Wireless sensor network for precision agriculture

Abstract

Sensors are very useful in agriculture. Irregular or insufficient rainfall can be a serious limitation to the final yield, causing low yields and even crop failure. Moreover the total amount of water cannot be assessed during the growing stages of the plants. It is possible, however, to find out how much soil moisture is present. This can help farmers in decision making about the suitable amount of irrigation water in each growing season. Furthermore the combination of soil moisture sensors with management zones may lead to increase of the final yield. The aim of this research was to calibrate and install the WATERMARK sensors in a commercial vineyard according to the Precision Agriculture practices. The results of the research proved that the WATERMARK sensors can assess the soil moisture with high accuracy (R2 = 0.85). © 2011 IEEE.