The electrical potential arising from a point source in an arbitrarily anisotropic half-space with regolith cover

Abstract

Solutions for the electrical potential and current density due to a point source in an arbitrarily anisotropic half-space with a regolith cover have been obtained, using an image source method. The images of the point source include a point and a line arising from the surface boundary conditions. The source density of the line image obeys an exponential law. The line image position may be described by linear parametric equations. Within this approximation the solutions provide a relatively complete description of the potential in the arbitrarily anisotropic half-space covered by a thin surface layer.