John McCulloch
ABSTRACT
Australia is facing a severe water shortage due to below-average rainfall received over the past decade. The agricultural industry is significantly affected by this shortage due to its high water demands. It is important to adopt changes in agricultural practices and employ innovative ideas for the agricultural industry to maintain its current rate of production. Sensor technology can be used to study soil dynamics based on information gathered at regular intervals, and the data collected can be used as feedback to improve irrigation efficiency. In this paper, we describe our experiences in the design, development and deployment of a wireless sensor network to improve water use efficiency for pasture production. Sensor nodes, called sensor pods, were developed using off the shelf components. The design of the sensor pod was a challenging task as the installation has to withstand seasonal weather changes, and be resistant to damages that may be inflicted by cattle in the field. Each sensor pod measures soil moisture, temperature and humidity. Granular matrix sensors are used to measure soil moisture at three different ground depths. Temperature and humidity are measured using the Tmote Sky's on-board sensors. 70 sensor pods were deployed at the TIAR (Tasmanian Institute for Agricultural Research) Elliott Research Farm near Burnie, in the North West of Tasmania, Australia, at the end of December 2007. Preliminary results are now available. The data gathered will be used to develop efficient data evaluation techniques so that irrigation regimes can be automated. This will lead to precision agricultural techniques involving the close monitoring of the field state, and the use of real time data to drive more efficient irrigation practices.
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Index Terms
- Wireless sensor network deployment for water use efficiency in irrigation
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