Wireless soil moisture sensor networks for agriculture

Over 60% of agricultural water is wasted due to inefficient irrigation that results from a lack of crop and soil monitoring. Most solutions to this problem are either too expensive for small farmers or lack feasibility of implementation in large-scale commercial farms. A soil moisture wireless sensor network is a promising solution, which can be readily deployed in small, as well as commercial farms, and has been proven to increase irrigation efficiency. However, these systems are generally expensive or are not thoroughly designed for all situations. We propose and test a Wireless Soil Moisture Sensor Network for Agriculture as a system of interconnected, self-sufficient, solar-powered sensor nodes and centralized gateways. Thus, providing farmers with real-time information of soil-moisture, soil-temperature, relative humidity, and weather. Six nodes and one gateway were deployed and tested for four months, and have proven to be reliable and self-sufficient, all while continuing to transmit sensor data, which is successfully logged by the centralized gateway onto a website capable of time-based graphical analysis. The system has also shown to be easily adaptable, as changes and modifications were made to the network. In addition, the proposed system is comprehensive, cost-effective, and scalable. It can be deployed in both commercial and small farms so that farmers can make informed decisions on irrigation and crop management, which consequently increases irrigation efficiency and agricultural productivity.