Averaged electrical parameters of forest vegetation and the height of forest cover

A device and a method for measuring the electrical parameters (resistivity $\rho$ and permittivity $\varepsilon$) of forest vegetation are described. The measuring method and the data processing technique are detailed for a forest area the resistivity and permittivity of which measured in the ranges of long and very long waves are $\rho$ = 37 $\pm$ 12 k$\Omega$ m and $\varepsilon$ = 1.6 $\cdot$ 0.3, respectively. It is found that coordinate measurements in forest vegetation with a single-frequency GPS receiver always involve a one-sided systematic drift, since the permittivity is other than unity. This circumstance makes it possible to develop a way of determining the average height of forest cover. For example, the average height of trees is roughly equal to 21 m in the given forest area.