Wireless soil scout prototype radio signal reception compared to the attenuation model

Abstract

Wireless underground Soil Scout prototypes, introduced here for the first time, were used for remote soil monitoring during 5 months in real conditions. Every Soil Scout transmitted moisture and temperature data once every 10 min. The prototype system works well. A signal attenuation model is able to predict long periods of lost signals when soil moisture and on-soil vegetation conditions change. The model attenuation -98 dB is the threshold level for distinguishing probable failure from success, even if the system hardware design would suggest -110 dB. Individual transmission failures do not always correlate to changes of condition. Further work should focus on increasing transmission power and improving knowledge of the effect of vegetation. © Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2008.