Measuring the Moisture Content of Wood Sheathing with Continuous Wave Radars

Radars were studied for measuring the moisture content of wood-based materials because of their non-destructive nature and their ability to measure the moisture content of several layers at once. These convenient characteristics enable a quick and non-invasive method to find areas of high moisture content in building envelopes so that problems can be fixed before the structure degrades. The need to operate the radar at millimeter ranges required the development of new techniques and methods for analyzing and calculating the moisture content of individual layers of building material. The techniques are providing accurate results for oriented strand board, and efforts are continuing for investigating other construction materials, meeting FCC requirements, and building a system that will be easy to deploy.