The Dielectric Constant of Sea Water and Extension to High Salinity

Accurate knowledge of the dielectric constant of sea water is important for remote sensing of surface parameters such as sea surface temperature (SST) and sea surface salinity (SSS). The advent of sensors in space, SMOS [1] , Aquarius [2] and SMAP [3] capable of measuring SSS motivated modern measurements [4] , [5] and modelling [5] , [6] of the dielectric constant at L-band (1.4 GHz). In the past, the range of salinity included in the data used to create these models has been restricted to values typically encountered in the open ocean (e.g., less than 40 psu). However, there are many smaller water bodies with much higher salinity. Notable examples are the Great Salt Lake in Utah with salinity on the order of 180 psu and Garabogazköl lagoon in Turkmenistan with even higher salinity. Unfortunately, existing models for the dielectric constant can’t necessarily just be extended to higher values of salinity. The problem is that the polynomials in salinity and temperature used to represent the unknown parameters in the models are not constrained outside the range of SSS and SST used to determine their coefficients. While the models for the dielectric constant may be very good within that range, outside that range they can lead to unrealistic behavior. Research is underway to develop a model that represents the dielectric constant well over the ocean and behaves well at high salinity. In preparation for possible wideband remote sensing of salinity [7] , [8] , [9] , the laboratory measurements made at 1.413 GHz [4] , [5] are being repeated at 0.707 GHz (P-band) and the plan is to include values of high salinity (50, 100, 150 psu).