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Electrical properties of dry and humid sand

Abstract

ALTHOUGH heterogeneous, sand behaves in many ways like a typical inorganic solid. Its natural abundance makes its electrical properties important in radio propagation and in electromagnetic geological and hydrological surveys, for example using the wave-tilt technique1. We have undertaken an experimental study of the complex permittivity (ε′, ε″) or conductivity of various natural sands at laboratory temperature in controlled humidities, over the frequency range 0.1 to 5×106 Hz (T=20±1 °C).

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SHAHIDI, M., HASTED, J. & JONSCHER, A. Electrical properties of dry and humid sand. Nature 258, 595–597 (1975). https://doi.org/10.1038/258595a0

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