A solar-powered wireless cell for dynamically monitoring soil water content

In various agricultural activities, such as irrigation scheduling, tillage operation and nutrient management, soil water content is regarded as an essential parameter. For the demand of monitoring soil water dynamics at field scale, this study presents a solar-powered wireless cell that contained a water content sensor, two temperature sensors, an optical sensor, a communication module and a data-logger. To evaluate its feasibility in the field, three cells were independently installed in a bare plot, a maize plot and a sugarbeet plot in the summer of 2008. By a heavy rain event (20 mm, 6 h) during the experimental period, different responses of soil water content sensors were dynamically recorded and then analyzed under each canopy condition. In addition, to explore the possibility of reducing the dimensions of the cell under the condition of sufficient energy supply, various sizes of the solar panel were tested. The experimental results showed that the cell is promising to become a node of wireless network in the field.