Ground-based Capacitive Electrodes

QFS's work on its ground-based electrodes began in response to a Department of Defense need to find hidden underground facilities and tunnels – our technology can sense power lines that service them. We then investigated their functionality for geophysics under funding from the NSF and developed a prototype unit that could function when placed onto the ground (traditional technology needs to be buried in wet mud in order to function, resulting in substantial operational challenges in dry and/or rocky environments).

Word got out, and oil industry representatives began showing interest in the technology's potential. QFS's founder Andy Hibbs decided to form GroundMetrics, Inc. to focus on the unique challenges and needs of commercial geophysics. GroundMetrics started with the prototype devices and developed an entire suite of commercial data acquisition and interpretation technology. Today GroundMetrics is a successful commercial operation providing subsurface surveying services to oil and gas companies in the US and abroad.