Development of a Resonant Microwave Sensor for Sediment Density Characterization

Type Article
Date 2020-02
Language English
Author(s) Mansour Rassoul1, 2, 3, Rioual S.2, Lescop B.2, Talbot P.2, Abboud M.3, Farah W.3, Tanné G.2
Affiliation(s) 1 : IFREMER, REM-GM-LAD, 29280 Plouzane, France
2 : Univ Brest, Lab-STICC, CNRS, UMR 6285, F-29200 Brest, France
3 : UEGP, Faculté des Sciences, Université Saint Joseph, BP 17-5208 Mar Mikhael, Beyrouth 1104 2020, Liban
Source Sensors (1424-8220) (MDPI AG), 2020-02 , Vol. 20 , N. 4 , P. 1058 (13p.)
DOI 10.3390/s20041058
WOS© Times Cited 5
Note This article belongs to the Special Issue Microwave Sensors Based on Resonant Elements
Keyword(s) resonant sensor, water content, dielectric characterization, microwave, antenna, sediments
Abstract

In this study, a sensor based on the development of a planar antenna immersed in sediments dedicated to water content monitoring in this type of material is proposed and experimentally validated. It is produced by a conventional Printed Circuit Board (PCB) manufacturing process on a double-sided metalized FR4 substrate. The sensitivity of the sensor is ensured by the variation of the real part of the complex dielectric permittivity of sediments with water content at around 1 GHz. As shown, in this frequency range, electrode polarization and Maxwell–Wagner polarization e ects become negligible, leading to only a bulk water polarization sensitivity. The sensor operates in the reflection mode by monitoring the variation of the resonant frequency as a function of the sediment density through the S11 reflection measurements. An experimental sensitivity of 820 MHz.g..1.cm3 was achieved. Despite the simplification of data interpretation at the considered frequency, the influence of ionic species such as NaCl in sediments on the real part of the relative complex dielectric permittivity is highlighted. This demonstrates the importance of considering a second parameter such as the S11 level at low frequency or the electrical conductivity to extract the density from the frequency measurements.

Full Text
File Pages Size Access
Publisher's official version 13 3 MB Open access
Top of the page