Grounding electrodes have an important role in electric power transmission and distribution systems. They are used to prevent excessive hazardous voltages between metallic structures and ground in the case of system faults or lightning surges. It is important that they provide a low impedance path for the current in to the ground. The electrical properties of soil, which vary substantially with geographical location and time of year, affect the process considerably along with the properties of the grounding electrode itself, such as its dimensions.

In order to have an accurate estimation of the developed overvoltages and the backflashover rate of the transmission lines due to a lightning strike, one has to take into account the effect of the value of the soil electrical parameters, such as the electrical conductivity and dielectric constant.
This paper investigates the high frequency behavior of the grounding electrodes by solving a full-wave electromagnetic problem using the Finite Element Method (FEM). The focus is on taking into account the effect of the variation of soil relative permittivity which has been neglected in the previous studies of the grounding systems. This allows an evaluation of the response of grounding systems due to seasonal changes and specifically change of the water content of the soil, which would cause its electrical properties to vary significantly. This study
demonstrates the importance of considering the variation of relative permittivity of the soil especially in the modeling of electrodes buried in highly resistive soil.