Soil monitoring system attains highest degrees of accuracy

Murata, in collaboration with Sentinum, has announced it will progress the widespread automation of crop production further.

The new GAIA soil monitoring solution from Sentinum has a pivotal role in smart agriculture by helping to maximise crop yields whilst keeping down fertiliser usage and minimising the water required for irrigation purposes. The solution uses Murata’s engineering expertise in high-accuracy sensing and LPWAN technology.

The multi-function sensor head takes accurate measurements of multiple parameters so that the condition and composition of soil can be assessed. Valuable data can be acquired on the soil’s temperature and moisture levels, as well as fertiliser concentrations, by employing electrical conductivity to determine the resistive properties of all its various constituents. Such data can be collected at regular intervals and sent through an LPWAN connection (either LoRaWAN, mioty, or NB-IoT) to a cloud-based backend for later analysis.

It has a soil temperature measurement range of -20C to 60C with a ±1.06C full-scale accuracy. It provides a temperature-compensated 0% to 60% soil moisture range with a ±3% full-scale accuracy. By having nine electrodes in the sensor head, supported by sophisticated proprietary algorithms, the existence of rocks, large volumes of water, or other items that may have a detrimental effect on measurement accuracy may be avoided.

Reliance on LPWAN connectivity protocols indicates that little energy must to be drawn from the system’s battery, thereby significantly extending the working lifespan. Alternatively, including a photovoltaic module eradicates the necessity for battery placement so that operations can profit from being maintenance-free.

Juli Ban, product manager at Murata, explains: “The accuracy of soil sensor hardware currently on the market can be seriously impacted by temperature variations and high water content levels, along with the presence of rocks and chemical ions, since they rely on bulk electrical conductivity. GAIA goes beyond just taking bulk measurements, as it can also ascertain pore electrical conductivity, thanks to the multi-electrode arrangement and advanced algorithms employed.”

“Consequently, the results obtained are of superior quality to those of competing solutions. This means that farming activities will be much better optimised and more sustainable, with greater crop yields being achieved, plus water and fertiliser resources being saved,” he concludes.

The solution provides a robust industrial-grade solution that is ideal for the challenges of outdoor deployment.