480 research outputs found

    The impact of agricultural activities on water quality: a case for collaborative catchment-scale management using integrated wireless sensor networks

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    The challenge of improving water quality is a growing global concern, typified by the European Commission Water Framework Directive and the United States Clean Water Act. The main drivers of poor water quality are economics, poor water management, agricultural practices and urban development. This paper reviews the extensive role of non-point sources, in particular the outdated agricultural practices, with respect to nutrient and contaminant contributions. Water quality monitoring (WQM) is currently undertaken through a number of data acquisition methods from grab sampling to satellite based remote sensing of water bodies. Based on the surveyed sampling methods and their numerous limitations, it is proposed that wireless sensor networks (WSNs), despite their own limitations, are still very attractive and effective for real-time spatio-temporal data collection for WQM applications. WSNs have been employed for WQM of surface and ground water and catchments, and have been fundamental in advancing the knowledge of contaminants trends through their high resolution observations. However, these applications have yet to explore the implementation and impact of this technology for management and control decisions, to minimize and prevent individual stakeholder’s contributions, in an autonomous and dynamic manner. Here, the potential of WSN-controlled agricultural activities and different environmental compartments for integrated water quality management is presented and limitations of WSN in agriculture and WQM are identified. Finally, a case for collaborative networks at catchment scale is proposed for enabling cooperation among individually networked activities/stakeholders (farming activities, water bodies) for integrated water quality monitoring, control and management

    Cloud based Smart Irrigation for Agricultural Area of Pakistan

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    A beneficial product of Smart Irrigation for Agricultural Area of Pakistan has been presented in this paper. Pakistan stands in need of a participatory solution that is efficiently workable, sustainable, and profitable, to develop the way for the agricultural sector by improving crop productivity with minimum water loss. The goal of this project is to introduce Cloud support to the Smart Irrigation System for Agricultural Area of Pakistan. To achieve this objective Wireless Sensor Network (WSN) is used to determine how much water to apply and when to irrigate. The system is divided into four main modules, i.e. Sensor node, Coordinator node, Server Module and Web Application. On the basis of acquired parameters from the WSN, the software application is programmed to take intelligent decisions increase the efficiency of the agricultural system

    Survey of Impact of Technology on Effective Implementation of Precision Farming in India

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    The advancements in technology have made its impact on almost every field. India being an agricultural country, proper use of technology can greatly help in improving the standard of living of the farmers. With varying weather conditions, illiteracy of farmers and non-availability of timely assistance, the farmers of this country could not get the best out of their efforts. Precision farming focuses mainly on the aspects that can improve the efficiency based on the data collected from various sources viz. meteorology, sensors, GIS, GPS, etc. The information pertaining to farmland (e.g., soil moisture, soil pH, soil nitrogen) and agro-meteorology (e.g., temperature & humidity, solar radiation, wind speed, atmospheric CO2 concentration, rainfall, climate change and global warming) are used as input parameters to decide the varying requirements of the crop cultivation. Historical farm land data are used as a means to decide on the kind of actions to be taken under a specific scenario. This paper surveys the existing methods of precision farming and highlights the impact of technology in farming. An overview of different technologies used in precision farming around the world and their implications on the yield are discussed. The methods adopted towards managing different types of crops, the varying environmental conditions and the use of realtime data being collected through sensors are also analyzed. Also, the need for dynamic approaches to assist the farmers in taking context specific decisions has been highlighted

    Smart Farming- Drip Irrigation Controlled using LR-WPAN with hybrid Power

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    Agricultural sectors always need technology to get higher yields. Wireless Sensor Technology with LR-WPAN gives the opportunity to control the plat with minimum cost. In this paper, we developed a system that optimally waters agricultural crops based on a wireless sensor network technology. The scope in this paper consists of two main components: a hybrid power source and a communication system between end nodes with the gateway. The first component was designed and implemented in control box hardware using PLC (Programmable Logic Controller) to generate the power to all components (microcontroller, sensor, and actuator). The second is transmission data from end node to gateway by utilizing Zigbee protocol. The automation uses data from three soil moisture sensors as a trigger to the ON/OFF solenoid valve for watering the field. It may conclude that the system can work properly, the data from the field was sent real-time. Also, the hybrid power was working properly to supply power

    Design and Implementation of Automated Irrigation Control System using WSN: An overview

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    Agriculture plays an important role in Indian economy. It is the biggest water user with the irrigation accounting for 70 percent of global water usage. It is assumed that without improved efficiency of water usage, the consumption of agriculture water can increase by 20 percent by 2050 at global level. In our country rainfall controls the agriculture; but the rainfall is non-uniform and irregular. This creates hassle in irrigation which badly affects the agriculture produce. This paper reviews different smart irrigation methods to achieve the efficiency in water use, higher production levels, low cost, decreased manpower requirements, higher reliability in water supply and certainly higher profits to farmers. The smart irrigation system should be cost effective so that the farmers can use it in the farm field

    A Wireless Sensor Network Deployment for Soil Moisture Monitoring in Precision Agriculture

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    [EN] The use of precision agriculture is becoming more and more necessary to provide food for the world's growing population, as well as to reduce environmental impact and enhance the usage of limited natural resources. One of the main drawbacks that hinder the use of precision agriculture is the cost of technological immersion in the sector. For farmers, it is necessary to provide low-cost and robust systems as well as reliability. Toward this end, this paper presents a wireless sensor network of low-cost sensor nodes for soil moisture that can help farmers optimize the irrigation processes in precision agriculture. Each wireless node is composed of four soil moisture sensors that are able to measure the moisture at different depths. Each sensor is composed of two coils wound onto a plastic pipe. The sensor operation is based on mutual induction between coils that allow monitoring the percentage of water content in the soil. Several prototypes with different features have been tested. The prototype that has offered better results has a winding ratio of 1:2 with 15 and 30 spires working at 93 kHz. We also have developed a specific communication protocol to improve the performance of the whole system. Finally, the wireless network was tested, in a real, cultivated plot of citrus trees, in terms of coverage and received signal strength indicator (RSSI) to check losses due to vegetation.This work has been partially supported by the European Union through the ERANETMED (Euromediterranean Cooperation through ERANET joint activities and beyond) project ERANETMED3227 SMARTWATIR, by the "Programa Estatal de I+D+i Orientada a los Retos de la Sociedad, en el marco del Plan Estatal de Investigacion Cientifica y Tecnica y de Innovacion 2017-2020" (Project code: PID2020-114467RR-C33) and by "proyectos de innovacion de interes general por grupos operativos de la Asociacion Europea para la Innovacion en materia de productividad y sostenibilidad agricolas (AEI-Agri)" in the framework "Programa Nacional de Desarrollo Rural 2014-2020", GO TECNOGAR. This work has also been partially funded by the Universitat Politecnica de Valencia through the post-doctoral PAID-10-20 program.Lloret, J.; Sendra, S.; García-García, L.; Jimenez, JM. (2021). A Wireless Sensor Network Deployment for Soil Moisture Monitoring in Precision Agriculture. Sensors. 21(21):1-24. https://doi.org/10.3390/s21217243124212

    Precision Irrigation: Sensor Network Based Irrigation

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    Successful Deployment of a Wireless Sensor Network for Precision Agriculture in Malawi

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    This paper demonstrates how an irrigation management system (IMS) can practically be implemented by deploying a wireless sensor network (WSN). Specifically, the paper describes an IMS which was set up in Manja township, city of Blantyre. Deployment of IMS in rural areas of developing countries like Malawi is a challenge as grid power is scarce. For the system to be self-sustained in terms of power, the study used solar photovoltaic and rechargeable batteries to power all electrical devices. The system incorporated a remote monitoring mechanism through a General Packet Radio Service modem to report soil temperature, soil moisture, WSN link performance, and photovoltaic power levels. Irrigation valves were activated to water the field. Preliminary results in this study have revealed a number of engineering weaknesses of deploying such a system. Nevertheless, the paper has highlighted areas of improvement to develop a robust, fully automated, solar-powered, and low-cost IMS to suit the socioeconomic conditions of small scale farmers in developing countries

    Design and implementation of an efficient solar powered irrigation management system for drip irrigated maize field

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    Purpose - The thesis investigates effects of automatic variation of the deficit irrigation level with the growth stage of drip irrigated maize on grain yield and crop Water Use Efficiency (WUE). It further examines the impact of water-efficient irrigation controllers on the solar Photovoltaic energy level requirements for water pumping systems. Methodology - A Wireless Sensor and Actuator Network was deployed to monitor field conditions and actuate irrigation valves according to whether the level of moisture was within the set points. A Control Treatment (CT) field was fully irrigated using constant moisture threshold levels, while an Experimental Treatment (ExT) field had the highest level of deficit irrigation at the early and later growth stages. Full irrigation was applied at the middle growth stage. Irrigation depths and grain yields were measured, while WUE and the solar energy required by the water pumping system were calculated. Findings - The findings show that 880 mm and 560 mm of water were applied to CT and ExT fields, respectively. This represents a 36% water saving and a corresponding water pumping energy saving of 36% in the ExT field. The grain yields were 0.752 kg/m2 and 0.812 kg/m2 for CT and ExT fields, respectively. This shows that, despite applying a lower amount of water, the ExT improved the grain yield by 7.4%. Furthermore, the results show an increase in WUE from 0.86 kg/m3 for the CT field to 1.45 kg/m3 for the ExT field, representing a 69% improvement. Research limitations/implications - This study focused on the maize production under Malawi's weather conditions. However, the concept would easily be replicated in other crops and in other parts of the world with two modifications: firstly, sensor calibration must be done on-site; and secondly, the specific crop coefficient pattern must be used to develop the irrigation scheduling strategy.Purpose - The thesis investigates effects of automatic variation of the deficit irrigation level with the growth stage of drip irrigated maize on grain yield and crop Water Use Efficiency (WUE). It further examines the impact of water-efficient irrigation controllers on the solar Photovoltaic energy level requirements for water pumping systems. Methodology - A Wireless Sensor and Actuator Network was deployed to monitor field conditions and actuate irrigation valves according to whether the level of moisture was within the set points. A Control Treatment (CT) field was fully irrigated using constant moisture threshold levels, while an Experimental Treatment (ExT) field had the highest level of deficit irrigation at the early and later growth stages. Full irrigation was applied at the middle growth stage. Irrigation depths and grain yields were measured, while WUE and the solar energy required by the water pumping system were calculated. Findings - The findings show that 880 mm and 560 mm of water were applied to CT and ExT fields, respectively. This represents a 36% water saving and a corresponding water pumping energy saving of 36% in the ExT field. The grain yields were 0.752 kg/m2 and 0.812 kg/m2 for CT and ExT fields, respectively. This shows that, despite applying a lower amount of water, the ExT improved the grain yield by 7.4%. Furthermore, the results show an increase in WUE from 0.86 kg/m3 for the CT field to 1.45 kg/m3 for the ExT field, representing a 69% improvement. Research limitations/implications - This study focused on the maize production under Malawi's weather conditions. However, the concept would easily be replicated in other crops and in other parts of the world with two modifications: firstly, sensor calibration must be done on-site; and secondly, the specific crop coefficient pattern must be used to develop the irrigation scheduling strategy
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