Dielectric Model of the Upper Organic Layer of Forest Soils for a Frequency of 435 MHz

Abstract

A single-frequency refractive dielectric model is proposed for thawed and frozen forest organic soils in the root zone at 435 MHz. The dielectric model was created on the basis of the laboratory dielectric measurements of four soils with organic matter content in the range from 15 to 31%. Dielectric measurements were carried out in the range of the gravimetric moisture from 0 to 0.6 g/g and temperature range from –30 to 25°С. The coefficient of determination (R2) between the predicted and measured values of the real (ε') and imaginary (ε") parts of the complex permittivity was 0.97. The normalized root-mean-square error was 16% and 21% for the real and imaginary parts of the complex permittivity, respectively. The created dielectric model may be applied in algorithms for remote sensing of forest soil moisture in the root zone using radar and radiometric data.