A Design and Development Experience of an Internet of Things Platform to Monitor Site-Specific Weather Conditions at the Farm Level

Abstract

Highlights We present an Internet of Things (IoT) platform to monitor site-specific weather conditions at the farm level. We built a distributed mesh network of sensor nodes using open-source and open-hardware tools. We tested different communication range scenarios and installation setups. Emerging IoT technologies are susceptible to failure but have the potential to improve site-specific data collection. Abstract . This article describes the design, deployment, and evaluation of an Internet of Things (IoT) platform to monitor site-specific weather conditions at the farm level using wireless sensor networks (WSN). A distributed mesh network of sensor nodes was developed using open-source software and hardware tools to monitor temperature and relative humidity in-field environmental conditions. The IoT prototype was tested at the University of Florida’s research farm. Data from the sensor nodes were compared to a Florida Automated Weather Network weather station. The results of this study will contribute to the implementation of site-specific collection tools and with site-specific decision management in specialty crop production systems. A significant advantage of IoT and WSN over a standalone weather station is the capability to monitor micro-weather conditions that may lead to site-specific management operations. Keywords: Affordable, Farm, Internet of Things, Mesh Network, Prototype, Wireless Sensor Network.