Improving Agriculture with Wireless Weather Stations CSE 646: Wireless Sensor Networks Kevin Becker September 7, 2010
Managing Crops Defending against pests Defending against disease Managing when to spray against pests/disease Too many sprays wastes money Too few sprays lowers crop quality and risks losing crops Have to spray preemptively If symptoms exist, it's too late “Calendar sprays” had been used for a long time, but aren't as efficient
Requirements Sense weather conditions localized sensing via multiple sensor nodes Near real-time Retrieve data automatically from fields and orchards in rural areas Durable, with low maintenance
Solution Wireless networked weather stations to sense localized weather patterns Joint system deployment of MKIII-LR weather stations New York State Integrated Pest Management Program Cornell Network for Environment and Weather Applications Rainwise Inc.
MKIII-LR Weather Station Sensors Wind Speed/Direction Temperature Relative Humidity Barometic Pressure Rainfall Leaf Wetness Solar Radiation Computes Dew Point Wind Chill Heat Index Power Solar Battery: 60 days without sunlight
Data Transmission Challenges Placed in rural agricultural areas Can't use cell phone networks, no signal Need up to date info Getting data manually takes too long Weather is localized Need many weather stations MKIII-LR uses: RF 2.4GHz, line-of- sight directional antenna 1 mile maximum range Transmission to base station Web accessible Web accessible Easily mounted and left to get data without maintenance Up to 2s sampling rate
Durability Challenges New York weather Sensors built to withstand weather, hardware encased in stainless steel Hardware designed to withstand temperature changes Low maintenance Station can be mounted to a pole Only need check once a year that sensors are free of debris
Benefits Farmers get up to the minute data Gives them better info to help decide when to spray crops Yields better crops and reduces excess pesticide sprays