Wireless Sensor Networks for Irrigation Management.

Sustaining an adequate food supply for the world’s population will require advancements in irrigation technology and improved irrigation management. Site-specific irrigation and automatic irrigation scheduling are examples of strategies to deal with declining arable land and limited fresh water resources for agricultural use. Wireless sensor network systems can facilitate automatic irrigation scheduling and system control. However, functional wireless sensor networks (WSNs) for automated irrigation control of agricultural fields are limited. In this study, a WSN system of infrared thermometers and GPS unit were used to automatically monitor and control a center pivot system for irrigation of an early maturing grain sorghum. Crop responses of grain and biomass yields, crop water use, and crop water productivity from automatic control plots, were similar or better than responses from irrigation scheduling using direct soil water measurements with a neutron probe.