The SES Grounding System Estimator (SESGSE) software utility is a simple tool which allows you to quickly calculate the ground resistance of a given grounding electrode, or determine the type of grounding system required to achieve a specified grounding resistance value. A uniform soil model is assumed; for non-uniform soils, use the Estimator or Predictor mode option of the AutoGroundDesign software package.

The program can perform these calculations for many types of commonly encountered electrodes, including ground rods (or arrays of ground rods), horizontal ground conductors and plates of various shapes. SESGSE requires a minimal amount of input data. For example, to compute the grounding resistance of a buried metallic dish, only three inputs are required: Soil Resistivity, Plate Radius and Plate Depth.

The program interface consists essentially of six groups:

• Design Objective defines the types of computations required; Resistance Estimator/Dimension Predictor.
• System Allows the user to select the type of grounding electrodes.
• System Parameters defines the fundamental parameters of the grounding electrodes.
• Expected Results defines the desired grounding resistance and the accuracy to be met.
• Computation Results Summary displays the results of the requested computations.
• System of Units specifies which system of units to be used for input and output.