Frequency Domain Probe Design for High Frequency Sensing of Soil Moisture

Mathew G. Pelletier, Robert C. Schwartz, Greg A. Holt, John D. Wanjura and Timothy R. Green
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Mathew G. Pelletier: United States Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Services, 1604 E. FM 1294, Lubbock, TX 79403, USA
Robert C. Schwartz: United States Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Services, 2300 Experiment Station Rd., Bushland, TX 79012, USA
Greg A. Holt: United States Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Services, 1604 E. FM 1294, Lubbock, TX 79403, USA
John D. Wanjura: United States Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Services, 1604 E. FM 1294, Lubbock, TX 79403, USA
Timothy R. Green: United States Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Services, 2150 Centre Ave., Bldg D., STE. 200, Fort Collins, CO 80526, USA

Agriculture, 2016, vol. 6, issue 4, 1-12

Abstract: Accurate moisture sensing is an important need for many research programs as well as in control of industrial processes. This paper describes the development of a high accuracy frequency domain sensing probe for use in obtaining dielectric measurements of materials suitable for work ranging from 300 MHz to 1 GHz. The probe was developed to accommodate a wide range of permittivity’s ranging from ε r = 2.5 to elevated permittivity’s as high as ε r = 40. The design provides a well-matched interface between the soil and the interconnecting cables. A key advantage of the frequency domain approach is that a change of salt concentration has a significantly reduced effect on ε′, versus the traditional time-domain reflectometry, TDR, measured apparent permittivity, Ka.

Keywords: TDR; soil moisture sensing; soil moisture; frequency domain sensing; permittivity; dielectric constant (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q1 Q10 Q11 Q12 Q13 Q14 Q15 Q16 Q17 Q18 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2016
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