Patent ID: 7525321

Claim:
A device for ultra-high frequency hydrometric measurements comprising: electric means capable of generating sine wave trains of incident wave(s) at frequencies assuming several values in arithmetic progression between a few MHz and a few GHz, at least one ultra-high frequency cable including at least two measuring stations ( 4 ) within said cable spaced along the cable a predetermined distance apart from each other with each measuring station ( 4 ) having a measuring cell ( 14 ) and a separator device capable of only sampling a portion of the incident wave(s) with sufficient energy for each measuring cell to send back an echo measurable by electronic read-out means so that the sampling of the incident wave(s) by each measuring station occurs essentially simultaneously and with each measuring cell ( 14 ) consisting of a ultra-high frequency line portion the distal end of which is terminated by a short circuit, this line portion having a circumferential external wall either porous or provided with ports, and having its dielectric essentially consisting of a sample of homogeneous dielectric material for which permittivity is a monotonous function of the hydrometry in the relevant measurement domain, and electronic read-out means for measuring the echo sent back from each measuring cell and determining from signals having traveled through the ultra-high frequency cable, values of the real and imaginary parts of the permittivity in order to determine the measurement of humidity and temperature by correlation with tables of values experimentally established beforehand by means of another hydrometric measurement method.