Patent ID: 9599449
Date: 2017-03-21
CPC Classifications: G01B,G01V

Claim:
1. A method for locating a buried object with a buried object locator, comprising: generating, in the buried object locator, a first magnetic field measurement at a first position; generating, in the buried object locator, a second magnetic field measurement at a second position different from the first position; generating, in the buried object locator, a third magnetic field measurement at a third position different from the first and second positions storing the first, second, and third magnetic field measurements and associated position information in a non-transitory memory of the locator; processing the first, second, and third magnetic field measurements and associated position information in accordance with a closed-form sheet current flow model to generate an estimate of the depth, Db, of the buried object below a ground surface, wherein the sheet current flow model includes a magnetic field component modeled as being generated by an infinite sheet current and another magnetic field component modeled as being generated by a current flowing in a buried conductor in the form: and storing the estimate of the depth in the non-transitory memory of the locator for either providing an estimate of the depth to a user of the buried object locator, post-processing of the estimated depth, or both.