We are developing a simple apparatus to quickly determine the amount of water/ice using two probes that contact the regolith. Using impedance spectroscopy, we describe how conductivity measurements were used to determine the amount of water/ice in simulated martian soils. We measured silica sand samples containing 0.05% to 10% water doped with KCl and MgSO4 between ¿65 °C and 25 °C. Results indicate that we are able to measure the water/ice content of coarse silica sand with > 0.05% water and > 0.5% ice. For a concentration, C*, of ions or defects, water/ice gravimetric content, ¿g, and equivalent conductivity, ¿, the conductivity is ¿ = 2.5×10¿7·¿·C*·¿g1.8.
Electrical Properties Probe Measures Water/Ice Content of Martian Soils Using Impedance Spectroscopy
2007-03-01
2054508 byte
Conference paper
Electronic Resource
English
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