fig1 shows an apparatus 20 for testing / inspecting a coated item such as a turbine element ( e . g ., a turbine engine blade 22 ). the exemplary blade 22 includes an airfoil 24 extending from a root 26 at a platform 28 to a tip 30 . the airfoil has leading and trailing edges 32 and 34 separating pressure and suction sides 36 and 38 . the platform has an outboard portion 40 for forming an inboard boundary / wall of a core flowpath through the turbine engine . a mounting portion or blade root 42 depends centrally from the underside of the platform 40 for fixing the blade in a disk of the turbine engine . in an exemplary embodiment , the portion 40 and airfoil 24 are coated . the exemplary system 20 includes an impedance analyzer 50 coupled by conductors 51 and 52 to a pair of electrodes 53 and 54 . the first electrode 53 may be a standard reference electrode contacted with an uncoated portion of the platform . the second electrode 54 is contacted with a coated portion of the blade and , therefore , is advantageously provided as a wetting electrode . the wetting electrode 54 includes a standard reference electrode 56 mounted in a proximal end of a tubular vessel 58 and contacting an electrolyte 60 within the vessel . a check valve 62 is mounted in a distal end of the vessel 58 . when the check valve 62 is contacted with the coating , it establishes fluid communication between the contact site and the interior of the vessel providing a small wetting of the coated surface with the electrolyte and providing an electrical path through the electrolyte from the coating to the reference electrode 56 . fig2 shows further details of the coating 70 on a metallic substrate 72 of the blade . the blade has an outer surface 74 atop which the coating layers are deposited . the layers include a metallic bondcoat 76 atop the substrate surface 74 , an in situ formed tgo layer 78 atop the bondcoat , and a ceramic topcoat 80 atop the tgo and having an external surface 82 . contact is made between the electrode 54 and the surface 82 via the wetting electrolyte 84 . direct electrical contact is made between the electrode 53 and an exposed uncoated surface 86 of the substrate . in a laboratory setting , the system 20 of fig1 . may include an environmental control chamber 100 ( fig3 ) for containing the blade 22 during testing and that controls various properties of temperature , humidity , pressure , and the like . the current is provided by a current amplifier 102 coupled to an impedance analyzer 104 for measuring impedance parameters . the impedance analyzer 104 is coupled to analysis equipment such as a computer 106 . the computer may display results of the measured parameters and perform analyses to determine quantitative and qualitative properties of the coating based on the received parameters . various theoretical , empirical or hybrid models may be used to determine coating properties . such properties may include the layer thicknesses and the presence , size , and quantity of imperfections ( e . g ., voids within layers or between layers ( e . g ., separations and delaminations )). fig4 shows a basic electric circuit model . from one end of the circuit to the other , the resistance of the electrode 54 ( fig1 ) is shown as r p in series with an electrolyte solution resistance r s . this , in turn , is in series with the parallel combination of a topcoat resistance r c and a topcoat capacitance c c . this , in turn , is in series with the parallel combination of a tgo resistance r o multiplied by a warburg coefficient w o and a tgo capacitance c o . this is , in turn , in series with the parallel combination of a resistance r t of the interface between the superalloy and bondcoat and an interface capacitance c t . fig5 shows an exemplary graph 120 of impedance ω against frequency ω . an exemplary impedance scale is 0 - 1500 kohm / cm 2 . fig5 further shows an exemplary graph 122 of phase angle θ against frequency . an exemplary phase angle scale is 0 to 80 °. in this model , roughly the location of the impedance peak 130 is indicative of r t . the location of the impedance tail 132 is indicative of r p . in the location of the transition 134 is indicative of r c and r o . the location of a low frequency phase angle peak 140 is indicative of c o and the location of a high frequency phase angle peak 142 is indicative of c c . the location of a tail 144 is indicative of c t . the wetting electrode may be moved seriatim to a plurality of positions on the blade and impedance measurements taken . analysis of data from such multiple positions may be used to even better determine coating properties . less environmentally controlled tests may be performed in situ on an assembled engine such as performing periodic tests on an aircraft engine . such testing may be used to determine wear and other degradation parameters and determine remaining life of the turbine element . alternative tests may involve contacting two probes with the coating . this may be appropriate where convenient access to uncoated portions is difficult . relatively complex models could be used for such a situation . one or more embodiments of the present invention have been described . nevertheless , it will be understood that various modifications may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention . for example , details of the particular turbine elements , coatings , test conditions , and examination criteria may influence the structure of the inspection apparatus and implementation of the inspection methods . accordingly , other embodiments are within the scope of the following claims .