A comparative study of different dielectric models—computation of representative dielectric profiles of black soils

The dielectric property of the soil is an important parameter for microwave remote sensing. Therefore an attempt is made to study and compare the models for the dielectric constant of moist soils by considering three soil types namely Haldi series (sandy loam), Hathiapathar series (silt loam) and Jambria series (clay) and at frequencies 1.4, 4.0 and 18.0 GHz. The semiempirical models of Wang et al. (1980) and Dobson et al (1985) predict more or les same results in the domain of their applicability. However, at lower frequencies below 1.0 GHz, the imaginary part of dielectric constant shows a decreasing trend with decreasing frequency for Wang et al (1980) model whereas it shows reverse trend for Dobson et al (1985) model. The soil texture and frequency dependence of dielectric constant have been investigated for Indian soils. Some of the representative dielectric profiles of black soils of Pune have been computed using semiempirical model of Dobson et al (1985) which are useful for the development of multifrequency models for the study of soil moisture.