Measurements of Dielectric Constant of Volcanic Ash Erupted From Five Volcanoes in Japan

The dielectric properties of volcanic ash from five volcanoes in Japan were measured by using the transmission/reflection coaxial line method of a network analyzer, in a frequency range from 3 to 13 GHz. The measured permittivity of powdered ash was then converted to that of solid ash (dense rock equivalent) with the aid of effective medium theory. The values of solid-ash relative permittivities for the five volcanoes revealed that they were in a relatively narrow range. Their real part was generally in a range from five to six in magnitude, while their imaginary part was in a range from 0.08 to 0.18.