Validation of the soil dielectric model with saline water as an input parameter

The experimental values of complex permittivity for a sandy soil wetted with distilled water (DW) and saline water solutions at 5.65 GHz (C-band) and 9.5 GHz (X-band) frequencies are correlated with the values calculated using DHG and ADV model. The model considers the permittivity of dry soil as initial parameter and permittivity of water at the C and X band microwave frequencies, volumetric moisture content (MC), and the GV (Gadani-Vyas) parameter dependent on soil texture. Initially the model was designed with these parameters for wet soils only but didn’t use the dielectric permittivity of saline water (SW) also as an input parameter. In our study, we used the same model with the dielectric permittivity of SW as an input parameter and then compared the calculated values of ε’ and ε” for the wet soil using SW in the model, with the measured values of ε’ and ε” for sandy soil. The coefficient of regression R² values between the predicted values using the model and experimental values are found to be more than 0.95. It can be observed that the model predicts the values of ε’ and ε” of moistened soil as well as saline soil with great similarity.