Study of the properties of dry and wet loamy sand soil at microwave frequencies

Abstract

Mic rowave emission and backscatterin g of the soi l depend on its dielectric co nstan t which is effected by the mois ture content in so il. The knowledge of variability of so il moisture is important for agr icultur e. The propertie s, chiefly th e diel ectri c co nstant , compri si ng both stora ge and loss of loamy sa nd havin g different moisture content by weight, has bee n studi ed extensively in the lab oratory at a wide range of microwave fr e­ quenci es from 2 GHz to 20 GHz. The meas urements have been made using HP network ana lyzer and HP di­ electric probe emplo yin g coaxial probe method. The di electr ic constant in creases slow ly up to ce rt ain poi nt and then with the increase of moisture th e change is rapid . At hi gher frequencies the change in loss factor is more than th at at lower frequenci es .