Method and apparatus for measuring soil salinity
First Claim
1. A method for measuring soil salinity comprising the following steps:
- measuring the real part of the low frequency electric permittivity (ε
'"'"') of a soil sample;
determining the salinity of said soil sample based on the measured real part of the low frequency electric permittivity (ε
'"'"'); and
registering the salinity of said soil sample.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A method for measuring soil salinity measures the low frequency permittivity of a soil sample at one or more frequencies below 2 megahertz and determines the salinity of the soil sample based on the measured real part of the permittivity. Apparatus for performing the method comprises a soil sample holder for laboratory measurements or a four electrode array for measuring soil salinity in situ. An electrical circuit measures the low frequency permittivity of the soil sample and converts the measured permittivity to the salinity of the soil sample. The salinity conversion can be performed by a read-only memory or a computer with the output being registered by display on a digital or analog display or storage in a data memory.
34 Citations
15 Claims
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1. A method for measuring soil salinity comprising the following steps:
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measuring the real part of the low frequency electric permittivity (ε
'"'"') of a soil sample;determining the salinity of said soil sample based on the measured real part of the low frequency electric permittivity (ε
'"'"'); andregistering the salinity of said soil sample. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
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7. Apparatus for measuring soil salinity comprising:
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sample means for engaging a soil sample the salinity of which is to be determined; circuit means connected to said sample means for measuring the real part of the low frequency electric permittivity (ε
'"'"') of said soil sample and for generating electric permittivity signals representative thereof;conversion means connected to said circuit means and responsive to said permittivity signals for generating salinity signals representative of the salinity of said soil sample; and salinity registration means for registering the salinity of said soil sample in response to said salinity signals. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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Specification