Applications

Precision Agriculture

Soil moisture and temperature, conductivity, leaf, irrigation and plot weather, to decide when and how much to apply.

Here you will find handheld meters, sensors that stay buried in the soil and stations that send their data on their own, plus ready-made kits and systems for fields and greenhouses.

The problem

Soil changes from one spot to the next within a plot, and water and nutrients shift with rain, irrigation and uptake by the crop. Applying the same rate everywhere leaves some areas short and others oversupplied, and plant stress begins before it can be seen with the naked eye.

The variables

Soil: moisture, temperature and conductivity, including at several depths
Nutrients: nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium; nitrate and potassium in soil and sap
Plant: NDVI, chlorophyll and leaf area
Weather: rain, wind, solar radiation, PAR light and evapotranspiration

How to choose

A portable meter is for walking the field; some have GPS and Bluetooth and place each reading on a map in the app. A fixed sensor builds a continuous record: check that its output (SDI-12, 4-20mA or Modbus) matches the data logger. From the field, data travels over cellular, Sigfox, LoRaWAN or satellite links, and some models add a solar panel and SMS or email alerts.