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

Abstract

Microwave emission and backscattering of the soil depend on its dielectric constant which is effected by the moisture content in soil. The knowledge of variability of soil moisture is important for agriculture. The properties, chiefly the dielectric constant, comprising both storage and loss of loamy sand having different moisture content by weight, has been studied extensively in the laboratory at a wide range of microwave frequencies from 2 GHz to 20 GHz. The measurements have been made using HP network analyzer and HP dielectric probe employing coaxial probe method. The dielectric constant increases slowly up to certain point and then with the increase of moisture the change is rapid. At higher frequencies the change in loss factor is more

<span style="font-size:14.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:" times="" new="" roman";="" mso-fareast-font-family:"times="" roman";color:black;mso-ansi-language:en-in;="" mso-fareast-language:en-in;mso-bidi-language:hi"="" lang="EN-IN">than that at lower frequencies.</span>