Soil Water Monitoring Using Wireless Sensor Network

Transcription

1 Soil Water Monitoring Using Wireless Sensor Network Ruixiu Sui USDA-ARS Crop Production Systems Research Unit Stoneville, Mississippi Mississippi Water Resources Conference Jackson, MS April 7-8, 2015

2 INTRODUCTION Mid-South of USA Major crop production Area Annual precipitation: 130cm Hot and less rainfall in summer Supplemental irrigation needed Irrigated Non-Irrigated

3 INTRODUCTION USDA-ARS JWDSRC Stoneville, MS

4 INTRODUCTION

5 INTRODUCTION Water Level Declining in Mississippi River Valley Alluvial Aquifer Estimated water-level of Mississippi River Valley alluvial aquifer declines from pre-development to 2007 (left) and projected to 2038 (right) (Clark et al., 2011)

6 INTRODUCTION Uncertainty in the amount and timing of rainfall is a serious risk to producers in the Mid-South Producers have become increasingly reliant on irrigation, but very few use any irrigation scheduling aids Timely and accurate determination of soil water status and weather conditions are essential to irrigation scheduling

7 INTRODUCTION Irrigation scheduling tools needed in the Mid-South region Irrigation scheduling methods Weather-based--schedule irrigation based on the amount of water lost by plant ET and the amount of effective rainfall and irrigation water entering into the plant root zone. Soil moisture-based -- measure soil moisture levels in the plant root zone and apply water if there is water shortage for plants Plant-based -- directly detect plant responses to water stress and initialize irrigation as plants indicate suffering from water stress.

8 INTRODUCTION Soil moisture measurement Sensor technologies available for measuring soil moisture -- neutron probes, electromagnetic (EM) sensors (capacitance, TDR, resistance,..) Wireless sensor networks offer capability of providing continuous, real-time, in-situ measurements under a variety of operating conditions

9 OBJECTIVES General goal of this research is to develop improved irrigation application and scheduling techniques for humid regions Specific objective is to develop wireless sensor network (WSN) for monitoring soil water status and collecting weather data for irrigation applications

10 Wireless Sensor Network Point Area Data Logger & Wireless modem Access Data online

11 Wireless Sensor Network Em50R Em50G EC-5 5TM Data Station Data logger Wireless Modem Wireless Data Logger Frequency: 900 MHz Input: 5 Channels Storage: 1M Power: 5 AA Bat. Data Station receives and stores data from Em50R loggers; Em50G cellular data logger; Modem transmits data online via cellular network

12 Rain gauge sensor Radiation sensor Temperature sensor Humidity sensor Wind speed & direction sensors Data logger Solar panel for power supply 10-ft Tower Software package Weather Sensors

13 Sensor Installation Installed sensors and loggers in multiple locations in cotton, corn, soybean fields 3 sensors each location in 15, 30, 46 cm depths Sensor models: EC-5, 5TM, MPS-2 Soil moisture measured 24/7 at one hour interval

14 Data Logger Installation Soil sampler Gas-powered auger 2. Put in bracket Dig a hole Insert the sensors horizontally 3 MC sensors/hole Data Station

15 Issue for Field Operation Required to lay down the logger pole for applying Chemicals

16 Antenna Mounts Developed

17 Antenna Mounts Test Click on picture to play video

18 Data Logger Installation EM50R Logger 2. Put in bracket EM50G Logger Data Station

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20 WSN in Soybean Field

21 Received Signal Strength Indication (RSSI) Cotton Field (Logger 18-50G) Corn Field (Logger19-50G) Soybean Field (Logger 20-50G) Date RSSI Attempts RSSI Attempts RSSI Attempts 14-May NA NA 21-May NA NA 28-May NA NA 4-Jun NA NA 11-Jun NA NA 18-Jun Jun Jul Jul Jul Jul Jul Aug Aug Aug NA NA Aug NA NA Sep NA NA Sep NA NA NA NA

22 RSSI in 2013 Logger Location Crop 5/1/13 5/15/13 5/16/13-5/31/13 6/1/13-6/15/13 6/15/13-6/30/13 7/1/13-7/11/13 1 Cotton NA* Cotton NA Cotton NA Cotton NA Cotton NA Cotton NA Corn Corn Corn Corn Corn Soybean NA * Soybean NA * Soybean NA * Soybean NA * Soybean NA *

23 Downloading Data Online

24 Soil Moisture Data From WSN 2013 Corn Field Soil Moisture (Plot 104, 50% Irrigation Rate)

25 Soil Moisture Data From WSN

26 WSN collected data for 3 years Data have been used for irrigation scheduling Performed well in general Thunderstorms could interrupt data transmission Animals (wild dog, pig, turtles) might chew cables Irrigation Research in Cotton Variable Rate Irrigation in Soybeans Corn Research Field

27 SUMMARY Wireless sensor network was built and deployed for monitoring soil moisture and collecting weather data for 3 years. The WSN is capable of automatically measuring and wirelessly transferring soil moisture and weather data online, enabling remote access of the data; An antenna mount was developed for field use with wireless data loggers; Evaluated for 3 years; The WSN performed well; Soil moisture data and weather data collected by the WSN has been used for irrigation research.

28 Acknowledgements This project was partially supported by Cotton Inc. Thanks to Mr. Jonnie Baggard for his assistance in this project. Disclaimer Mention of a commercial product is solely for the purpose of providing specific information and should not be construed as a product endorsement by the authors or the institutions with which the authors are affiliated.