IoT soil condition monitoring sensors will optimize agriculture through data

Executive Summary
 Soil condition monitoring sensors allow farmers to collect data about rainfall,
temperature, and other metrics over time to track trends and predict irrigation needs.   
 Farmers will save time that’s usually spend manually checking crop water levels because
sensors can give them real-time information instantly on almost any online device.   
 Sensors allow for better water conservation while ensuring there isn’t over or
underwatering of crops 
 IOT-enabled sensors take very little time to set up and there is a long battery life, which
leads to less maintenance costs.

The Internet of things (IoT), which is the ability for technology in every day objects to send and
receive data, will revolutionize how we do everything from transportation to communication.
Agriculture also stands to benefit greatly from integrating this technology into simple electronics
: IBM estimates that IoT will enable farmers to increase food production by 70 percent by the
year 2050. In addition to better pest management and weather forecasting, IoT could save up to
50 billion gallons of water annually, as sensors can better help farmers optimize water usage.
Being able to better optimize crop management will have a transformative effect on agriculture
in the following years.

The challenges farmers face today

Lots of physical maintenance required

Difficult and inaccurate water estimates

Unexpected costs and water waste

Planting times

It is hard to manually track soil temperature and moisture levels

Many trips have to be taken in order to manually check the soil humidity on a regular basis.

Many trips have to be taken in order to manually check the soil humidity on a regular basis.It can
be difficult to know the exact amount of water to give plants, thus causing stress for the crops by
over or underwatering

Overwatering crops could lead to higher water costs than what is really needed.

It is sometimes difficult to know the optimal time to plant without data.

Manually measuring key data points about crops is often difficult, time-consuming, and more
likely to be inaccurate.

Available solutions for farmers and landowners

Sigfox partners now offer IoT solutions by providing affordable sensors that monitor soil
humidity/moisture levels and soil/air temperatures and automatically report it directly to the
Internet without needing any Wifi, GSM or regular Internet connection. This helps farmers know
what is best for their crops without having to manually estimate or make an educated guess. With
better data being fed to them live from their own crops, farmers can be the best possible
decisions for planting, watering, and pest control.

Sigfox IoT enabled sensors allow farmers to instantly know

several agricultural data points about crop
Soil Moisture (VWC)

Soil Temperature

Air Temperature

Soil volumetric water content can be better monitored by using connected sensors sending data
through the Sigfox IoT global network.Crops should be planted and grown at their ideal
temperature. Sensors can monitor underneath ground level temperature for an optimum
reading.Tracking average air temperatures assist in determining ideal planting and watering
times (and anticipating pests).Having real-time data can help landowners and farmers reduce
manpower, water usage, and other maintenance costs, thus reducing costs and environmental
impact. IoT soil condition monitoring solutions allow farmers to:

 Vary in sample collection times and frequency: farmers can choose and change whenever
they want the number of samples per day
 Review historical measurements, which allows farmers to track patterns and what has
worked in the past. Some technology partners even generate interactive charts for easier
data analysis
 Review instant data through sensor mapping and smart dashboards
  Set up automatic reminders: Some technology can send farmers an alarm alert through
SMS or e-mail if farmers’ crops need to be checked
 Back-up data: back up data securely so it won’t be lost, no matter the device farmers use
to access it
 Integrate other data sources: Work with other data (like weather forecasts) to determine
proper soil and water levels
 View data from almost anywhere: Wherever farmers have internet or data access, farmers
can look at data from a phone, computer, or tablet
 Diagnose issues: Run diagnostics to determine device errors or issues
 Provide better calibration for reporting and data analysis: Run cloud calibration to ensure
data is always up-to-date and relevant

Soil condition monitoring can help farmers collect a wealth of data that many landowners may
not even know they have. Business Insider estimates that the average farm will generate over 4
million data points daily by the year 2034. It is up to the landowners to harness this data and use
it to their advantage. By using Sigfox-enabled sensors to use existing land’s data to decipher
trends, farmers can predict crop growth and better optimize resources.

The benefits of using IoT solutions for soil conditions

monitoring
In addition to monitoring the above data points to find out more about crops, Sigfox-powered
sensors have a wide variety of benefits for soil monitoring, including:

Better water conservation

According to the World Wildlife Fund, agriculture and farming consumes about 70 percent of
the world’s fresh water supply. Conserving water can ensure we don’t deplete ground water
reservoirs or cause excessive soil runoff into rivers and other bodies of water.

Less likely to over or underwater crops

Overwatering crops can affect how much oxygen gets to the roots, which prevents them from
growing normally. In some plants, overwatering can also cause root rot, which may cause the
crop to eventually die. Underwatering crops usually has the same outcome as overwatering:
without proper irrigation, crops may not grow properly or could end up withering up and dying.

Save time and resources

 

Less trips out to the crop field parcels to manually check soil humidity levels and temperature
means more time can be spent on other parts of the business, like bookkeeping or meeting with
customers. Saving time and resources often leads to greater profits, often with reduced costs and
time spent on crop monitoring. By using the Internet of Things to better monitor soil conditions,
farmers will find that:

 There is better management of the land through data (which is more accurate than human
testing)
 Farmers can combine outside data (like weather forecasts) with their own land parcel data
to optimize crop watering and maintenance
 There are less costs for employee time, water, and crop care
 Farmers have healthier crops by optimizing water and soil care

Sigfox is the best connectivity choice for better soil

monitoring
Sigfox-enabled solutions are low cost, only use a small amount of energy to run on batteries for
years, and are extremely easy to set up.

Benefits of Sigfox
 Low cost
 Low energy
 Easy to deploy

With global coverage, Sigfox-powered sensors have a wide range of benefits for crop and soil
monitoring needs. These sensors offer years of battery life, can work autonomously (on their
own) almost anywhere, and have simple installation.

The data is already there, farmers just need the sensors to monitor and collect it. Luckily, it
doesn’t take much in terms of advanced knowledge to harness and utilize soil and crop data. The
cost of the sensors, setup, and the technology itself are reasonable, and connectivity doesn’t take
special resources or expertly trained specialists. Most of the time, installation can be completed
within hours.

What’s more, the data collected by the sensors is secure and will never be shared without owner
permission. We prioritize privacy, data integrity, authenticity, and confidentiality. User data can
only be accessed using secure credentials to sign in.

ZIGBEE configuration
Step 1: Download the XCTU software. You can download it from this link.

Step 2: Plug the xBee into the xBee Explorer board, then plug it into the USB cable that will
then be plugged into the computer. (Repeat for each xBee)

Step 3: You may need to install the FTDI Virtual Com Port drivers found here. Do this for both
xBee Explorer boards if you have two. Locate the com port number by right clicking Computer.
Click Properties > Device Manager > Ports. Then take note of the com port numbers.
Step 6: Click "Modem Configuration", then click the "Read" tab. The first step is to configure one module
as a Coordinator, and the second one as an End Device. To do this, simply select the Function Set drop
down menu, to select Zigbee Coordinator AT, as well as the latest version number, and then press the
"Write" button. This will update the modem to a Coordinator. Every xBee Series 2 setup must have a
Coordinator. Using the same method, configure the second xBee as an End Device.

Step 7: Now to pair the first xBee module with the second xBee module. The first thing to make
sure is that both have the same PAN ID number. The default should be "0". You can leave this
for now, unless you think you will be near other xBee networks. The next step is changing the
"Destination Address High", and "Destination Address Low". You can use the "Read" button to
read the address of the modules and write them down, or you can read the address located on the
bottom of the module.

Step 8: Enter these numbers in the DH and DL field of the other xBee.

Destination Address High – You will enter the destination address high from the other xBee
module.
Destination Address Low – You will enter the destination address low from the other xBee
module. Once you have entered both values, hit the "Write" button once again. This will write
the values to the xBee and store them on non volatile memory.

Step 9: Close XCTU, then reopen. Select the first com port, then click the terminal tab.
Sometimes you want to unplug both USB boards, then plug in just the Coordinator. After a few
minutes, plug in the End Device, and allow them to "find" each other and pair.

Step 10: Open XCTU again (now you should have 2 XCTU windows open). Select the second
com port number, then click the terminal tab.

Step 11: In the second terminal, you can enter data. That data will appear in the first window.