SUMMARYThis paper presents a novel computational methodology, based on the finite element technique, for the analysis of electromagnetic field due to system of arbitrarily positioned current-carrying conductors in horizontally stratified multilayer medium, having arbitrary number of layers with different characteristics (including air). Each soil layer is horizontally unbounded, homogenous and isotropic, whereas conductors can penetrate different layers and extend into the air. The effect of the stratified multilayer medium is taken into account by using the originally developed fixed image method. Complete electromagnetic coupling between grounding system conductors (satisfying thin-wire approximation) is taken into account, whereas attenuation and phase shift effects are approximated. The electric and magnetic field in stratified multilayer medium are computed from the scalar electric and vector magnetic potentials, using the said fixed image method and approximations to the attenuation and phase shift effects.