Complex dielectric permittivity of salt affected soil at lower microwave frequencies

The Real and Imaginary parts (ε' & ε") of the Complex Dielectric Permittivity (ε*) of Loamy sand soil with varied salinity levels have been determined experimentally using a Vector NetworkAnalyzer in the frequency range 150 MHz to 2.2 GHz. It has been observed that the effect of salinity in the soil is more pronounced in the dielectric loss as compared to dielectric constant. The Power reflection coefficient(R) and Emissivity(e) of Microwaves for the soil were also calculated from the measured value of complex dielectric permittivity. These parameters show expected variation with soil salinity and microwave frequencies used and have great importance in remote sensing of soil moisture using microwave signals.