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Soil water saturation: Dielectric determination
Author(s) -
Alharthi A.,
Lange J.
Publication year - 1987
Publication title -
water resources research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.863
H-Index - 217
eISSN - 1944-7973
pISSN - 0043-1397
DOI - 10.1029/wr023i004p00591
Subject(s) - saturation (graph theory) , soil water , dielectric , water content , soil science , degree of saturation , water saturation , materials science , environmental science , geotechnical engineering , mineralogy , geology , composite material , porosity , mathematics , optoelectronics , combinatorics
Dielectric measurements of moist soils are used to determine water saturations. The degree of saturation of water is determined using a mixing law for the composite structure (soil, water, and air) which is verified experimentally. For the lower water saturation range (<60%), a particularly simple form for the relationship between fractional water content θ and measured dielectric constant can be formulated. In particular, for sandy soils at 23°C, the fractional water content is given by θ = 0.128( ϵ c ) ½ − 0.204.