Remote resistivity contrast mapping using the CARIS system at Terme de Caracalla archaeological site, Rome, Italy

We achieve remote resistivity-contrast mapping through use of capacitive electric field sensors and an inductive electromagnetic source. A new instrument, called CARIS, was developed at RMIT University specifically for shallow archaeological, environmental and engineering geophysical investigations where electrical contact with the ground is undesirable or impossible. The aim of this paper is twofold, firstly to introduce the CARIS instrument and method and secondly, to demonstrate the potential of CARIS. A field test compares CARIS resistivity field data to a conventional dipole-dipole ERT survey over an archaeological site in Rome. Lateral changes detected by the CARIS system are consistent with those obtained using conventional resistivity.