Dielectric Properties of Soils of India at Radio and Microwave Frequencies: A Review

Abstract

Dielectric properties of soils are important in the field of geophysical exploration, agriculture, and remote sensing, as these directly affect the performance of electromagnetic sensors. Soils vary from region to region due to variation in texture, temperature, demography, and environment, so area wise dielectric properties of soil differ significantly and depend upon frequency, moisture content, bulk density, and salinity. India has a wide variety of soils and numerous researchers have studied dielectric properties of many states of India. However, due to difference in technique used, frequency of interest, and soil type, it is difficult to generalize dielectric behavior of soils of India as a whole. In this review, we present a systematic state wise analysis of all reported dielectric data on soils of India at radio and microwave frequencies.