Presentation of a Complex Permittivity-Meter with Applications for Sensing the Moisture and Salinity of a Porous Media

This paper describes a sensor dedicated to measuring the vertical profile of the complex permittivity and the temperature of any medium in which sensor electrodes are inserted. Potential applications are the estimate of the humidity and salinity in a porous medium, such as a soil. It consists of ver...

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Main Authors: Xavier Chavanne, Jean-Pierre Frangi
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2014-08-01
Series:Sensors
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.mdpi.com/1424-8220/14/9/15815
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author Xavier Chavanne
Jean-Pierre Frangi
author_facet Xavier Chavanne
Jean-Pierre Frangi
author_sort Xavier Chavanne
collection DOAJ
description This paper describes a sensor dedicated to measuring the vertical profile of the complex permittivity and the temperature of any medium in which sensor electrodes are inserted. Potential applications are the estimate of the humidity and salinity in a porous medium, such as a soil. It consists of vertically-stacked capacitors along two conductive parallel cylinders of 5 cm in diameter and at a 10-cm distance to scan a significant volume of the medium (~1 L). It measures their admittances owing to a self-balanced impedance bridge operating at a frequency in the range of 1–20 MHz, possibly 30 MHz. Thanks to accurate design and electronic circuit theory-based modeling, the determination of the admittances takes into account all distortions due to lead and bridge electromagnetic effects inside the sensor when working at high frequencies. Calibration procedures and uncertainties are presented. The article also describes developments to make the present sensor autonomous on digital acquisition, basic data treatment and energy, as well as able to transfer stored data by a radio link. These steps in progress are prerequisites for a wireless network of sensors.
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spelling doaj.art-36683578e05946bab0653685c313394d2022-12-22T02:07:02ZengMDPI AGSensors1424-82202014-08-01149158151583510.3390/s140915815s140915815Presentation of a Complex Permittivity-Meter with Applications for Sensing the Moisture and Salinity of a Porous MediaXavier Chavanne0Jean-Pierre Frangi1Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris, Univ. Paris Diderot, Sorbonne Paris Cité, UMR 7154 CNRS. Case postale 7011 - F75205 Paris cedex 13, FranceInstitut de Physique du Globe de Paris, Univ. Paris Diderot, Sorbonne Paris Cité, UMR 7154 CNRS. Case postale 7011 - F75205 Paris cedex 13, FranceThis paper describes a sensor dedicated to measuring the vertical profile of the complex permittivity and the temperature of any medium in which sensor electrodes are inserted. Potential applications are the estimate of the humidity and salinity in a porous medium, such as a soil. It consists of vertically-stacked capacitors along two conductive parallel cylinders of 5 cm in diameter and at a 10-cm distance to scan a significant volume of the medium (~1 L). It measures their admittances owing to a self-balanced impedance bridge operating at a frequency in the range of 1–20 MHz, possibly 30 MHz. Thanks to accurate design and electronic circuit theory-based modeling, the determination of the admittances takes into account all distortions due to lead and bridge electromagnetic effects inside the sensor when working at high frequencies. Calibration procedures and uncertainties are presented. The article also describes developments to make the present sensor autonomous on digital acquisition, basic data treatment and energy, as well as able to transfer stored data by a radio link. These steps in progress are prerequisites for a wireless network of sensors.http://www.mdpi.com/1424-8220/14/9/15815capacitive sensoradmittance measurementimpedance bridgeelectrical circuittheorycalibration
spellingShingle Xavier Chavanne
Jean-Pierre Frangi
Presentation of a Complex Permittivity-Meter with Applications for Sensing the Moisture and Salinity of a Porous Media
Sensors
capacitive sensor
admittance measurement
impedance bridge
electrical circuittheory
calibration
title Presentation of a Complex Permittivity-Meter with Applications for Sensing the Moisture and Salinity of a Porous Media
title_full Presentation of a Complex Permittivity-Meter with Applications for Sensing the Moisture and Salinity of a Porous Media
title_fullStr Presentation of a Complex Permittivity-Meter with Applications for Sensing the Moisture and Salinity of a Porous Media
title_full_unstemmed Presentation of a Complex Permittivity-Meter with Applications for Sensing the Moisture and Salinity of a Porous Media
title_short Presentation of a Complex Permittivity-Meter with Applications for Sensing the Moisture and Salinity of a Porous Media
title_sort presentation of a complex permittivity meter with applications for sensing the moisture and salinity of a porous media
topic capacitive sensor
admittance measurement
impedance bridge
electrical circuittheory
calibration
url http://www.mdpi.com/1424-8220/14/9/15815
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AT jeanpierrefrangi presentationofacomplexpermittivitymeterwithapplicationsforsensingthemoistureandsalinityofaporousmedia