Abstract
A free space transmission method using standard gain horn antennas in the frequency range from 9.0 to 10.5GHz is applied to determine the dielectric properties of grain such as rough rice ,brown rice and barley. The dielectric constant and loss factor, which depend on the moisture content of the wetted grain are obtained from the measured attenuation and phase shift by vector network analyzer. The moisture content of grain varied from 11 to 25% based on this wetted condition. The measured values of dielectric constants as a function of moisture density are compared with values of those obtained using he predicted model for estimating dielectric constants of grain. The effect of density fluctuation, high is an important parameter governing the dielectric properties of grain, on the dielectric constant and loss factor is presented. A new density-independent model in terms of measured attenuation an moisture density is proposed of reducing the effects of density fluctuation on the moisture content measurement.
