Highly Sensitive Differential Microwave Sensor for Soil Moisture Measurement

This paper presents a highly sensitive differential soil moisture sensor (DSMS) using a microstrip line loaded with triangular two-turn resonator (T2-SR) and complementary of the rectangular two-turn spiral resonator (CR2-SR), simultaneously. Volumetric Water Content (VWC) or permittivity sensing is conducted by loading the T2-SR side with dielectric samples. Two transmission notches are observed for identical loads relating to T2-SR and CR2-SR. The CR2-SR notch at 4.39 GHz is used as a reference for differential permittivity measurement method. Further, the resonance frequency of T2-SR is measured relative to the reference value. Based on this frequency difference, the permittivity of soil is calculated which is related to the soil VWC. Triangular two-turn resonator (T2-SR) resonance frequency changes from 4 to 2.38 GHz when VWC varies 0% to 30%. The sensor’s operation principle is described through circuit model analysis and simulations. To validate the differential sensing concept, prototype of the designed 3-cell DSMS is fabricated and measured. The proposed sensor exhibits frequency shift of 110 MHz for 1% change at the highest soil moisture content (30%) for sandy-type soil. This work proves the differential microwave sensing concept for precision agriculture.