<p>The sensor (6) for the capacitative measurement of moisture contained within loose material (15) comprises a housing with a non-conducting ceramic baseplate which is directed towards the loose material or over which the material moves. Within the housing is a leakage field capacitor which produced an electric field whose lines pass through the baseplate and into the loose material. The plates of the capacitor are formed from a thin metal layer deposited on the base plate away from the loose material. The two plates are interleaved in stripwise or comb type manner with one plate at the potential of the housing and the housing so dimensioned that the field is spike shaped. Before use the sensor is calibrated over its full temperature range using a sample of known capacitance.</p>
