Development of wireless data acquisition system for soil monitoring

Abstract

Agriculture is getting more inclined with modern technology. Automatic dataacquisition of soil condition with the help of a sensor lessens the time and manual work in testing a soil if it is suitable for planting. However, soil characteristic changes periodically. Thus, determining the macronutrients present in the soil is always a challenge for the currently available sensors because most of them can only get and give one or two information from the soil simultaneously. This research focused on the development of a digital single probe sensor to monitor the macronutrient contents of the soil, i.e. nitrogen, N; phosphorus, P; and potassium, K. Moreover, the soil’s temperature, moisture, and pH level were also monitored. In order to obtain the N-P-K content, a rod electrode or probe, which produces electrical potential in response to the reading, was utilized. The electrical conductivity of the soil provides the N-P-K values and the electrical resistivity of the soil gives the soil’s pH and moisture content. A canister for storing and releasing the reagents to enhance the sensor’s conductivity is installed and once the probe is injected in the soil, a button can be pressed to release the reagents to the soil. Moreover, a Wi-Fi module was installed in order for the user to monitor the data collected by the device. The calculated percentage error of the device in monitoring soil fertility is 12%.