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ARS Home » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #103652
Title: DENSITY-INDEPENDENT AND TEMPERATURE-COMPENSATED MOISTURE CONTENT DETERMINATION IN SHELLED CORN BY MICROWAVE MEASUREMENTS

Author
item Kraszewski, Andrzej
item TRABELSI, SAMIR - OICD
item Nelson, Stuart

Submitted to: Microwave Sensing of Dielectric Materials
Publication Type: Book / Chapter
Publication Acceptance Date: 10/15/1999
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Moisture content of shelled corn, Zea mays L., was correlated with the attenuation and phase shift of electromagnetic waves traveling through a layer of grain in free space. Several calibration equations are presented in the paper, based on measurements taken at 15.2 GHz for various grain densities, moisture contents and temperatures. Validation of the calibration equations indicated that moisture content can be predicted wit an uncertainty less than +/- 0.9% moisture at the 95% confidence level, independent of bulk density variations, at temperatures from 4 degrees C to 45 degrees C, and moisture contents from 9% to 19%. In the approach presented in the paper, the grain bulk density can be determined from the same set of data with an uncertainty of less than 25 kg * m**-3, and moisture content is determined independent of the material bulk density and compensated for temperature. No differences between three corn hybrids were observed in the measured data.