Development and test of a low cost portable soil apparent electrical conductivity sensor using a Beaglebone Black

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel M. Queiroz ◽  
Won Suk Lee ◽  
John K. Schueller ◽  
Emanoel D. T. Santos
Keyword(s):  
Electrical Conductivity ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Conductivity Sensor ◽  
Apparent Electrical Conductivity

scholarly journals A Low-Cost Water Depth and Electrical Conductivity Sensor for Detecting Inputs into Urban Stormwater Networks

Sensors ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (9) ◽  
pp. 3056
Author(s):  
Baiqian Shi ◽  
Stephen Catsamas ◽  
Peter Kolotelo ◽  
Miao Wang ◽  
Anna Lintern ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Electrical Conductivity ◽  
Water Depth ◽  
Asset Management ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Rate Of Change ◽  
Urban Drainage ◽  
Urban Stormwater ◽  
High Resolution Data ◽  
Conductivity Sensor ◽  
Level Sensor

High-resolution data collection of the urban stormwater network is crucial for future asset management and illicit discharge detection, but often too expensive as sensors and ongoing frequent maintenance works are not affordable. We developed an integrated water depth, electrical conductivity (EC), and temperature sensor that is inexpensive (USD 25), low power, and easily implemented in urban drainage networks. Our low-cost sensor reliably measures the rate-of-change of water level without any re-calibration by comparing with industry-standard instruments such as HACH and HORIBA’s probes. To overcome the observed drift of level sensors, we developed an automated re-calibration approach, which significantly improved its accuracy. For applications like monitoring stormwater drains, such an approach will make higher-resolution sensing feasible from the budget control considerations, since the regular sensor re-calibration will no longer be required. For other applications like monitoring wetlands or wastewater networks, a manual re-calibration every two weeks is required to limit the sensor’s inaccuracies to ±10 mm. Apart from only being used as a calibrator for the level sensor, the conductivity sensor in this study adequately monitored EC between 0 and 10 mS/cm with a 17% relative uncertainty, which is sufficient for stormwater monitoring, especially for real-time detection of poor stormwater quality inputs. Overall, our proposed sensor can be rapidly and densely deployed in the urban drainage network for revolutionised high-density monitoring that cannot be achieved before with high-end loggers and sensors.

Development and Testing of a Low-Cost Portable Apparent Soil Electrical Conductivity Sensor Using a Beaglebone Black

2020 ◽  
Vol 36 (3) ◽  
pp. 341-355
Author(s):  
Daniel M. Queiroz ◽  
Emanoel D. T. S. Sousa ◽  
Won Suk Lee ◽  
John K. Schueller
Keyword(s):  
Electrical Conductivity ◽  
Soil Properties ◽  
Precision Agriculture ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Satellite System ◽  
Mountainous Area ◽  
Soil Electrical Conductivity ◽  
Resistivity Method ◽  
Conductivity Sensor ◽  
Global Navigation Satellite

Abstract.The adoption of apparent soil electrical conductivity (soil ECa) sensors has increased in precision agricultural systems, especially in systems pulled by vehicles. This work developed a portable soil sensor for measuring soil ECa that could be used without vehicles in mountainous areas and small farms. The developed system was based on the electrical resistivity method. The system measured the electrical conductivity by applying a square wave signal at frequencies defined by the user. The acquired data were georeferenced using a low-cost global navigation satellite system (GNSS) receiver. The sensor system was developed using a BeagleBone Black, a low-cost single-board computer. A user interface was developed in C++, and a touch screen with a resolution of 800×480 pixels was used to display the results. This interface performed statistical analysis, and the results were used to guide the user to identify more field locations to be sampled to increase mapping accuracy. The system was tested in a coffee plantation located in a mountainous area and in a sugarcane plantation in Minas Gerais, Brazil. The system worked well in mapping the soil ECa. The apparent soil electrical conductivities measured using frequencies of 10, 20, 30, and 40 Hz were highly correlated. In the sugarcane field that had more variation in soil texture, a greater number of soil properties presented a significant correlation with the soil ECa. Keywords: Electrical conductivity, Geostatistics, Precision agriculture, Soil properties, Soil sensing, Spatial variability.

A PCB Technology Moisture Content and Electrical Conductivity Sensor Probe for Agricultural and Horticultural Applications

2014 ◽  
Vol 2014 (DPC) ◽  
pp. 000984-001011
Author(s):  
Robert N. Dean ◽  
Elizabeth Guertal ◽  
Adam Newby ◽  
Glenn Fain
Keyword(s):  
Electrical Conductivity ◽  
Plant Growth ◽  
Moisture Content ◽  
Test Data ◽  
Printed Circuit Board ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Circuit Board ◽  
Conductivity Sensor ◽  
Irrigation Volume ◽  
Sensor Probe

Commercial printed circuit board (PCB) technology affords the realization of low-cost sensor probes for agricultural and horticultural applications. Plant growth can be optimized when the soil (in field crop applications) or the substrate (in greenhouse crop applications) properties can be measured and properly adjusted. Two important parameters are moisture content and electrical conductivity. Measuring moisture content allows the grower to better time irrigation for most efficient crop growth. Accurate moisture content measurement also allows the grower to apply sufficient irrigation volume for optimum plant growth while avoiding excessive irrigation volume. Likewise, measuring the electrical conductivity reveals useful information regarding ions in the soil or substrate, which can be used to optimize the application of plant nutrients or manage soil salinity. Commercial soil probes are expensive, which limits their widespread use in commercial applications. PCB probes, on the other hand, can be very inexpensive and can quickly be redesigned to modify the form factor for different applications. These sensors make use of the materials and processes inherent in commercial PCB manufacturing, including the FR4 substrate, patterned Cu cladding and soldermask. The non-conductive E-glass FR4 substrate is used as the rigid backbone of the sensor probe. The patterned Cu cladding is used for electrodes and signal traces. The polymeric soldermask is used as a thin insulating and moisture barrier layer. With these materials, insulated fringing field sensors can be realized on the surface of the PCB to measure moisture content, while exposed metal pads on the surface can be used to measure electrical conductivity. Additionally, the PCB probe is directly compatible with the integration of any desired integrated electronic components. Furthermore, the turnaround time for a new PCB sensor design can be as little as 24 hours at modest cost, making this technology economically superior to traditional sensor technologies, such as silicon based MEMS, where it can take months to realize a new design and be very expensive. A prototype sensor probe has been designed, fabricated and evaluated. Test data is analyzed, compared with test data from traditional sensor probes and presented.

scholarly journals A Novel Low-Cost Instrumentation System for Measuring the Water Content and Apparent Electrical Conductivity of Soils

Sensors ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 15 (10) ◽  
pp. 25546-25563 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alan Rêgo Segundo ◽  
José Martins ◽  
Paulo Monteiro ◽  
Rubens de Oliveira ◽  
Gustavo Freitas
Keyword(s):  
Electrical Conductivity ◽  
Water Content ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Apparent Electrical Conductivity

scholarly journals (303) Performance of a New, Low-cost Soil Moisture, Temperature, and Electrical Conductivity Sensor

HortScience ◽  
2006 ◽  
Vol 41 (4) ◽  
pp. 1024A-1024
Author(s):  
Colin S. Campbell ◽  
Gaylon S. Campbell ◽  
Douglas R. Cobos ◽  
Brody Teare
Keyword(s):  
Electrical Conductivity ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Considerable Improvement ◽  
Soil Types ◽  
Calibration Equation ◽  
Conductivity Sensor ◽  
Trade Name ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Mineral Soils ◽  
Single Calibration

Knowledge of soil water, fertilizer, and temperature is important when growing plants in any type of growing media. Although instruments to measure these properties have been available for several years, they are often expensive, failure-prone, and require different calibration for individual soil types. Recently, a low-cost sensor (Trade name: ECH2O-TE) was released that measures volumetric water content, electrical conductivity (EC), and temperature. The objective of this study was to determine how the probe performed in various soil and soilless media, as well as various salinities. We found the probe performed very well over a wide range of soil types and salinities. From the data, it appears that a single calibration can be used for all mineral soils and organic potting soils. A second calibration equation may be required for substrates such as rockwool. The output of the probe was not affected by the salinity (EC) of the soil from 0.1 to greater than 10 dS/m and showed considerable improvement in temperature sensitivity compared to existing technology. These results suggest the sensor provides a low-cost, reliable, easier-to-use alternative to other sensors of its kind.

scholarly journals SPATIAL VARIABILITY OF APPARENT ELECTRICAL CONDUCTIVITY AND PHYSICOCHEMICAL ATTRIBUTES OF THE SOIL

2017 ◽  
Vol 26 (3) ◽  
pp. 469-482
Author(s):  
Elizeu De Souza Lima ◽  
Lenon Henrique Lovera ◽  
Rafael Montanari ◽  
Zigomar Menezes de Souza ◽  
Jose Luiz Rodrigues Torres
Keyword(s):  
Electrical Conductivity ◽  
Spatial Variability ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Organic Matter Content ◽  
Matter Content ◽  
Potassium Cation ◽  
Entire Area ◽  
Mato Grosso ◽  
Management Zones ◽  
Apparent Electrical Conductivity

The apparent electrical conductivity has been an attribute widely used in studies of spatial variability, due to its high correlation with other soil attributes and because it is an attribute that represents the variability of an area in a quick, easy and low-cost way. The objective of this study was to evaluate the relationship between the spatial variability of apparent electrical conductivity with physicochemical attributes of an Eutrophic Red Oxisol located in Maracaju, state of Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil, for determining specific soil management zones. We analyzed apparent electrical conductivity attributes (ECa 2, 7 and 15 kHz), contents of potassium, cation exchange capacity, clay, base saturation and organic matter content. ECa was measured with the Profiler EMP-400 crossing the entire area in 0.45 m spaced lines. Soil samples were collected in the 0.000.20 m layer, with a total of 216 samples in an area of 70 ha. Statistical and geostatistical analyses were performed by SAS and GS+ software. The apparent electrical conductivity (ECa) was presented as an important tool to identify specific management zones showing data variability between low and medium zones. The attributes that had higher correlation with apparent electrical conductivity were potassium and clay.

scholarly journals Reply to Comments: A Novel Low-Cost Instrumentation System for Measuring the Water Content and Apparent Electrical Conductivity of Soils, Sensors, 15, 25546–25563

Sensors ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 18 (6) ◽  
pp. 1742 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alan Kardek Rêgo Segundo ◽  
Marco Jose da Silva ◽  
Gustavo Medeiros Freitas ◽  
Paulo Marcos de Barros Monteiro ◽  
José Helvecio Martins
Keyword(s):  
Electrical Conductivity ◽  
Water Content ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Apparent Electrical Conductivity
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