Long-Range Low-Power Soil Water Content Monitoring System for Precision Agriculture

Abstract

World population growth and desertification are increasing the food demand. Food production must increase to ensure food security in the following years. Smart agriculture tries to improve food production thanks to the adoption of electronic sensors to monitor and control fruit and vegetable crops. Another critical point in agriculture is the use of potable water. Precision irrigation strategies can be implemented to reduce water waste and increase crop production. This paper proposes a long-range, low-power sensor node to monitor soil water content. It is possible to place multiple sensor nodes in the field and use the gathered data to determine the most suitable irrigation strategy. The node communicates thanks to the LoRa protocol and it can also be used in remote areas where it is impossible to have an internet connection.