Аннотация:Soil survey requires a quick and, possibly, non-disturbing estimation ofi merous soil properties, such as salinity, texture, stone content, groundv depths, and horizon sequences in soil profiles. Most of geophysical met! used for soil investigations are non-disturbing, but fail to provide info] tion about soil property variations within a profile. A device for vertical < trical sounding (VES) modified by us from conventional geophysical equip3 ment is superior to the common electrical geophysical methods because it cam measure differences in electrical resistivity or conductivity in the layered sofl| profiles from the soil surface without disturbance. These differences rcvcall the changes in soil properties within the profiles. We show various applied9 tions of the modified geophysical VES method in soil survey. Compared with I conventional methods of soil analysis, interpreted results of vertical electri-1 cal sounding allowed evaluating groundwater table, salt content, depth and.^ thickness of soil horizons, polluted or disturbed layers in soil profiles, and stone content with an estimation error < 10%. The applications of the method also included monitoring of drying and defrosting depths in soils. The method shows a great potential for estimating a number of soil properties, which van? ability in a profile is essential for soil survey.