Hemispherical dome electrode configuration and method of use

1. An electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) survey system comprising:

a current supply;

a master controller operatively connected to the current supply;

a pair of injection electrodes operatively connected to the master controller;

a pair of measurement electrodes operatively connected to the master controller;

each injection electrode of the pair of injection electrodes forming a radiating injector body which provides a uniform electrical field density;

each measurement electrode of the pair of measurement electrodes forming a radiating measurement body which receives the uniform electrical field density; and,

wherein the uniform electrical field density is produced during an ERT survey;

wherein each radiating injector body is only hemispherical.

2. The ERT survey system of claim 1 wherein each radiating measurement body is only hemispherical.

3. The ERT survey system of claim 1 wherein each radiating injector body is formed of a metallic ingot.

4. The ERT survey system of claim 1 wherein each radiating measurement body is formed of a metallic ingot.

5. The ERT survey system of claim 1 wherein each radiating injector body is formed of a hollow shell.

6. The ERT survey system of claim 1 wherein each radiating measurement body is formed of a hollow shell.

7. An electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) node configuration comprising:

an enclosure;

a controller circuit, mechanically supported by the enclosure;

a radiating electrode body, fixed to the enclosure and operatively connected to the controller circuit, which provides a uniform electric field density; and,

the radiating electrode body is only hemispherical.

8. The ERT node configuration of claim 7 wherein the radiating electrode body is equatorially positioned on the enclosure.

9. The ERT node configuration of claim 7 wherein the radiating electrode body is a spun metallic shell.

10. The ERT node configuration of claim 7 wherein the radiating electrode body is a metallic material.

11. The ERT node configuration of claim 7 wherein the controller circuit is further operatively connected to a set of upstream nodes and a set of downstream nodes.

12. The ERT node configuration of claim 7 wherein the radiating electrode body is further comprised of:

a surface configuration for providing an evenly dispersed electric field during an ERT survey.

13. A method of conducting an ERT survey comprising:

providing a master controller including a current source;

providing a reconfigurable set of injector nodes having an only hemispherical configuration;

providing a reconfigurable set of measurement nodes having the only hemispherical configuration;

positioning the reconfigurable set of injector nodes and the reconfigurable set of measurement nodes in a predefined ERT topology;

impressing a known electrical current, by the master controller, from the current source, into the reconfigurable set of injector nodes;

obtaining a first voltage measurement, resulting from the known electrical current, across the reconfigurable set of measurement nodes; and,

creating a resistivity map from the first voltage measurement.

14. The method of claim 13 further comprising:

impressing a reverse polarity electrical current, by the master controller from the current source, into the reconfigurable set of injector nodes; and,

obtaining a second voltage measurement, resulting from the known electrical current, across the reconfigurable set of measurement nodes.

15. The method of claim 13 further comprising the step of:

providing the only hemispherical configuration as a monolithic metallic ingot.

16. The method of claim 13 further comprising the step of:

providing the only hemispherical configuration as a spun metallic shell.

17. The method of claim 13 further comprising:

locating a subsurface geological feature from the resistivity map.

18. The method of claim 13 further comprising:

providing the predefined ERT topology as one of a group of Wenner, dipole-dipole, pole-dipole and Wenner-Schlumberger.

19. The method of claim 13 further comprising:

pre-wetting a set of node positions in the predefined ERT topology.