Controlling irrigation in a container nursery using IoT

Joe Mari J. Maja; James Robbins; Joe Mari J. Maja; James Robbins

doi:10.3934/agrfood.2018.3.205

AIMS Agriculture and Food

2018, Volume 3, Issue 3: 205-215. doi: 10.3934/agrfood.2018.3.205

Previous Article Next Article

Research article Special Issues

Controlling irrigation in a container nursery using IoT

Joe Mari J. Maja ^{1
,
,},
James Robbins ²

1.
Edisto Research & Education Center, Clemson University, 64 Research Road, Blackville, SC 29817, USA
2.
University of Arkansas – CES, 2301 South University Avenue, Little Rock, AR 72204, USA

Received: 01 May 2018 Accepted: 10 July 2018 Published: 23 July 2018

The demand for water has increased while the supply has been stagnant. This may be attributed to population growth, land-use dynamics and climatic factors. The availability of a sustainable source of water for food production is forecast as a critical issue facing agriculture. The recent EPA Strategic Plan emphasized the need to ensure waters are clean through improved water infrastructure and sustainably manage programs to support the different uses of water. This plan though broad dictates the need to develop new technologies that can help optimize the use of water via sensor-based irrigation. The goal of this project was to design a prototype irrigation controller using the internet of things (IoT). The controller is a closed-loop design which uses the soil moisture data to turn on and off the irrigation system based on specified thresholds. The data and control was hosted in an online IoT platform. The IoT platform provides real-time monitoring and control via a simplified online Graphical User Interface (GUI). The system was developed at the Sensor and Automation Lab of Edisto-REC, Clemson University and then field tested at McCorkle Nurseries in Dearing, GA during summer 2017. During the four month field test a number of challenges were identified including signal transmission and hardwire connections although overall, the prototype achieved the six objectives established for the system.
- internet of things,
- controlled irrigation,
- remote monitoring,
- sustainable agriculture,
- conservation
Citation: Joe Mari J. Maja, James Robbins. Controlling irrigation in a container nursery using IoT[J]. AIMS Agriculture and Food, 2018, 3(3): 205-215. doi: 10.3934/agrfood.2018.3.205

Related Papers:

Abstract

The demand for water has increased while the supply has been stagnant. This may be attributed to population growth, land-use dynamics and climatic factors. The availability of a sustainable source of water for food production is forecast as a critical issue facing agriculture. The recent EPA Strategic Plan emphasized the need to ensure waters are clean through improved water infrastructure and sustainably manage programs to support the different uses of water. This plan though broad dictates the need to develop new technologies that can help optimize the use of water via sensor-based irrigation. The goal of this project was to design a prototype irrigation controller using the internet of things (IoT). The controller is a closed-loop design which uses the soil moisture data to turn on and off the irrigation system based on specified thresholds. The data and control was hosted in an online IoT platform. The IoT platform provides real-time monitoring and control via a simplified online Graphical User Interface (GUI). The system was developed at the Sensor and Automation Lab of Edisto-REC, Clemson University and then field tested at McCorkle Nurseries in Dearing, GA during summer 2017. During the four month field test a number of challenges were identified including signal transmission and hardwire connections although overall, the prototype achieved the six objectives established for the system.

References

[1]	Acclima, Last accessed: July 03, 2017. Available from: https://acclima.com/research/SensorBasedAutomation.pdf.
[2]	Argo WR and Biernbaum JA (1994) Irrigation requirements, root medium pH, and nutrient concentrations of Easter lilies grown in five peat-based media with and without an evaporation barrier. J Am Soc Hortic Sci 119: 1151–1156.
[3]	Bayer A, Ruter J and van Iersel MW (2015) Automated irrigation control for improved growth and quality of Gardenia jasminoides 'Radicans' and 'August Beauty'. HortScience 50: 78–84.
[4]	Belaynch BE, Lea-Cox JD and Lichtenberg E (2013) Costs and benefits of implementing sensor-controlled irrigation in a commercial pot-in-pot container nursery. HortTechn 23: 760–769.
[5]	Chappell M, Dove SK, van Iersel MW, et al. (2013) Implementation of wireless sensor networks for irrigation control in three container nurseries. HortTechn 23: 747–753.
[6]	Coates RW, Delwiche JM and Brown PH (2006) Design of a system for individual microsprinkler control. T ASABE 49: 1963–1970. doi: 10.13031/2013.22276
[7]	Cohen Y, Alchanatis V, Meron M, et al. (2005) Estimation of leaf water potential by thermal imagery and spatial analysis. J Exp Bot 56: 1843–1852. doi: 10.1093/jxb/eri174
[8]	de Castro A, Maja JM, Owen J, et al. (2018) Experimental approach to detect water stress in ornamental plants using sUAS-imagery. Autonomous Air and Ground Sensing Systems for Agricultural Optimization and Phenotyphing, SPIE Commercial + Scientific Sensing and Imaging, Orlando, FL 2018 (in press).
[9]	EPA Strategic Plan 2018–2022, Last accessed: July 03, 2018. Available from: https://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2018-02/documents/fy-2018-2022-epa-strategic-plan.pdf.
[10]	Gago J, Douthe C, Coopman RE, et al. (2015) UAVs challenge to assess water stress for sustainable agriculture. Agr Water Manage 153: 9–19. doi: 10.1016/j.agwat.2015.01.020
[11]	Gilbert N (2012) Water under pressure. Nature 483: 256–257. doi: 10.1038/483256a
[12]	Jacobson BK, Jones PH, Jones JW, et al. (1989) Real-time greenhouse monitoring and control with an expert system. Comput Electron Agr 3: 273–285. doi: 10.1016/0168-1699(89)90018-5
[13]	Kim Y and Evans RG (2009) Software design for wireless sensor-based site-specific irrigation. Comput Electron Agr 66: 159–165. doi: 10.1016/j.compag.2009.01.007
[14]	Kohanbash D, Kantor G, Martin T,et al. (2013) Wireless sensor network design for monitoring and irrigation control: user-centric hardware and software development. HortTechn. 23: 725–734.
[15]	Lea-Cox JD, Bauerle WL, van Iersel MW, et al. (2013) Advancing wireless sensor networks for irrigation management of ornamental crops: an overview. HortTechn 23: 717–724.
[16]	Majsztrik JC, Price EW and King DM (2013) Environmental benefits of wireless sensor-based irrigation networks: case-study projections and potential adoption rates. HortTechn 23: 783–793.
[17]	Stone KC, Smajstrla AG and Zazueta FS (1985) Microcomputer-based data acquisition system for continuous soilwater potential measurements. Soil Crop Sci Soc Fla Proc 44: 49–53.
[18]	Testezlaf R, Zazueta FS and Yeager TH (1997) A real-time irrigation control system for greenhouses. Appl Eng Agric 13: 329–332. doi: 10.13031/2013.21616
[19]	Van Iersel MW, Chappell M and Lea-Cox JD (2013) Sensors for improved efficiency of irrigation in greenhouse and nursery production. HortTechn. 23: 735–746.

Reader Comments

Your name:*

Email:*
© 2018 the Author(s), licensee AIMS Press. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0)