Proceedings of the 41st European Microwave Conference

Determination of Soil Moisture Based on an

Improved Sensor Design Using Time Domain
Transmission Measurements
Bianca Will #1 , Michael Gerding 2 , Thomas Musch 3 , Ilona Rolfes #4
#
Chair of Radio Frequency System Engineering, Ruhr-Universitat Bochum
Universitatsstr. 150, 44801 Bochum, Germany
1
bianca.will@rub.de
4
ilona.rolfes@rub.de

Institute for Electronic Circuits, Ruhr-Universitat Bochum
Universitatsstr. 150, 44801 Bochum, Germany
2
michael.gerding@rub.de
3
thomas.musch@rub.de

AbstractDelay time measurements, e.g. time domain reec-
tometry (TDR), are a well-established method for the mea-
surement of permittivity in various materials, especially soils
[1]. However, common measurement systems only provide an
average value of the dielectric constant along the length of the
TDR sensor. Furthermore the accuracy offered by common TDR
measurements is limited due to multiple reections caused by the
material under test.
This contribution deals with a new sensor design for the charac-
terization of soil moisture using time domain transmission (TDT)
measurements. The basis of the advanced TDT technique is a new
waveguide concept, which offers the possibility to perform trans-
mission measurements in soils. Thus multiple reections along the
waveguide do not inuence the measurement accuracy. By using
a so-called concentric reversion coupler TDT measurements
can be performed without a measuring port at the end of the
sensor.
I. I NTRODUCTION
There are several well established techniques available for
the determination of the permittivity in homogeneous and
inhomogeneous materials [2]. They all have in common, that
their measurement results are limited to the mean value of the
permittivity of the respective material of interest.
Due to the existing relation between the permittivity and the
moisture of a material probe [3], permittivity measurements
become a common method for the determination of the water
content of soils [4], [5], [6]. By the use of capacitive sensors
or delay time measurements it is possible to determine the
mean value of the water content along a sensor, which is
penetrating the medium. Furthermore it is already known that
a dielectric prole can be determined by using a time-domain
inverse scattering technique [7].
In fact, the accuracy of common TDR-sensors used for the
determination of soil moisture is limited. Even if TDR-systems
offer highly accurate delay time measurements, multiple re-
ections caused by the material under test can decrease the
measurement accuracy. In contrast to common TDR measure-
ments, TDT measurements offer the possibility to eliminate
multiple reections by the use of time gating methods [8]. This
results from the fact that the rst transmitted impulse is unique
and presents the useful delay time signal. In fact a measuring
port at the end of the sensor is needed to enable common
TDT measurements. Related to permittivity measurements in
soils, e.g. in boreholes, a measuring port at the end of the
sensor is difcult to realize. This contribution deals with an
improved sensor design, which enables TDT-measurements
in soils without the necessity of a second measuring port
at the end of the sensor. Therefore a concentric reversion
coupler consisting of concentric coaxial lines is developed.
Furthermore a compact sensor design is realized with regard
to the application in boreholes with a diameter of a couple of
centimeters.
According to the increasing interest in spatially resolved soil
moisture measurements this compact sensor design enables the
possibility to perform spatially resolved TDT-measurements
as well. Due to its compact design, the TDT-sensor can be
displaced inside the material of interest, enabling arbitrary
measurement positions. Thus measurements inside layered
materials can be performed as well as measurements of smooth
permittivity variations.
II. M ATHEMATICAL F UNDAMENTALS
One commonly used method for the determination of the
water content of soils is given by delay time measurements.
Those are particularly suitable for permittivity measurements
due to the dependence of the propagation velocity of elec-
tromagnetic waves on the dielectric permittivity. Delay time
measurements used for the detection of water in soils are
usually performed in a frequency range up to 3 GHz. This
frequency range results from the extraordinary dielectric prop-
erties of water at lower frequencies. Measuring delay times
by using such baseband signals requires waveguides which
are inserted in the material under test. In many cases open-
ended two-wire lines or one-wire lines are used to lead the

978-2-87487-022-4 2011 EuMA 218 10 -13 October 2011, Manchester, UK

measurement signal in the tested material. By measuring the 2
delay time or the propagation velocity along the waveguide, 1
the dielectric properties of the surrounding of the waveguide
Z0
can be determined.
Z0 d
Concerning porous materials e.g. soils, a complex relative
permittivity r = r jr yields the following relation for Fig. 1. Schematic design of a concentric reversion coupler with the base
the propagation velocity in the tested material [9]: impedance Z0 and the coaxial ports 1 and 2

1
c=     (1) 0
r 2
0 0 1+ (tan ) + 1

|S11 |2 , |S21 |2 / dB
2 -10

Thus the measured delay time depends on the real part of the
-20
relative permittivity and on its loss tangent tan = r /r ,
respectively. To obtain a more compact relation, the so-called -26

apparent permittivity [10] -30

  
 2
0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3
a = r 1 + (tan ) + 1 (2) Frequency / GHz
2
Fig. 2. Frequency domain transfer function |S21 |2 (dashed) and insertion
can be used. Hence, the measured delay time tmeas depends loss |S11 |2 (solid) of the numerically optimized concentric reversion coupler
on the square root of the apparent relative permittivity of the
material under test, the speed of light c0 and the mechanical
length of the sensor lmech as follows: III. S ENSOR D ESIGN
lmech
tmeas = a (3) Concerning multiple reections along the sensor, time do-
c0 main transmission measurements are advantageous compared
Measuring the delay time along a sensor with a known me- with commonly performed time domain reectometry mea-
chanical length lmech in a material with a known permittivity surements. According to this, a movable discontinuity on
ref yields a reference delay time tref . Subsequently one can a one-wire line can be used to achieve a higher accuracy
use the difference between this reference delay time and the compared with common reection measurements [11]. Al-
delay in the material of interest to determine the apparent though this setup offers advantages in comparison with usual
permittivity meas of the material under test as follows: time domain reectometry measurements, there are still some
 2 characteristics which can be improved.
(tmeas tref ) c0 Even if results of reection measurements achieved by us-
meas = + ref (4)
lmech ing a movable discontinuity are less inuenced by multiple
reections, a separated measurement port to perform real
Furthermore this measured permittivity offers the possibility
transmission measurements is advantageous. Thus a coupling
to determine the water content due to Topps equation [3]:
structure to lead the transmitted signal back to the feeding
= 5.3 102 + 2.92 102 meas port of the sensor is necessary. Due to this, a so-called
concentric reversion coupler which leads the transmitted signal
5.5 104 2meas + 4.3 106 3meas (5)
back into the interior of a one-wire line was developed.
Additionally, the improved sensor design described in this This coupling structure consists of concentric coaxial lines
contribution enables the possibility to determine spatially as schematically shown in Fig. 1. A numerical optimization
resolved dielectric proles by moving the sensor along the based on electromagnetic simulations yields a matching better
material of interest without changing the mechanical length of than 26 dB for baseband signals up to 3 GHz as shown by the
the sensor. Hence one can determine the apparent permittivity transfer function in Fig.2.
and the corresponding water content in each sensor position Furthermore a time domain lter structure for the separation
i: of the pulse signals on these concentric coaxial lines is
 2 necessary. A schematic design of the numerically optimized
(tmeas (i) tref ) c0
meas (i) = + ref (6) lter structure is shown in Fig. 3. The frequency domain
lmech
transfer function and the time domain impulse response of
As shown by this relation the measured apparent permittivity the numerically optimized time domain lter structure are
solely depends on the permittivity of the surrounding of shown in Fig. 4 and Fig. 5. Additionally a discontinuity is
the sensor. Neither the measuring position nor permittivities placed on the one-wire line to obtain a higher inuence of the
in other regions along the measured prole inuence the surrounding. Combined with the described coupling and lter
measured permittivity. structures a compact sensor can be achieved as shown in Fig. 6.

219
 sensor plastic tube
l TDT
system e1 e2 e3 e4 e5 e6
1
stepper
2 motor

Fig. 7. Measurement setup: TDT system, stepper motor and the sensor
Fig. 3. Schematic design of a time domain lter structure to separate pulse inserted into material of interest
signals on concentric coaxial lines

0
soil moisture measurement by moving it stepwise, e.g. in a
|S11 |2 , |S21 |2 / dB

-10 borehole.

-20 IV. M EASUREMENT S ETUP

-30
For the characterization of a soil moisture prole the sensor
is implemented into a measurement setup which is described
0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3
in the following. The described sensor yields the permittivity
Frequency / GHz for one measurement position. To get a moisture prole it
is necessary to perform measurements in several measuring
Fig. 4. Frequency domain transfer function |S21 |2 (dashed) and insertion
loss |S11 |2 (solid) of the numerically optimized lter structure positions. Therefore the probe is inserted into a plastic tube
in which it can be moved by a stepper motor. The step size
1
of the probe movement yields the spatial resolution of the
moisture prole. Naturally, this spatial resolution is limited by
Amplitude / a.u.

0.67
the performance of the used TDT-system.
Concerning this contribution the measurement system is based
on an industrial TDR system. This TDR system operates in the
0
baseband and offers a bandwidth up to 3 GHz. The jitter of this
TDR system, which denes the maximum spatial resolution of
-0.5
0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 the TDR-system, is about 400 fs yielding a spatial resolution
Time / ns
in the sub-centimeter range. To perform TDT measurements
Fig. 5. Input impulse (solid) and corresponding time domain impulse a further detector for the transmitted pulse is needed. In
response (dashed) of the numerically optimized lter structure this case the detector is implemented by an extension of
an existing system. Thus the resulting measurement system
remains as compact as usual TDR systems. Additionally the
TDT
use of an extended TDR system offers the possibility to
perform reection measurements as well. This allows to obtain
further information about the permittivity.
Fig. 7 shows the entire measurement setup inserted into a
mixture of soils with different permittivities.

Fig. 6. Schematic design and realization of the improved sensor design for
time domain transmission measurements
The key benets of this new senor design are given by the short
unshielded signal path and its xed mechanical length which
does not depend on the measuring position. Moreover, the use
of the described coupling structures enables the possibility
to perform real transmission measurements in soils, e.g. in
boreholes without the necessity of a second measuring port at
the end of the sensor.
Thus, one can achieve highly accurate measurement results
due to the fact that transmission measurements are less inu-
enced by multiple reections caused by the material under test
or the sensor itself. Additionally, this sensor is suitable for the
measurement of smooth permittivity variations as well as for
the measurement inside layered materials. Due to its compact
design the new sensor design can be used for spatially resolved
V. M EASUREMENT R ESULTS
The following part illustrates some exemplary measurement
results achieved with the presented sensor. For comparison,
Fig. 8 shows a permittivity prole achieved with a displaceable
discontinuity which was moved along a one-wire line as
presented in [11]. In this case four sections of the surrounding
of a borehole were lled with sand of different water contents.
Between these sand sections there was one empty section (air).
The step size of the displacement of the single measuring
positions is 1 cm in this case. The solid line is the 5-point
moving average curve of all single data points measured with
a common TDR-system. As the graph shows, the different
sections are clearly distinguishable, but nevertheless there
are some uncertainties regarding the effective permittivity.
Concerning the sections without lling (air as surrounding) a
spread of data is observed, which may be explained by external
disturbances. Furthermore the positioning of the one-wire line
is not exactly centered for each measurement position.

220
 8
air sand 1 air sand 2 air
lay time was measured every 10 seconds. Furthermore, water
7
was slowly dripped down on the sand for almost six hours.
meas / a.u. 6
The graph shows the measured apparent permittivity meas and
5
the water content determined by using (5). A comparison with
4
known water contents shows that transmission measurements
3
performed with the improved sensor design yield reproducible
2
and accurate measurement results. This measurement shows
1
once more, that there are nearly no uctuations caused by ex-
0
0 25 55 75 105 145
ternal disturbing signals or measurement uncertainties caused
Measuring Position / cm
by the system itself.
Fig. 8. Reection measurement results performed with movable discontinuity VI. C ONCLUSIONS
The sensor design presented in this contribution enables
15
air gravel air sand
dry
sand
wet
sand
dry
air transmission measurements without the necessity of a measur-
12.5
ing port at the end of the sensor. Additionally, performing time
meas / a.u.

10
domain transmission measurements offers the possibility to
7.5
reduce the inuence of multiple reections by the use of time
5
gating methods. Thus, the designed TDT-sensor is applicable
2.5
1 inside layered materials as well as for the measurement of
0
0 30 50 70 90 110 130 200
smooth permittivity variations. Furthermore, spatially resolved
Sensor Position / cm
permittivity measurements can be performed by moving the
Fig. 9. Measurement results for dielectric prole consisting of air, gravel, sensor along the material of interest. Thus, the compact sensor
wet and dry sand performed with the newly developed compact sensor design presented in this contribution offers a very powerful
16
solution for the measurement of permittivity in soils and e.g.
38.93 (real: 40 %)
40 %Vol

14
in boreholes. The TDT electronic part can be attached to the
36.58
sensor and be moved together with it, thus avoiding long RF
meas / a.u.

12 33.16

10
cables. This solution allows very long measurement tracks
29.43
without a deterioration of the measurement accuracy.
8 25.36

6 21.93 (real: 20 %)
meas
real water content / % Vol.
4
determined water content / % Vol.
2
0 1 2 3
Time / h
Fig. 10. Static measurement of the apparent permittivity meas and the
water content with one xed measurement position and water dripping down
on sand
The following results are achieved with the improved sensor
design described in this contribution. Fig. 9 shows the apparent
permittivity for the case that the surrounding is lled with
gravel, dry and wet sand. As expected, the results show a
very smooth behavior. In comparison with the results achieved
by performing reection measurements, these results show
a smaller spread of data concerning sections with air as
surrounding. These improvements can be explained by the
use of a short unshielded signal path and the fact that real
transmission measurements are performed. Additionally reec-
tion measurements show a higher variation between the single
data points and the moving average if measurements with
higher permittivities are performed. This effect is caused by
the fact that these higher permittivities cause higher multiple
reections. Thus high permittivities in the surrounding result
in a higher spread of data. The results shown in Fig. 10 are
achieved by a static measurement. In this case, the sensor was
xed in one position and the surrounding was lled with dry
sand. Then a continuous measurement was started, e.g. the de-
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