On the effectiveness of 2D electrical inversion results: an agricultural case study

Electrical resistivity tomography was used in Beauce (France) to assess the water extraction by corn plants (evapotranspiration). The acquired pseudosections show conductive anomalies under the plants. A 2D inversion of measurements led us to identify clear resistive features associated with the water losses under the corn-plant rows. New models have been calculated with two different 3D algorithms (finite-difference and moment-method) to take into account 3D structure of the ground and to confirm that periodic resistive features may generate shifted apparent-resistivity anomalies.