Effects of IoT Communication Protocols for Precision Agriculture in Outdoor Environments

Abstract

The integration of Internet of Things (IoT) technology in precision agriculture offers substantial potential for improving productivity and crop yield. However, challenges persist in optimizing wireless solutions for outdoor smart farms, where diverse data types and environmental obstacles can impede efficiency, causing issues such as data loss and connectivity disruptions. The present study undertakes an investigation into the comparative efficacy of three primary IoT communication protocols, namely Wi-Fi (Wireless Fidelity), Zigbee, and Long-Range Wide Area Network (LoRaWAN), within the context of agricultural monitoring scenarios. This inquiry is substantiated by a series of comprehensive experiments conducted across diverse environmental conditions. Our findings underscore Wi-Fi as the optimal candidate for integration into agricultural monitoring systems, with a focus on paramount factors such as connectivity, data transmission precision, and wireless coverage. This study reveals how data recovery is implemented in communication systems used in agriculture in various scenarios. The methods are deliberate to recover lost data caused by failures in both node networks, thereby notably improving the accuracy of communication solutions for farmers. Additionally, this study provides reference for farmers and stakeholders on leveraging technology in smart agriculture to inflate efficiency and productivity.