A Test-bed on Real-Time Monitoring of Agricultural Parameters using Wireless Sensor Networks for Precision Agriculture

Abstract

“Precision farming,” describes a bundle of new information technologies applied to the management of largescale, commercial agriculture. It promises higher yields and lower input costs by real-time and automatic monitoring of site specific environmental and soil conditions using different sensors and thereby improving crop management, reducing waste and labour costs. Wireless sensor networking is gaining popularity for managing precision agriculture through real-time monitoring of agricultural parameters and climatic conditions. Reasonable simulation tools exist for evaluating large scale sensor networks, however, they fail to capture practical aspects of wireless communication. Real life test-beds bring out actual challenges and important aspects related to large-scale deployment of sensor networks. In this paper, we present a testbed implementation of a wireless sensor network for automatic and real-time monitoring of soil and environmental parameters influencing crop yield. The paper describes the system architecture, physical setup, sensor node hardware and software for real-time monitoring and management of agri-parameters through a simple graphical user interface. The paper presents practical issues and technical challenges including the integration of sensors, placement of sensors in outdoor environment, energy management scheme and actual power consumption rates. I