesh follows the topography, so
the thickness of the mesh is constant, and the cells have all the same size.

These three cases are shown in the following figure (Figure 161), where there is a simple
synthetic case on the left and a more complex real case on the right.

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SCHEMATIC REAL CASE

1° CASE

Z(m)
Z(m)

X(m)

2° CASE

Z(m)
Z(m)

X(m)

3° CASE

Z(m)
Z(m)

X(m)

Figure 161: examples of different kinds of mesh

If the mesh has the topographic information (previous case 2 and 3), it may happen
that the z coordinates of one or more electrodes are not consistent with the topography
file. In most cases, the Z information of the topography is more accurate that the Z of

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the electrodes, so it is convenient to adapt the electrodes to the mesh, through the
dedicated button:

Figure 162: Mesh Setting panel_adapt electrodes elevation to mesh

If for some reason the Z of the electrodes must be taken into consideration, for example
if the topography file is not a DEM (Digital Elevation Model) but it is composed just
by some scattered point, it is possible to add the electrode Z terrain to the topography
file, through the dedicated button:

Figure 163: Mesh Setting panel_add electrodes elevation to topography

Below it is shown a schematic example, with an unrealistic gap between the information
of Z electrodes and Z topography: the electrodes follow a sinusoidal shaped curve and
the topography is instead flat.

In one case the “Add electrodes Z terrain to topography” is active, so the electrodes remain
fixed and the mesh changes shape to adapt to the Z electrodes trend (on the left in the
following figure); at the contrary, if “Update Elevation for Surface marked electrodes (Adapt to
Mesh)” is active, the mash remains flat and the electrodes move to its surface (on the
right in Figure 164).

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Add electrodes Z terrain to Adapt to mesh

topography

Figure 164: examples of different kind of mesh in relation to the rule of the Z electrodes information

If there is any topography file loaded, flagging “Add electrodes Z terrain to topography” the
topography is deduced from the Z electrodes coordinates information.

The last tool of the Mesh Setting panel lets to manage the position of the electrode in
relation to the node mesh position, in the XY plane.

Figure 165: Mesh Setting panel_adapt grid to electrodes

In fact, it is possible that the position of one or more electrodes does not coincide with
any node of the mesh, as in the following example (Figure 166); in this case it is possible
to distort the mesh so that the electrodes position coincide with its nodes.

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A B

Figure 166: in A, “Adapt grid to electrode” is not checked so the electrodes not coincident with the node moves on the nearest
node; in B “Adapt grid to electrode” is flagged so the mesh is deformed to adapt the node to the position of the electrodes, which
does not change position.

▪ Foreground Region

The mesh is divided into two main areas, the background and the foreground region.

The Foreground Region (red area in Figure 167) is the portion of the mesh which
includes the investigated area and is defined by the geometry of the electrodes on the
ground; outside it there is the Background Region which defines an area theoretically
infinite necessary for the mitigation of the boundaries effects.

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FOREGROUND REGION

BACKGROUND REGION

Figure 167: Background and Foreground regions

It is possible to set the parameters of the Foreground Region through the dedicated table.
By default, the limits values are the same of the maximum and minimum electrodes
coordinates and the size of the cell is half the
minimum electrodes distance of the data set. To
obtain these default values click on “Compute Optimum
Value” button; doing it the software will compute the
more appropriate values for the table, basing on the
electrodes spacing.

However, it is possible to change these values writing in the table the desired numbers.
In particular, it is advisable to check the Element Size dimension because it may be
excessively small: if for some logistic reason two electrodes were placed in the ground
at a distance significantly lower than all the other electrodes, the software will consider
half of this minimum distance as the size of the cells of the entire mesh. For example,
if all the electrodes are at 2 m of distance each other except 2 electrodes which are at
0.4m of distance, the correct cell size value is 1m and not 0.2 m as the software suggests,
as it is shown in the following figure (Figure 168).

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Correct mesh (Element size Incorrect mesh (Element size

equivalent to ½ electrodes equivalent to 1/5 electrodes
distance) distance)

Figure 168: example of two mesh with different cell sizes

If the bottom of the mesh is flat, the Z-Depth is not editable and the proper row is greyed
out because there is not a constant thickness but a minimum and maximum value of
the Z (the positive values are above the surface and the negative underground); vice
versa, if the bottom of the mesh follows the topography the thickness is constant, so
the Z-Depth is editable (Figure 169).

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Case A: not constant thickness

Z max
Z (m)

Z min (m)

Case B: constant thickness

Z-DEPTH

Figure 169: Mesh_Z parameter setting

In the following figure (Figure 170) it is shown an example of Foreground Region generated
by the values reported in the table; the distance between electrodes is 1m so the size of
the cell is 0.5m.

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B
A
1m

0.5m

0.5m
C
D

Figure 170: in A Foreground Region table. In B detail of the mesh with the size of the cell. In C e D the Foreground Region of the mesh in two different
points of view

▪ Background Region

The Background Region is the portion of the mesh which is outside the Foreground
Region and defines an area theoretically infinite necessary for the mitigation of the
boundary’s effects.

FOREGROUND REGION

BACKGROUND REGION

Figure 171: in red, the background region

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The dimensions of the Background Region are defined by the pads: each number manage
the position of a background node.

The number n means nx the size of the foreground element; for example if the size of
the cell in X is 0.5 m, 1 mean 0.5m (1x0.5), 2 mean 1m (2x0.5), 4 mean 2m (4x0.5) and
8 mean 4m (8x0.5), as it is shown in the following example (Figure 172).

(0.5x8)m 4m
(0.5x4)m 2m
(0.5x2) 1m
(0.5x1) 0.5 m

BACKGROUND REGION

Figure 172: definition of background limits through pads

It is possible to increase or decrease the dimensions of the background adding or

deleting the pads number in the table. The pad numbers may be different in X, Y and
Z axes; clicking on Compute Optimal Value they will be automatically calculated until 64.

Figure 173: Background region_Pad setting

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If you change the pads in the Background region from the automatically calculated pads,
make sure that the remote pole (if it exists) is included in the mesh. To do that, after
generating the mesh make the remote pole visible (as explained in III. TREE MENU_5.
ERT DATA) and verify that it is into the mesh, unchecking Foreground Only tool (as
explained in Paragraph 5.6).

B. Model

In the Model panel it is possible to set the Background Resistivity and IP values that will
be used as starting values during the inversion process; these values are automatically
calculated through “Compute Optimal Value” function, but it is possible to change them
writing the desired numbers in the dedicated boxes. To make the right choice it is useful
to consider the median and the average value in the Resistivity/IP Histogram panel
(more details in Paragraph 5.4.3).

Figure 174: Append Anomaly in model table

Moreover, through the dedicated table, it is possible to insert one or more anomalies in
the Mesh, or a known stratigraphy. To do it, click with the right mouse button on the
table and chose “Append Anomaly”. An empty row will be added to the table, to compile
with the desired parameters; repeat this operation to add more anomalies. In the
following example three Resistivity anomalies are added at the model; it is possible to
choose the position and dimension of the anomaly setting the X, Y and Z coordinates.
In the following example, the Background Resistivity is 173 Ohm*m and the Resistivity
of the anomalies are 20, 500 and 300 Ohm*m.

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Figure 175: three customized anomalies added to the Model

The same procedure is applicable for the insertion of IP anomalies, clicking with the
right mouse button on the Type box and choosing IP instead of Resistivity.

To actually take in count the anomalies during the inversion, check “constrain to
reference model” in inversion panel, as described in Paragraph 5.3.11.

Once the Mesh and the Model panels have been compiled with the appropriate
parameters, clicking on “Run Mesh Generation” the mesh will be created. This process can
take a little or a long processing time, depending on the mesh size and the number of
cells.

To custom the Mesh visualization mode use the dedicated node, as explained in
Paragraph 5.6.7.
The variations of Resistivity values of the model are displayable in several ways: through
contour lines, volumes, surfaces or sections (all these tools are explained in detail in
Paragraphs 5.6.8). Some of them are shown below (Figure 176).

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A B

C D

Figure 176: example of different way to display the starting model

In A and B and C cases are displayed the topography (in dark green), the mesh (grey
cells) and the three model anomalies (in purple, light green and light blue) as volumes,
from two different points of view.

In case D is displayed the topography (in dark green), the mesh (grey cells) and the three
anomalies through two vertical sections.

5.3.9 Electrodes_Tools_ RUN FORWARD MODEL

By clicking with the right mouse button on the node “Electrode”, and choosing “Run
Forward Model”, the dedicated panel will be opened:

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Figure 177: Forward Model Panel

Through this panel it is possible to set the boundary conditions and the solver parameter
for the forwards model.

To define the area under investigation, the half-space domain is delimited with artificial
boundaries that simulate plans infinitely distant in horizontal and vertical direction.

The values at these borders "infinitely distant" (-X, +X, -Y, +, -Z, +Z) can be specified
using the dedicated tool, choosing between:

- Dirichlet condition, in which the potential is known and set equal to zero: V=0.
This is the typical condition of “infinite” half-space in which at the increase of
the distance from the electrodes the potential decreases to zero.
- Neumann condition, in which the current flow is zero (derivative of the
potential equal to zero): ∂V/∂ η =0, with η equal to z for the bottom edge or
equal to x for the lateral ones. In particular, this condition occurs at the interface
air-ground because the conductivity of the air is almost zero and in all those cases
in which the half space is abruptly interrupted in one direction (vertical walls, big
topographical jumps...)
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- Mixed Condition, the Dirichlet condition may lead to values of the potential
underestimated (at a certain distance from the sources), while the Neumann
Condition may lead to an overestimation. In this case it can be useful to use a
Mixed boundary condition; this is the case of remote pole, which are typically
close to the outer edges of the mesh, and so the potential is still not zero at the
boundary.

Figure 178: choice of boundary

conditions

By default, the boundaries of all directions are set to Mixed condition; to change it click
with the right mouse button on the wanted box and choose the desired condition.

In the same panel it is possible to set other parameters:

▪ Maximum Number of iterations: when the number of conjugate

gradient iterations exceeds
this value, the
computation stops: the
forward modelling
solution do not get the
convergence within the
requested tolerance for
the modelled electrode.
Figure 179: Forward solver setup panel

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▪ Omega (SQR preconditioning): this is the value of the conjugate
gradient preconditioner in the forward modelling solution. Users can
ignore this parameter.
▪ Tolerance: this is the value of tolerance requested in the iterative
conjugate gradient forward modelling solution.
▪ Modelled Source: by checking this command only TX electrodes will be
calculated in the finite elements modelling to get faster runs during
forward modelling-only tasks.
▪ IP Modelling: with ERTLab Studio it is possible to invert Electrical
Resistivity (Rho) and Induced Polarization (IP) models at the same time.
To include the IP data in the inversion process, check this IP box.
▪ CPU Num Core: this value depends by the hardware features of the
computer on which you are working. More threads can be used for the
inversion, more the time processing decreases.
▪ Temporary Processing Files: it lets to choose where to save the folder
with the temporary files of the intermediate steps of the inversion process.

When all the parameters are manually set or automatically calculated through Compute
Optimal Values button, click on Run Forward Model to let the process start.

5.3.10 Electrodes_Tools_ RUN SENSITIVITY

Clicking with the right mouse button on the node “Electrode”, and choosing “Run
Sensitivy”, the dedicated panel will be opened.

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Figure 180: Run Sensitivity Panel

It is divided into two main panels: Sensitivity and Forward Solver Setup; the latter is the
same already explained in the Paragraph 5.3.10. In the Sensitivity panels it is possible to
set the number of quadrupoles on which to compute the sensitivity.

The sensitivity is an index of how much a change in resistivity of the soil affects the
measurement of potential; the two parameters are directly proportional.

It is possible to compute the sensitivity of a specific quadrupole or of all quadrupoles

together.

In the first case, uncheck the ‘All

Quadrupoles’’ box and write in the proper
space the number of the quadrupoles (1
in Figure 181). Abs box lets to choose if
consider the positive and negative Figure 181: Sensitivity panel

values, or only the absolute values. In the second case, check the ‘All Quadrupoles’ box.
The Abs is automatically activated and it is not possible to uncheck it to avoid errors in
the sensitivity: the sum of positive and negative superimposed areas, resulting from
different quadrupoles, can leads to uncorrected values of final sensitivity.

Clicking on Run Sensitivity button the process will start. A progress message and a Process
Completed message will appear during and at the end of the elaboration (Figure 182).

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Figure 182:Sensitivity Model computation

It is possible to visualize the results using the proper node “Sensitivity Model” (sub-node
of Mesh and Model node, refers to Paragraph 5.6.11).

In the following example (Figure 183), a full quadrupoles sensitivity is calculated and
visualized trough sections and volumes. As expected, the maximum sensitivity is in
proximity of the electrodes.

VOLUME MAX VOLUME MIN

SECTIONS SECTIONS

Figure 183: example of different visualizations of Sensitivity Model

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5.3.11 Electrodes_Tools_ RUN INVERSION
Clicking with the right mouse button on the node “Electrode”, and choosing “Run
Inversion”, the dedicated panel will be opened (Figure 184).

Figure 184: Run Inversion Panel

• Data Error

In a good model, the difference (misfit) between the acquired data and modelled
data is sufficiently small (it solves the inversion problem). However, filed data are
affected by errors (noise): for this reason, the inversion processing does not search
for the models that exactly reproduces the field data but for the model which
reproduces the filed data without a certain noise.

In this panel it is possible to set all the mathematical parameters to estimate this
error before to compute the inversion; a dedicated tool lets to set the Error of
the Rho and of the IP in term of percent error or constant value (indicatively, 1
for very clean data, 3-5 for data with medium signal/noise ratio, 10 or more for
very noisy data).

Figure 185: Data error panel

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• Iterations

Inversion process proceeds by ‘trials’ to determine optimal roughness parameters

to use on each iteration. This operation can take a long time, so it is possible to
choose the number of trials to run on each iteration.

Clicking with the left mouse button on Inversion Type window, it is possible to
choose between three main options:

o Simple (4 1): it performs 4 trials at the first iteration and 1 trial from the second
iteration onwards.
o Complete (4): it performs 4 trials at each iteration, from the first to the last.
o Custom: it let to choose the number of trials at each iteration, writing the
desired numbers in the dedicated box.

In Maximum number of Inversion Iterations it is possible to set the number to iteration

to compute for the Rho and for the IP separately. The complete sequence of the
trials iterations resulted from the set values is shown in the Rough Trials Iter, as is
shown in the following example (Figure 186).

In the following example it is show a custom inversion where a maximum of 15

iterations are performed; at the first iteration, 4 trial are performed, at the second
2 and from the third to the last (maximum 15) only 1.

Figure 186: custom iteration

• IP Modeling

ERTLab Studio can simultaneously process Electrical Resistivity (Rho) and

Induced Polarization (IP) data. To include the IP data in the inversion, check the
proper box.
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Figure 187: IP Modelling panel

• CPU Num Core:

This value depends by the hardware features of the computer on which you are
working. More threads can be used for the inversion, more the time processing
decreases.

Figure 188: IP Modelling panel_CPU setting

• Temporary Processing Files:

It lets to choose where to save the folder with the temporary files of the
intermediate steps of the inversion process.

Figure 189: IP Modeling panel_temporary file folder setting

Clicking on Show Advanced button, a panel with further, more specific tools will appear
(Figure 189).

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Figure 190: advanced inversion panel

It is divided into 3 sub-panels: Inversion, Noise and Forward Solver Setup.

Some tools are the same already exposed in this User Guide. In addition, it is possible
to set the following parameters.

In INVERSION PANEL:

• Maximum internal Inverse PCG Iterations: this is the maximum number of

“inner” iterations in the conjugate gradient inversion solver at each iteration. The
higher the number of iterations the more the solution of the system of equations
will approach the analytical solution, but the slower the inversion. A value of 15
is usually enough. For simple 2D inversions this value can be increased to 30.

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• Tolerance for Inverse PCG iterations: this is the requested tolerance for the
conjugate gradient inversion solver.
• Initial Roughness Factor: it let to set the value to use as Roughness Factor at the
beginning of inversion process. Almost always the default (10) is the best choice.
• Multiplier for changing Roughness Factor: when it is used the simple
inversion type for the inversion (trials 4 1), the roughness parameter used results
from the parameter of previous roughness divided by the multiplication factor
set through this tool.
• Factor < 1 for choosing optimal Roughness Factor: the optimal roughness
factor is chosen based on the minimum data residual with a given tolerance that
is defined by this factor. Users can ignore this parameter.
• Constant value for parameters weight: these weights of the roughness
parameters allows to control the roughness trend in the three directions, x, y and
z. By default, they are the same in the three directions.
• Smoothness Constrain: unchecking this command will involve that the
smoothness constrain of adjacent cells will be applied only at the model blocks
variations “dmi” at each iteration “i”. When checked, the smoothness constrain
of adjacent cells will be applied to both model blocks variations and model blocks
values.
• Constrain to reference model: checking this command will constrain the
solution to the starting model at each iteration. If during the model setting one
or more anomalies have been inserted (refers to Paragraph 5.3.8), users have to
check this box to take them into account during the inversion.

In NOISE PANEL:

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Figure 191: advanced noise panel

• Use Robust inversion (data errors reweight): generally, the model does not
constitute exactly the real distribution of data but just an approximation of it, so
it is advisable to adopt a Robust Inversion. In this case, the results are relatively
insensitive to changes in assumptions of the statistical model. At the contrary, in
case of not robust inversion there will be abrupt variations even in
correspondence to small changes of data distribution. If “Use Robust Inversion” is
flagged, the noise is appropriately modified during the inversion after each
iteration, to reduce the "weight" to those measures which are heavily affected by
errors (outliers) and therefore are not relevant to the model. It is possible to set
even the number to reweight iteration for Rho and for IP, distinctly.

The FORWRAD SOLVER SETUP panel is the same already exposed in Paragraph
5.3.9.

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Figure 192: Forward Solver Setup panel

When all the parameters of all three sub-panels are set, click on Run Inversion button to
let the inversion starts; chose and select the project folder where the inversion files will
be automatically saved. A progress window of the processing will appear on the screen
and it will be completed automatically as the elaboration proceeds. When processing
ends, a warning message will be displayed (Figure 193).

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PROGRESS OF Cross-plot between

INVERSION
modeled data
The bars represent the
and filed data.
accuracy of the Inversion

Figure 193: Run Inversion progress

The inversion summary chart is automatically saved in the project folder (chosen when
the inversion was started) with the name RES Iter nTrialn (with n as number of
iteration and trial).

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A good inversion gives a diagram where:

• The histograms decrease in height as iterations proceed (as a consequence of

the residual decreasing);
• The last bar of the histogram corresponds in height to the red line (Data
residual, ideal inversion target = number of measurements to process).
• There is a low number (7 in the example) of iterations (easy convergence).

Figure 194: Histogram chart of a reliable inversion

• At the end of the inversion, the plot between field data and calculated data is near
to 1:1 ratio, and data are distributed along the diagonal;
• Abnormal values (outliers, yellow dots, where the absolute difference between
modelled data and measured data is high) are in the minority.

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Figure 195: cross-plot of a reliable inversion

In the following example, a summary chart of a not successful inversion.

• The histograms remain at a constant height from iteration 6 to 12 (no progresses

at the proceed of inversion) and at the last 2 iterations they are opposite to the
trend, reaching very high residual values;

• The last bar in the histogram does not match the red target line;

• High number of iterations (14 iterations), for difficulty in convergence.

Figure 196: Histogram chart of a not reliable inversion

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• At the end of the inversion, the plot between field data and calculated data is far
from the diagonal (in this case they are align along 0 of calculated V/I)
• Outliers (yellow dots, where the absolute difference between modelled data and
measured data is high) are the most data and they are distributed almost evenly
throughout the cross-plot.

Figure 197: cross-plot of a not reliable inversion

In this case it is necessary check and eventually further clean the field data, edit the
noise and/or the starting model and proceed again with inversion.

5.4 MEASUREMENTS
This element is used to display and manage the measurements available in the dataset,
acquired and calculated data.

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Figure 198: Measurement panel

As for other nodes exposed in the previous paragraphs, even for this it is possible to
make it visible or not and to set the level of Transparency (refers to 3. AXES). In addition,
there are others dedicated elements, which are described below.

• Size [px]: it is the size of the points which represent every single measure in the
3D space. It is expressed in pixels.

Figure 199: different size of Apparent Resistivity points

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• Measurement Type: it is possible to choose the type of measurements to visualize
using this pop-up menu. The available measurements are:
o V/I [Ohm]
o Apparent Resistivity [Ohm*m]
o IP [mV/V]
o K [m]
o V[mV]
o I [mA]
o Standard Deviation V/I [Ohm]
o Standard Deviation IP [mV/V]
o Calculated V/I [Ohm]
o Calculated Apparent Resistivity [Ohm*m]
o Calculated IP [mV/V]
o Calculated Standard Deviation V/I [Ohm]
o Calculated Standard Deviation IP [mV/V]

Clicking with the right mouse button on the node “Measurements”, the panel with
the same voices already explained in 5.3 ELECTRODES Paragraph will appear.
Centre Camera to this, Run Sequence Generation, Run Mesh Generation, Run Forward
Model, Run Sensitivity and Run Inversion are completely analogous to those already
described.

At the contrary, “Tool” is different from Electrodes Tool; the Figure 200 shows the
proper panel.

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Figure 200: Measurements tools panel

All the tools are explained in detail in the following Paragraphs.

5.4.1 Measurements_Tools_TABLE
It is a table containing all the available measurements. To the contrary of electrode table,
it is a not editable table, so it is not possible to change the values of the boxes.

Figure 201: Measurements table

At the opening, the table shows the following columns:

o ID: Identification Number;

o Gr_A: Name of the group to which the electrode A belongs;
o El_A: Number of electrode A;
o Gr_B: Name of the group to which the electrode B belongs;
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o El_B: Number of electrode B;
o Gr_M: Name of the group to which the electrode M belongs;
o El_M: Number of electrode M;
o Gr_N: Name of the group to which the electrode N belongs;
o El_N: Number of electrode N;
o V [mV]: Electrical Potential;
o V/I [Ohm]: Resistance;
o App Res [Ohm*m]: Apparent Resistivity;
o Current [mA]: Current between El_A and El_B;
o IP [mV/V]: Induced Polarization;
o Standard Deviation V[V]; Standard deviation of Electrical Potential;
o Standard Deviation V/I [Ohm]; Standard deviation of Resistance;
o Skip: if it is “true”, the data is not used for the inversion, but it is not deleted from
the dataset memory.

Further voices are available clicking with the right mouse button al choosing “Show All”
(Figure 202).

Figure 202: Measurement Table_Show all visible columns

o X [m]: X Coordinate of the electrode;

o Y [m]: Y Coordinate of the electrode;
o Z [m]: Z Coordinate of the electrode;

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o K [m]: Geometrical Factor;
o StdDev V [%]: Standard Deviation of Electrical Potential in percentage;
o StdDev V/I [%]: Standard Deviation of Resistance in percentage;
o StdDev IP [mV/V]: Standard Deviation of Induced Potential;
o Calc V[V]: Post Inversion/Post Forward Model Electrical Potential;
o Calc V/I [Ohm]: Post Inversion/Post Forward Model Resistance;
o Calc App Res [Ohm*m]: Post Inversion/Post Forward Model Apparent Resistivity;
o Calc IP [mV/V]: Post Inversion/Post Forward Model Induced Potential;
o Calc StdDev V[V]: Post Inversion/Post Forward Model Electrical Potential;
o Calc StdDev V/I[Ohm]: Post Inversion/Post Forward Model Resistance;
o Calc StdDev V [%]: Post Inversion/Post Forward Model Electrical Potential in
percentage;
o Calc StdDev V/I [%]: Post Inversion/Post Forward Model Resistance in percentage;
o Calc StdDev IP [mV/V]: Post Inversion/Post Forward Model Induced Polarization;
o Calc StdDev IP [%]: Post Inversion/Post Forward Model Induced Polarization in
percentage.

Clicking with the left mouse button in one title of one column all data are sorted in
increasing values of that column; clicking one second times on the same column, data
will be sorted by decreasing values.

In the following example, data are sorted by increasing Apparent Resistivity (Figure 203).

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Figure 203: sorting of Measurements Table. By default, it is sorted by increasing ID

Clicking with the right mouse button in any point of the table it is possible to:

o Set skip to true: in this way the quadrupole is not used for the inversion,
even if it is not deleted from the data file;
o Set skip to false: in this way the quadrupole is used for the inversion; by
default, all quadrupoles are skip “false”;
o Delete: in this way the selected data is deleted from the project.

It is possible to do multiple selections; clicking in the first and last row of the selection
and holding the SHIFT button all the lines between are selected (Figure 204).

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Figure 204: sequential selection

Otherwise, to select more than one line, but in a non-sequential position, click on the
desired lines holding Ctrl button (Figure 205):

+
+ +

Figure 205: non-sequential selection

5.4.2 Measurements_Tools_REMOVE DUPLICATED

With this tool it is possible to eliminate the duplicate and reciprocal measurements.

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Figure 206: Remove duplicated Panel

Reciprocal Measurements has Transmitters (Tx, AB) and Receivers (Rx, MN) reversed.
Theoretically, they should give the same measure.

Schematically, in a quadrupoles AB_MN:

Clicking on Remove Duplicated button, at the end of the computation, a message will
appear with information about the number of reciprocal quadrupoles and the difference
of percentage average of Apparent Resistivity (Figure 207).

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Figure 207: Duplicate/Reciprocal message

Clicking on Ok button, a new window will open, to choose what to do with the
duplicated/reciprocal measurements.

It is possible to:

• Export Report to CSV: choosing this option it

is possible to export a .CSV file with information
about duplicate/reciprocal measurements.
• Remove Duplicated: choosing this option, the
duplicate/reciprocal measurements are deleted
Figure 208: Remove Duplicated Measurements
from the dataset.
• Set as Noise: in this case the duplicate/reciprocal measurements are attributed
to Rho noise % in the inversion (Paragraph 5.3.11).

5.4.3 Measurements_Tools_HISTOGRAM
With this tool it is possible to visualize the measurements as Histograms, to have an
easier representation of data distribution.

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Figure 209: Histogram panel

The panel that opens has the tools to manage and visualize the measures as histograms.

A. Choose the type of measurement: it is possible to visualize the histogram

of:

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o V/I [Ohm]
o Apparent Resistivity [Ohm*m]
o IP [mV/V]
o K [m]
o V [mV]
o I [mA]
o Standard Deviation V/I [Ohm]
o Standard Deviation V[V]
o Standard Deviation IP [mV/V]
o Standard Deviation IP [%]
o Calculated V/I [Ohm]
o Calculated Apparent Resistivity [Ohm*m]
o Calculated IP [mV/V] Figure 210: choice of mesumenent to display as
histogram
o Calculated Standard Deviation V/I [Ohm]
o Calculated Standard Deviation IP [mV/V]
o Calculated Standard Deviation IP [%]

B. Optionally increase the number of bars of the histogram and set the
logarithmic display mode for a better data distribution representation. In the
following examples the histogram represent the V/I measurement with
linear display mode (Figure 211A), logarithmic display mode with 20 bars
(Figure 211B) and logarithmic display mode with 50 bars (Figure 211C).

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Figure 211: logarithmic and number of bars setting

C. Select outside limits to filter data external to cut limits values and preserve
the internal data; otherwise, selecting inside limits data inside the cut limits
are deleted. In the following example (Figure 212), data range is set to -1 as
minimum value and to 9.5 as maximum value; in the first case are skipped
the measurements outside the limits, in the second case those internal.

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-1 9.5 Ohm

Skip inside limits data Skip outside limits data

Figure 212: Filtering Outside/Inside limits data

D. Check the amount of deleted data after the application of filtering, in the
Statistical Summary panel, where are reported the Minimum and Maximum
values of the dataset, the Average and Median value, the total number of
measurement and the numbers of skipped data.

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13.77% of
measures
filtered

Figure 213: data Statistics in Histogram Panel

The skipped data are not deleted but are excluded from the inversion processing; after
the filtering process, the table is automatically updated and the skipped data are greyed
out (Figure 214).

Figure 214: in grey, filtered measurement

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However, it is possible to delete them from the project (Paragraph 5.4.8).

5.4.4 Measurements_Tools_SCATTER PLOT

With this tool it is possible to visualize the measurements as X-Y dispersion plot, to
have an easier representation of data distribution.

Figure 215: Scatter plot Panel

The panel that opens has the tools to manage and visualize the measures as scatterplot.

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In the left side it is possible to choose the type of measurement to display, one for the
X-axis and one for the Y-axis. By clicking in the proper window, it is possible to choose
between:

• V/I [Ohm]
• Apparent Resistivity [Ohm*m]
• IP [mV/V]
• K [m]
• V [mV]
• I [mA]
• Standard Deviation V/I [Ohm]
• Standard Deviation V[V]
• Standard Deviation IP [mV/V]
• Standard Deviation IP [%]
• Calculated V/I [Ohm]
• Calculated Apparent Resistivity [Ohm*m]
• Calculated IP [mV/V]
• Calculated Standard Deviation V/I [Ohm]
• Calculated Standard Deviation IP [mV/V]
• Calculated Standard Deviation IP [%]
• ID
• EI A ID
• EI B ID
• EI N ID
• X
• Y’
• Z’

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5.4.5 Measurements_Tools_DELETE
With this tool it is possible to delete some measurement. To do that, click on Delete
button; an information window will show the total number of measurements and the
number of skipped measurements.

Figure 216: Delete measurements button

If there is not any skipped data, clicking on OK button all the not-skipped data are
removed (Figure 217).

ALL MEASUREMENTS DELETED

Figure 217: Delete measurement with no skipped data

At the contrary, if some skipped data are present it is possible to choose if delete them
or those remaining (Figure 218). Clicking on OK button the measurements are deleted
from the dataset.
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12308 measurements

11279/12308 measurements 0/12308 measurements

Figure 218: remove measurements with skipped data

5.4.6 Measurements_Tools_EXPORT
Through this tool it is possible to export a .txt file with information about electrodes
and measurements.

Figure 219: Export button

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The saved file is a .txt file where the first part shows the coordinate of the electrode and
in the next part the electrodes that constitute the quadrupole ABMN of each
measurement (Figure 220).

ELECTRODES
QUADRUPOLES

Figure 220: Export measurements table

5.4.7 Measurements_COLOUR SCALE

Through this tool it is possible to set the property of the colour scale used to visualize
the measurements points and the Resistivity/Conductivity/IP/Sensitivity Models. The proper
panel shows the following items:

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Figure 221: Colour Scale panel

• Visible: it makes the colour scale visible or not in the 3D space, as it is

shown in the following figure (Figure 222).

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Figure 222: Setting of visibility of colour scale in measurement node

• Transparency: through the slider it is possible to set the transparency of the

colour scale, as shown below (Figure 223). As the slide shifts to the right, the
colour scales become increasingly transparent.

Figure 223: different levels of transparency of the colour scale.

• Vertical: if this tool is checked, the colour scale is in vertical position;

otherwise it is visualized horizontal in the 3D space.

Figure 224: Colour Scale in horizontal and vertical position

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To better appreciate the other tools, in the following examples the colour scale refers
to the Resistivity Model and not to measurement points.

• Log Scale: it turns the scale from linear to logarithmic; as the following
example shows, the colours of the scale are the same, but the steps values are
different (the number at the centre of the bar is 36 in logarithmic scale and 75
in linear scale). Consequently, also the representation mode of resistivity model
changes and in some cases it helps to better appreciate the resistivity variation
of interest.

Figure 225: example of logarithmic scale, on left, and linear scale, on the right

• Inverted Scale: it inverts the colours arrangement inside the colour scale, so
the colour associate with the maximum value will be associate to minimum
value and vice versa. Consequently, also the representation of the resistivity
model changes. In the following example, in not-inverted colour scale the
minimum value corresponds to purple colour; in Inverted Scale to red (Figure 226).

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Figure 226: example of inverted colour scale

• Symmetric scale: checking this box, the selected colour scale becomes
symmetrical with respect to the centre.

symmetrical

Figure 227: example of Symmetrical colour scale

• Position: it is possible to choose the position of the colour scale in the scene,
writing the desired number (from 0 to 1) in the proper box or using the slider
which appears positioning the mouse on the box (without clicking); the colour
scale will move laterally in case of vertical checkbox active and from the top
to the bottom if horizontal mode is active, as shown below (Figure 228).

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Figure 228: example of different positions of vertical and horizontal colour scale in the 3D scene

• Offset: through this tool it is possible to set the position of the colour scale in
the direction perpendicular to those set through Position tool.

Figure 229: example of different offset of vertical and horizontal colour scale in the 3D scene

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• Width: it is possible to choose the width of the colour scale in the scene,
writing the desired number (from 0 to 1) in the proper box or using the slider
which appears positioning the mouse on the box (without clicking); in the
following example two different width are set (Figure 230).

Figure 230: example of different colour scale widths

• Height: : it is possible to choose the height of the colour scale in the scene,
writing the desired number (from 0 to 1) in the proper box or using the slider
which appears positioning the mouse on the box (without clicking); in the
following example two different widths are set (Figure 231).

Figure 231: example of different colour scale heights

• Number of labels: it allows to choose how many labels to display in the

colour scale, as it is shown in the following example (Figure 232).

Figure 232: example of different colour scale number of labels

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• Number of digits: it allows to choose how many digits to display in the labels
of the colour scale, as it is shown in the following example (Figure 233).

Figure 233: example of different number of digits of the labels of the colour scale

• Size: it allows to choose the size of labels and title of the colour scale, as it is
shown in the following example (Figure 234).

Figure 234: example of different size of labels and title of the colour scale.

• Colour: it allows to choose the colour of labels and title of the colour scale;
it is black by default and it turns in red in the following example (Figure 235).

Figure 235: example of different colour of labels and title of the colour scale.

• Data range: it allows to set the minimum and the maximum values of the
colour scale, writing the desired values in the proper boxes, or using the slider
which appears positioning the mouse on the box (without clicking).

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A B

Figure 236: different data range displayed; in A the data range of Colour scale is 1.22-440 (the entire data set), too wide to appreciate the
distribution of the physical property in 3D model; in B the limits of colour scale are 15-220 and the Resistivity distribution is more visible

To help the user to set the more appropriate values, an histogram lets to appreciate the
amount of data respect the colours distribution; changing the extreme numbers of the
colour scale a low-cut and high-cut threshold bars will appears in the histogram in
correspondence of the new minimum and maximum set values; this allows to better
visualize the distribution of the physical property of the model, as it is shown in the
following figure (Figure 237).

Min Value Max

Value

SELECTED
COLOUR SCALE

Saturation

Figure 237: saturation of Colour Scale in function of minimum and maximum values setting

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The selected colour scale occupies the portion of histogram between the two
bars, where most of the data are. Outside these cut-off bars the colour bar goes
into saturation; this mean that all data from the Max Value until the right end
of the histogram are of the same colour (red in the example), without internal
distinction. The same goes from data from Min Value until the left end of the
histogram, which are all purple in this case.

• LUT: it allows to choose the colours of the scale. The list in figure below (Figure
238) shows the possibility of default; these are generated through consultation
of the folder “Colourmap” which is in the installation folder. Each *.lut files
in that folder correspond to one colour bar in the list, so to delete some or
create new ones just delete a file or generates a new one (in an adequate format)
in the Coloumap folder and re-start ERTLab Studio.

Figure 238: example of some colours available for the colour map

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5.5 TOPOGRAPHY
Through this tool it is possible to load and manage the topography. To add a topography
information can be useful for a better representation and analysis. To make the topography
visible check Visible on Topography Panel.

Figure 239: Topography_Visible box checked

Clicking with the right mouse button on the node “Topography”, the panel with the same
voices already explained in Electrode node (Paragraph 5.3) will appear. Centre Camera to
this, Run Sequence Generation, Run Mesh Generation, Run Forward Model, Run Sensitivity and
Run Inversion are completely analogous to those already described in this User Guide
(form Paragraph 5.3.6 to Paragraph 5.3.11). At the contrary, “Tool” is different from
Electrodes Tool; the following figure shows the proper panel.

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Figure 240: Topography tools panel

5.5.1 Topography_Tools_Import
To import a topography, load a .txt file with 3 columns, one for each coordinate (X, Y,
Z), as reported as an example in the following figure (Figure 241). Each raw of the
topography file corresponds to one topographic point.

Y
X coordinate coordinate Z coordinate

Figure 241: example of Topographic file

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If the loaded file is composed by an high number of points, with excessive spatial
definition for the work purpose, ERTLab Studio automatically suggests a decimation of
it (Figure 242).

Figure 242: automatic decimation of Topography file

It is also possible to do it later through the proper button, as is described below.

5.5.2 Topography_Tools_Decimate
If the topography file is too big, and it causes a slowing-down of the application, it is
possible to decimate the file through this tool. Clicking on Decimate button a window
will appear (Figure 243).

Figure 243: decimate topography window

The points located at distance smaller than indicated in Min Distance box are deleted.
It is suggested to not decimate too much the file to do not lose the topography
resolution.

5.5.3 Topography_Tools_Delimit
If the topography file is too much extended, and the area of interest is a portion of it, it
is possible to delimit the topography with this tool.

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Figure 244: Topography tools panel_Delimit tool

The following example shows a big topography surface with an ERT line in loop
configuration in a corner of it (Figure 245).

ELECTRODES

Figure 245: example of extended topography

Through Delimit button it is possible to cut it writing the proper coordinates in the boxes
(Figure 246). To find the maximum and minimum cut value use the Picker tool (View Picker
Tool Setting button, on the top of the 3D panel, as explained in Paragraph III. TREE
MENU_ 2. ORIENTATION TOOLS.

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Figure 246: choice of cut values to focus on the area of interest

Checking the keep inside box, all the points of the topography which are outside the
selected limits are deleted.

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Figure 247: result of topography delimits

5.5.4 Topography_Tools_Rototranslation
Through this tool it is possible to translate and rotate the Topography in the 3D
dimension; it is analogous to that explained in III.TREE MENU, so refer to that for more
information. It performs a real rototranslation and not only a graphic one, so exporting
the .txt files after having applied a rototranslation the coordinates are different from
those imported.

5.5.5 Topography_Tools_Update Electrodes Z from topography

When a Topography is loaded, it can happen that one or more electrodes are not
coincident with the Z of the topography, so they can appear suspended or buried. With
this tool it is possible to update the Z of the electrodes to the topography. In the
following example, some suspended electrodes are on the surface after the application
of the tool.

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SUSPENDED ELECTRODES

topography

topography

Figure 248: example of Z electrode update from Topography

5.5.6 Topography_Tools_Delete
Clicking on Delete button all the points of the topography are deleted and there is no
longer any topographic information.

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Figure 249: example of delete Topography

5.5.7 Topography_SURFACE
The Topography node in turn contains the sub-node Surface; it is used to manage the way
to represent the topography, as points or as a surface that interpolates each point.

The Surface panel is composed by two blocks:

• Point: it manages the visualization mode of the points that constitute the
topography file. Each coordinate triplet in topography file corresponds to one point
in the Surface visualization.

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Figure 250: example of Surface visualized as points

Checking Visible in Point Panel, the topography is visualized in the 3D scene as simple
points.

It is possible to choose the level of Transparency through the proper slider, the Colour and
the Size of the topographic points. In the following figure (Figure 251) some examples are
shown.

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Figure 251: examples of different sizes of surface points

• Fill: it manages the representation of the topographic points as a surface that

interpolates each point. In addition to the same Point panel tools, it has some
additional elements, highlighted in red in the following figure (Figure 252).

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Figure 252: Fill surface panel

If the checkbox “Wireframe” is flagged, the topography is visualized as a 3D model in which

only lines and vertices are represented. Otherwise the entire surface is visualized.

Figure 253: Surface visualized as wireframe

If Wireframe mode in active, it is possible to choose the Width of the lines that constitutes
the topography, writing the desired number in the proper box. In the following example
the default value 1 is changed in 3.

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Figure 254: examples of different size of wireframe with

The Smoother allows to smooth the topography, through the use of the slider; it is advisable
to don’t exceed with the smooth in order to don’t cause slowdowns to the software.

Figure 255: example of surface topography smooth, with and without wireframe mode active
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5.6 MESH AND MODEL
This node has the purpose of modelling the subsoil with a 3D grid (mesh) and to assign
to the points of this half-space determined physical properties values(model). This node
has in turn other 5 nodes, which are explained below.

If “Plot Only Foreground” is flagged the Background region is not visible; otherwise the
entire mesh is visualized.

Figure 256: : at left, mesh with “Plot Only Foreground” flagged; on the right, mesh with “Plot Only Foreground” not flagged, so also the background region is
displayed.

Clicking with the right mouse button on the node “Mesh and Model”, the panel with the
same voices already explained in Electrode node (Paragraph 5.3) will appear. Centre Camera
to this, Run Sequence Generation, Run Mesh Generation, Run Forward Model, Run Sensitivity and
Run Inversion are completely analogous to those already described. At the contrary, “Tool”
is different from Electrodes Tools; the following figure shows the proper panel (Figure 257).

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Figure 257: Mesh and Model tools panel

All the tools are described in detail in the following Paragraphs.

5.6.1 Mesh and Model_Tools_Set to

Through this tool it is possible to set or to change the current value of the
Resistivity/Conductivity/IP model. Clicking on Set to button the dedicated panel will
open: select the desired Entity Type through the pop-up menu (Resistivity Model inFigure
258) and write the desired value on New Value space (it is 0 by default). Click on “Ok”
button to confirm.

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Figure 258: example of Resistivity Model set to 100

5.6.2 Mesh and Model_Tools_Negative IP removal

Due to computation reasons, it may happen that some negative IP values will appear in
the Model after the inversion processes; it is strongly suggested to delete them through
the use of this tool. It is important to not confuse these values with the negative IP data,
which are acceptable and manageable through the proper tools, explained in Paragraph
5.4.3.

5.6.3 Mesh and Model_Tools_Volume Analysis

Through this tool it is possible to calculate the volume (in m3 and %) and the amount
of cells (in numbers and %) of data which have an Entity Type comprised within a
specific range, determined by the user. In the following example, it is calculated the
volume with the resistivity comprised between 50 and 240 Ohm*m, which correspond
to 11113.498 m3 (28.8% of the entire volume) and to 11308 cells (28.13% of the total
number of cells).

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Figure 259: Volume Analysis tool

5.6.4 Mesh and Model_Tools_Delete

Through this tool it is possible to delete the entire project (to avoid accidental deletions,
a confirmation window will open).

Figure 260: Delete tool

5.6.5 Mesh and Model_Tools_Import

Through this tool it is possible to import a Mesh and/or a Model file from a DATA
files (*.data or *.wDat or *.txt), or a Viewer file (*.vwer) or an XYZ file (*.xyz).

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5.6.6 Mesh and Model_Tools_Export
Through this tool it is possible to export a Resistivity/Conductivity/IP model, selecting
the desired Entity Type through the pop-up menu. If “Foreground Only” is flagged, the
Background Region is not saved and it lets to reduce the necessary record space. It is
possible to export a file as a XYZ file (*.xyz) or as a EVS file (*.xyz or *.fdl).

Figure 261: Export panel_ choice of entity

5.6.7 Mesh and Model_MESH

It manages the way to represent the mesh; the proper panel has the following items:

Figure 262: Mesh panel

• Visible: if the checkbox is active, the mesh is visible, otherwise it is not.

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• Transparency: through the slider it is possible to set the transparency of the mesh,
as it is shown below (Figure 263).

A B C

Figure 263: example of different levels of transparency of the mesh

• Colour: by default, the mesh is grey but it is possible to change it in any other
colour. In the following example, from grey it is changed into green.

Figure 264: example of mesh colour change

• Wireframe and Outline only: if Wireframe checkbox is selected, the mesh is visible
as lines. If Outline only is checked too, the mesh is visualized with just the external
lines (case A in Figure 265 ). On the contrary, if Outline only is not checked the mesh

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is visualized with every cell that constitutes the entire volume (case B in Figure 265).
If both the boxes are not checked the volume is visualized as a “solid” body (case
C in Figure 265).

A B C

Figure 265: example of different combination of 'wireframe' and 'outline only' mesh visualization mode

• Width: if Wireframe is selected, this option allows to choose the width of the mesh,
writing a number from 1 to 10 or through the slider which appears clicking on the
proper space. Two widths of the outline are shown in the following example (Figure
266).

Figure 266: example of different mesh widths

5.6.8 Mesh and Model_ RESISTIVITY MODEL

The Resistivity Model quantifies how strongly the investigated body contrasts the flow of
electric current. The Resistivity Model is present in the project after the inversion process
run; the proper panel has the following items (Figure 267).

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Figure 267: Resistivity Model panel

• Visible: this checkbox makes the Resistivity Model visible or not;

• Name: by default, the node name is “Resistivity Model”, but it possible to change
it writing the desired new name in this box;
• Show as cell: if this checkbox is selected, the model is shown composed by cells;
otherwise it is represented as an interpolation of points. The model obtained in
this last case is smoother (Figure 268).

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GENERIC 3D VIEW GENERIC 3D VIEW

TOP VIEW TOP VIEW

Figure 268: examples of Resistivity Model with "show as cells" checked on the left and not checked on the right

• Global Contour Values: this panel manages the contour lines of all sections
inserted in the Resistivity Model; it is possible to choose the maximum and
minimum value to apply at the contouring and the step interval within one line and
the other. In the lower part of the box it is automatically reported the minimum
and maximum value of the entire dataset.

Figure 269: Resistivity Model sub-panel

These values are applied to each section, but it is possible to change them and set
custom values to each section using the proper tool, as is shown in this Paragraph.

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The Resistivity Model node has in turn further nodes, which are described below. Other
nodes will be added if Add Volume/Isosurface is used, as it will be explained later (points C
and D of this Paragraph).

A. Colour Scale: it allows to set the property of the colour scale; it is completely
analogous to that described in Measurement Paragraph, so refers to that for more
information (Paragraph 5.4.7).
B. Section XY-ZX-YZ: by default, there are three predefined sections, one for each
main direction XY, XZ, YZ, but it is possible to add other sections through the
proper “Add Section” button, as explained at the end of this paragraph.

The Section sub-nodes have the panel divided into: Section and Contour.
o The Section panel has the following items:

Figure 270: section panel_section

• Visible: it makes the Section visible or not;

• Name: by default, the node name is “Section XY/ZX/YZ”, but it
possible to change it writing the desired new name in this box;
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• Section Control: it is a not editable table which shows in every
moment the information about the Position and the Direction of the
object in the 3D scene. It is automatically updated every time the
operator acts on the directional buttons explained below.
• XY, XZ, YZ buttons: they allow to set the plane on which to
visualize the section, choosing between these three main directions
of the 3D space.

XY XZ YZ

Figure 271: section in the three main planes

• NX, NY, NZ buttons: they allow to rotate the section of an N angle

around the X/Y/Z axis. In the following example, the XY Section is
tilted of 20° around X axis in one case and of 10° around Y axis in
the other.

Tilt Tilt

v v

Figure 272: examples of rotation of XY section

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• DIR button: it allows to move the section in one of the main

directions (checking NX, NY or NZ) into the mesh; moving the
proper slider, or writing the desired number in the proper box, the
section will move toward the mesh until the desired position. Some
examples are shown in the following figure (Figure 273).

v v v
Plane XY Plane XY Plane XY

v v v
Plane ZX Plane ZX Plane ZX

v v v
Plane YZ Plane YZ Plane YZ

Figure 273: examples of section translation through the three main directions

• Auto Capture Values: it is a useful tool when it is required to capture a lot of

screenshots of the section in the 3D scene from the same point of view of but in
different positions. It is possible to do this writing in the proper space the sequence
of numbers (one for each position) or using a specific notation (refers to IV.
ADDENDUM_Mathematical Notations), as it is shown in the following example.

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The numbers to write in the box refers to the value shown in the
slider over it; it is X (m) in this case but it can be an angle (degree) if
NX, NY, or NZ is selected

Figure 274: auto-capture values panel

In this case, it will be saved a series of images with the section from
position -3 to position 2, along X axis, with a step of 0.5m (11 images
throughout). Clicking on Run buttons, images are automatically saved
in the working folder.

It is possible to obtain the same result using the “Capture” button at

the top of the screen in the 3D scene, but in this case it is necessary
to do it for each figure; using “Auto Capture Function” it is instead
possible to save many images all at once.

• Section-Related Axes: through this tool it is possible to add a

second axes system, applied to the selected section. Check Show Axis
1 to visualize the vertical axis and/or Show Axis 2 to visualize the
horizontal axis. If the labels are not readable because they are
superimposed to the Section, as in the following example (Figure 275),
to flip them on the opposite side of the axes line use Flip Labels box.

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Not readable!
Tip: Flip Label side

Figure 275: examples of secondary axes visualization

o The Contour panel has the following items:

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Figure 276: Section panel_Contour

It is divided into 4 sub-panels: Line, Label, Fill, Values.

The Line panel has the following tools:

Figure 277: Section panel_Contour_Lines setting

• Visible: it allows to make the contouring line visible or not, as it is

shown in the following example.

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Figure 278: contour lines visible and not on a XY section

• Transparency: it manages the level of transparency of the lines;

when the slide is totally at left the lines are completely visible, when
it is on the right they are not visible at all and at the intermediate
positions they are more transparent as the slide goes towards the
right.

Figure 279: different level of contour lines transparency

• Use Colormap/Colour: if it is checked, the contour lines have the

colour of the Colormap, so their colour changes in function of values.
If it is not checked, all the lines have the same colour, sets by the
apposite button (it is dark grey by default).

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Figure 280: example of one colour (black) and colormap contour lines

• Width: it lets to set the width of the colour line, writing a number
from 1 to 20 in the box.

Figure 281: example of different contour lines width

• Smoother: it lets to smooth the contour lines in case they have a not-
rounded shape.

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Figure 282: example of contour lines smoothing

The Fill panel has the following tools:

Figure 283: Section panel_Contour_Fill setting

• Visible: if it is checked, the section is coloured in every point so, if

Visible Line is active, it is displayed the section with the contouring
lines overlaid; if it is not checked, only the contouring lines are visible,
as it is shown in the following example.

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Figure 284: XY section with and without the filling visible

• Transparency: it manages the level of transparency of the filling, as

is shown in the following figure.

Figure 285: different level of filling transparency

• Use Colormap/Colour: if it is checked, the filling has the colour of

the Colormap, so it changes in function of the resistivity values. If it
is not checked, all the area has the same colour, sets by the proper
button nearby (it is dark grey by default). In the following example
on the right the contour lines follow the colourmap.

Figure 286: example of one colour (grey) and colormap filling

• Show Banded: if it is checked, the filling is banded when it goes

from a value to another; if it is not checked the transition from one
colour to another is nuanced. The difference between the two ways
to represent data is more evident if the contour lines are not visible.
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Figure 287: filling of XY section with banded visualization mode active and not

The Label panel has the following tools:

Figure 288: Section panel_Contour_Label setting

• Visible: it sets the contour lines labels visible or not, as it is shown in

the following example.

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Figure 289: filling of XY section with and without lines labels visible

• Colour: it lets to set the colour of the contour lines labels through
the proper box. It is grey by default; in the following example it is
changed in black and white.

85

66

122
108

29

Figure 290: example of lines labels of different colours

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• Size: it lets to set the size of the contour lines labels, writing a number
from 1 to 50 in the box. In the following example it is set at 10 and
20.

Figure 291: example of lines labels of different sizes

• Decimal Places: it lets to set number of decimals of the contour

lines labels. By default, it is set on 0, but it is possible to change it
writing a number from 1 to 50 in the box. In the following example
it is set to 1 and 2.

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Figure 292: example of lines labels with different decimal places

The Values panel has the following tools:

Figure 293: Section panel_Contour_Values setting

Through this panel it is possible to choose the maximum and minimum values to
apply to the contouring lines and the step interval within one line and the other. In
the lower part of the box it is reported the minimum and maximum values of the
entire dataset.
• Custom: if it is not checked, the optimal values are automatically
calculated. In this is checked the values box is activated.
• Values box: in this space it is possible to write the desired number
to display in the contour lines, writing the simple sequence of
numbers or using one of the mathematical notations reported in
IV.ADDENDUM_Matematical Notations.
One of the correct ways to write the numbers is:

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Minimum value to represent : Step : Maximum value to represent

In the following example has been chosen to visualize the values
from 5 to 150, with step 10 and 20.

Step 20

Step 10

Figure 294: example of different step value between contour lines

By default, the Resistivity Model is cut by three sections, but it is possible to add
more, clicking with the right mouse button on Resistivity Model node e choosing
Add Section. In the same way it is possible to add a Volume and an Isosurface to the
model. For each inserted Section/Isosurface/Volume, one new sub-node will be
added to those already present.

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Figure 295: add Section/Isosurface/Volume to the Resistivity Model

C. VOLUME: this tool allows to identify in the model the volume of data with the
same resistivity/conductivity/IP/sensitivity values, the iso-volumes. The proper
panel has the following items:

Figure 296: Volume panel

• Visible: it sets the Volume visible or not.

• Name: it is possible to assign to the Volume the desired name, writing
it in the proper space (Max Volume and Min Volume in the example
inFigure 297).

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• Transparency: it allows to set the transparency of the volume;
when the slide is totally at left the object is completely visible, when
it is on the right it is not visible at all and at intermediate positions
it is more transparent as the slide goes towards the right.
In the following example the volume of the entire dataset and a
section are displayed; in the first case (Figure 297, case A) the
transparency of the volume is zero and the section is not visible. In
the second case (Figure 297, case B) the level of transparency is high
and the vertical section appears.

A B
Figure 297: different levels of transparency in the resistivity volume

• Apply Threshold: to visualize the desired volume, write in Threshold

Min and Threshold Max boxes the desired value and check Apply
Threshold to activate the selection; if the box is not checked the entire
range of data is shown.
In the following example, a low resistivity model, in blue, and a high
resistivity model, in red, are shown (Figure 298).

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Figure 298: example f two different volumes threshold applied for the creation of maximum and minimum resistivity volume

It is also possible to visualize more volumes at the same time, adding one Volume
node for each sub-selected range values; in the following example the maximum
and minimum values are shown (Figure 299).

Max Volume

Min Volume

Figure 299: example of visualization of maximum and minimum volume at the same time

• Use colour Limits as Threshold: by default, the Threshold Min and

Max boxes are set to the minimum and maximum value of the entire
dataset. To use the custom extreme values of the colour scale as
maximum and minimum value of the volume, check Use colour Limits

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as Threshold box (and Apply Threshold to make the selection valid). In
this way the saturated area, external to the colour scale value, are cut
away from the volume and a “hole” appears in their place.

SATURATION SATURATION

1.22 440

Saturated cut
away areas

Min/Max
dataset
Values

Figure 300: example of full resistivity model with and without 'Use Colour Limits as Threshold' applied

Selecting determinate ranges of values, it is easy to estimate what parts of the

investigated area (and in what proportions compared to the entire dataset) have a
maximum, medium or minimum resistivity values.

• Smoother: it lets to smooth the volume in case they have a not-

rounded shape.

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Figure 301: example of smoother applied to a resistivity volume

D. SURFACE: this tool allows to identify in the model the surface with the same
resistivity/conductivity/IP/sensitivity values, the iso-surface. The proper panel has
the following items:

Figure 302: Surface panel

• Visible: it sets the Surface visible or not.

• Name: it is possible to assign to the Surface the desired name, writing
it in the proper space.
• Transparency: it allows to set the transparency of the surface;
when the slide is totally at left the object is completely visible, when
it is on the right it is not visible at all and at intermediate positions it
is more transparent as the slide goes towards the right. To better

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appreciate the effect of this tool, in the following example the
contours lines are displayed.

Figure 303: different levels of transparency applied to an isosurface

• Use Colourmap/Colour button: if it is checked, the isosurface are

displayed with the same colour of the Colour Scale; if it is not
checked it is possible to choose a colour from the proper button (grey
in the following example).

Figure 304: isosurface of one colour (grey) and with the same colormap colours

• Values: it allows to set the values of the isosurface to display; it can

be a unique value or a range. The maximum and the minimum values
of the data set are suggested at the bottom of the panel. By default,
it is displayed the entire range of dataset values.

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Figure 305: example of setting isosurfaces values

In the following examples, some specific values ranges are selected

(Figure 306): 1-10 (very low resistivity), 20-50 (medium-low resistivity),
60-90(medium-high resistivity), 120-180 (high resistivity). In all cases
the step values from one surface of the other is 2.

Figure 306: example of different Isosurfaces setting values

It is also possible to visualize more isosurface at the same time, adding one Surface node
for each sub-surface range values; in the following example the maximum and minimum
values are shown (Figure 307).
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High Resistivity Surfaces

Low Resistivity Surfaces

Max Isosurfaces
Min Isosurfaces

Figure 307: visualization of two Isosurfaces at the same time

As a final examples of Resistivity Model, the following figures show some of the many
data representation possibilities (Figure 308).

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Figure 308: some of many resistivity model project visualization possibilities. In A, aerial photo of the investigated site (from Google Earth) overlaid to electrodes
used for the acquisition; in B visualization of Resistivity Model through the insertion of a XY section; in C insertion of a YZ section; in D insertion of 5 sections,
2 parallel to the YZ plane, 2 to XZ plane and 1 to XY plane; in E visualization of the mesh (outline only) and two volumes, one incorporating the most
conductive areas (5-15 ohm*m, in blue) and the other the most resistive area (80-150 ohm*m, in yellow-red)

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Figure 309: at the top, example of resistivity sections with aerial photo , electrodes, resistivity volume and custom building; on the bottom left, example of resistivity
sections with electrodes and topography. On the bottom right example of resistivity section with electrodes, topography and aerial photo.

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5.6.9 Mesh and Model_ CONDUCTIVITY MODEL

The Conductivity Model quantifies how easily the material allows the flow of electric current.
It is the contrary of resistivity model. As it is shown in the following figure, the areas that
in the conductivity model shows the maximum values, in the resistivity model shows the
minimum values, and vice versa.

CONDUCTIVITY Vs RESISTIVITY

Max values Min values

Min values Min values Max values
Max values

Figure 310: comparison between Conductivity and Resistivity Models.

All its sub node and tools are completely analogous to those of Resistivity Model, so refers
to Paragraph 5.6.8 for more details.

5.6.10 Mesh and Model_ IP MODEL

In IP methodology, the ground is energized with an alternating square wave pulse and it
consists in measuring the IP effect as a time-diminishing voltage at the receiver electrodes.

The method is based on the observation of potential curve decay subsequent to the
interruption of the input current, that is the extent of the "residual chargeability" retained
by the soil under investigation.

All its sub nodes and tools are completely analogous at those of Resistivity Model, so refers
to Paragraph 5.6.8 for more details.

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5.6.11 Mesh and Model_ SENSITIVITY MODEL
It indicates how much the variations of resistivity of subsurface will influence the potential
measured by the electrodes array; it gives an estimate of how much the electrical property
of the ground must vary to produce significant effects on the measurement. Different
arrays have different sensitivity patterns; some of them describe better the superficial
levels, others the deeper levels.

To compute the sensitivity of the electrode configuration of the loaded project(just one
quadrupoles or all quadrupoles together) use the Run Sensitivity tool, as described in
Paragraph 5.3.10. In the following example, in red the area with maximum sensitivity,
where collected data will be more reliable, in purple the area not optimally covered. As
was to be expected, the area with maximum sensitivity corresponds to the area where the
electrodes (yellow spheres in Figure 311) are positioned.

Max Sensitivity Volume

Min Sensitivity Volume

Figure 311: sections and volumes of Sensitivity Model

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IV. ADDENDUM_MATHEMATICAL NOTATIONS

1. LINEAR
o Individual Value: the returned values of this notification consist in the simple
numerical sequence inserted.

0 2 5 6 10 → 0 2 5 6 10
(Value Value Value Value Value)

o Stepped Values: in this notation it is specified the initial and final values of the desired
sequence and the step between two successive values.

1:1:5 → 12345
(Initial value: Step: End value)

Equivalent Notation: it is not necessary to insert the ‘:’ between the step and the maximum
value.
1:1 5 → 12345
(Initial value: Step End value)

o Stepped and Single Values: it is the combination of the two notations described
above; it gives a sequence of numbers between a given maximum and a minimum value,
with a provided step, and it adds other given numbers at the end of the sequence.

10:2 10 11 18 → 0 2 4 6 8 10 11 18

(Initial Value: Step End_Value Value Value)

o Combined Stepped Values List: it gives a sequence of numbers between a given

maximum and a minimum value with two or more different steps between them.

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1:1 5:3 20 → 1 2 3 4 5 8 11 14 17 20
(Initial value: First step: Intermediate value: Second step: End value)

o Numeric: with this notation is possible to choose the minimum and maximum values
of the series and how many elements of the series visualize between the two extreme
values, using # symbol.

1#4:10 → 1 2 4 6 8 10
(Initial value #number of intermediate value to insert : End_Value )

Equivalent Notation: it is not necessary to insert the ‘:’ between the #n and the End Value.

1#4 10 → 1 2 4 6 8 10
(Initial value #number of intermediate value to insert End_Value )

2. LOGARITHMIC
With this notation it is possible to enter the minimum and maximum value of the series to represent
and a series of intermediate values with increasing logarithmic trend. To achieve it, use a step value
multiplied by a “growing factor” (to apply from the third value onwards).

1:1*1.5:10 → 1 2 3.5 4.31 5.75 9.12

(Initial Value: Step* Growing Factor :End-value)

For example, in this case the step is 1 and the incremental factor is 1.5; so it is:
(Initial value #number of intermediate value to insert End_Value )
1 → First value
2 → Second Value = First value (1) + step (1)

2*1.5 =3 → Third Value= Second Value (1.5) + Step(1)* Growing Factor (1.5)
3*1.5 = 4.5 → Fourth Value= Third Value (3) + Step(1)* Growing Factor (1.5)
…and so on.
Due to the logarithmic trend, the last number of the series may not coincide exactly with the one
wrote in the notation (in this case is 9.12 instead of 10).

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Equivalent Notation: it is not necessary to insert the ‘:’ between the Growing Factor and the End
Value.

1:1*1.5 10 → 1 2 3.5 4.31 5.75 9.12

(Initial Value: Step* Growing Factor End-value)

(Initial value #number of intermediate

3. MINUMUM-MAXIMUM VALUES value to insert End_Value )

This notation uses automatically the maximum and the minimum value of a dataset and gives the
possibility to choose how many intermediate values to insert between the two extreme values, as
shown in the following example:

Dataset: from 10 to 50
min: #4 max → 10 20 30 40 50
(Minimum Value: Number of intermediate value to insert Maximum value)

(Initial value #number of intermediate value to insert End_Value )

__________________SUMMARY CHART______________

NOTATION TIPE NOTATION VALUE

Linear_Single value 0 2 5 6 10 0 2 5 6 10
Linear_ Stepped Value 1:1:5 12345
1:1 5
Linear_Stepped Value 1:1 5 12345
Linear_Stepped Value + Singe Values 0:2 10 11 18 0 2 4 6 8 10 11 18
Linear_Combined stepped Value 1:1 5:3 20 1 2 3 4 5 8 11 14 17 20
Numeric 1#4:10 1 2 4 6 8 10
1#4 10
Logarithmic 1:1*1.5:10 1 2 3.5 4.31 5.75 9.12
1:1*1.5 10

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INDEX
I. INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................................. 1

II. USER INTERFACE ...........................................................................................................................4

1. MAIN INTERFACE .................................................................................................................................................4

2. INTRACTION WITH 3D AREA...........................................................................................................................5

III. TREE MENU ................................................................................................................................... 11

1. CAMERA .................................................................................................................................................................. 18

2. ORIENTATION TOOL ....................................................................................................................................... 24

3. AXES .......................................................................................................................................................................... 32

4. GRAPHIC OBJECTS ............................................................................................................................................. 41

4.1 DATA FOLDER ............................................................................................................................................ 42

4.2 IMAGE ............................................................................................................................................................. 45

5. ERT DATA ............................................................................................................................................................... 52

5.1 GRID ................................................................................................................................................................ 59

5.2 GRAPHIC OBJECT ...................................................................................................................................... 61

5.3 ELECTRODES .............................................................................................................................................. 62

5.3.1 Electrodes_Tools_TABLE ................................................................................................................... 69

5.3.2 Electrodes_Tools_CREATE/EDIT .................................................................................................. 84

5.3.3 Electrodes_Tools_REMOVE DUPLICATED................................................................................ 97

5.3.4 Electrodes_Tools_IMPORT ................................................................................................................ 98

5.3.5 Electrodes_Tools_EXPORT ............................................................................................................... 99

5.3.6 Electrodes_Tools_CENTRE CAMERA TO THIS ...................................................................... 100

5.3.7 Electrodes_Tools_ RUN SEQUENCE GENERATION ........................................................... 103

5.3.8 Electrodes_Tools_ RUN MESH GENERATION ....................................................................... 110

5.3.9 Electrodes_Tools_ RUN FORWARD MODEL ........................................................................... 125

5.3.10 Electrodes_Tools_ RUN SENSITIVITY........................................................................................ 128

5.3.11 Electrodes_Tools_ RUN INVERSION .......................................................................................... 131

5.4 MEASUREMENTS ..................................................................................................................................... 141

5.4.1 Measurements_Tools_TABLE .......................................................................................................... 144

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5.4.2 Measurements_Tools_REMOVE DUPLICATED ....................................................................... 148

5.4.3 Measurements_Tools_HISTOGRAM ............................................................................................. 150

5.4.4 Measurements_Tools_SCATTER PLOT ........................................................................................ 156

5.4.5 Measurements_Tools_DELETE ...................................................................................................... 158

5.4.6 Measurements_Tools_EXPORT ...................................................................................................... 159

5.4.7 Measurements_COLOUR SCALE ................................................................................................... 160

5.5 TOPOGRAPHY ........................................................................................................................................... 170

5.5.1 Topography_Tools_Import ............................................................................................................... 171

5.5.2 Topography_Tools_Decimate ........................................................................................................... 172

5.5.3 Topography_Tools_Delimit............................................................................................................... 172

5.5.4 Topography_Tools_Rototranslation................................................................................................. 175

5.5.5 Topography_Tools_Update Electrodes Z from topography ....................................................... 175

5.5.6 Topography_Tools_Delete................................................................................................................. 176

5.5.7 Topography_SURFACE ..................................................................................................................... 177

5.6 MESH AND MODEL ................................................................................................................................ 182

5.6.1 Mesh and Model_Tools_Set to .......................................................................................................... 183

5.6.2 Mesh and Model_Tools_Negative IP removal ............................................................................... 184

5.6.3 Mesh and Model_Tools_Volume Analysis ...................................................................................... 184

5.6.4 Mesh and Model_Tools_Delete ........................................................................................................ 185

5.6.5 Mesh and Model_Tools_Import ....................................................................................................... 185

5.6.6 Mesh and Model_Tools_Export ....................................................................................................... 186

5.6.7 Mesh and Model_MESH .................................................................................................................... 186

5.6.8 Mesh and Model_ RESISTIVITY MODEL ................................................................................... 188

5.6.9 Mesh and Model_ CONDUCTIVITY MODEL ........................................................................... 216

5.6.10 Mesh and Model_ IP MODEL.......................................................................................................... 216

5.6.11 Mesh and Model_ SENSITIVITY MODEL .................................................................................. 217

IV. ADDENDUM_Mathematical Notations ........................................................................................ 218

1. LINEAR .................................................................................................................................................................. 218

2. LOGARITHMIC ................................................................................................................................................... 219

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3. MINUMUM-MAXIMUM VALUES.................................................................................................................. 220

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