A Multiprobe Heat Pulse Sensor for Soil Moisture Measurement Based on PCB Technology

França, Maria Bernadete de Morais; Morais, Flávio José de Oliveira; Carvalhaes-Dias, Pedro; Duarte, Luís Fernando Caparroz; Dias, José Antonio Siqueira

doi:10.1109/tim.2018.2843605

Cited by 23 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 25 publications

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“…The main components of the sensor include a heating element (like a thermister) and temperature sensor (such as a pn junction), which are embedded in the porous block (gypsum or ceramic) and buried into the soil, measuring SWP or directly buried in soil, measuring SMC. Several thermal probe/heat pulse sensors have been described in literature with single, dual and multi probe designs [11]- [13], [23], [24]. A single-probe heat pulse (SPHP) soil moisture sensor based on a single npn bipolar junction transistor (BJT) was reported in [11], where the collector-base (CB) junction functioned as the heating element and the base-emitter (BE) junction served as the temperature sensor.…”

Section: ) Thermal Probe/heat Pulse Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sensing Methodologies in Agriculture for Soil Moisture and Nutrient Monitoring

Kashyap

Kumar

2021

IEEE Access

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Development and deployment of sensing technologies is one of the main steps in achieving sustainability in crop production through precision agriculture. Key sensing methodologies developed for monitoring soil moisture and nutrients with recent advances in the sensing devices reported in literature using those techniques are overviewed in this article. The soil moisture determination has been divided into four main sections describing soil moisture measurement metrics and laboratory-based testing, followed by in-situ, remote and proximal sensing techniques. The application, advantages and limitations for each of the mentioned technologies are discussed. The nutrient monitoring methods are reviewed beginning with laboratory-based methods, ion-selective membrane based sensors, bio-sensors, spectroscopy-based methods, and capillary electrophoresis-based systems for inorganic ion detection. Attention has been given to the core principle of detection while reporting recent sensors developed using the mentioned concepts. The latest works reported on the different sensing methodologies point towards the trend of developing low-cost, easy to use, field-deployable or portable sensing systems aimed towards improving technology adoption in crop production leading to efficient site-specific soil and crop management which in turn will bring us closer to reaching sustainability in the practice of agriculture.

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Section: ) Thermal Probe/heat Pulse Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sensing Methodologies in Agriculture for Soil Moisture and Nutrient Monitoring

Kashyap

Kumar

2021

IEEE Access

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“…Nonetheless, they have not eliminated the need for probe insertion. For this purpose, a needle-free heat pulse sensor system has recently been developed [51]. Although this sensor has no needle and is inexpensive, burying it in the soil causes soil disturbance [51].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For this purpose, a needle-free heat pulse sensor system has recently been developed [51]. Although this sensor has no needle and is inexpensive, burying it in the soil causes soil disturbance [51]. None of these developments, however, have focused on non-invasive measurements of near surface soil water content.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Laboratory Study on Non-Invasive Soil Water Content Estimation Using Capacitive Based Sensors

Orangi

Narsilio

Ryu

2019

Sensors

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Soil water content is an important parameter in many engineering, agricultural and environmental applications. In practice, there exists a need to measure this parameter rather frequently in both time and space. However, common measurement techniques are typically invasive, time-consuming and labour-intensive, or rely on potentially risky (although highly regulated) nuclear-based methods, making frequent measurements of soil water content impractical. Here we investigate in the laboratory the effectiveness of four new low-cost non-invasive sensors to estimate the soil water content of a range of soil types. While the results of each of the four sensors are promising, one of the sensors, herein called the “AOGAN” sensor, exhibits superior performance, as it was designed based on combining the best geometrical and electronic features of the other three sensors. The performance of the sensors is, however, influenced by the quality of the sensor-soil coupling and the soil surface roughness. Accuracy was found to be within 5% of volumetric water content, considered sufficient to enable higher spatiotemporal resolution contrast for mapping of soil water content.

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“…Although many types of soil water content sensors have been developed (time-domain reflectometry [3], tensiometers, electrical resistance blocks, electromagnetic conductivity meters [4]), one of the most used low-cost soil water content sensors are the heat pulse probe sensors. The various types of heat pulse probes (button heat pulse probes (BHPP) [5,6], dual heat pulse probes (DHPP) [7], and single heat pulse probes (SHPP) [8]) operate based on heat capacity measurements.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Autonomous Soil Water Content Sensors Based on Bipolar Transistors Encapsulated in Porous Ceramic Blocks

et al. 2019

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We present an autonomous sensor to measure soil water content that uses a single heat pulse probe based on a transistor encapsulated in a porous block. The sensor uses a bipolar junction transistor, which performs as both a heating and temperature-sensing element. Since the sensor depends on a porous block to measure the matric potential of the soil, it does not suffer from accuracy problems if the contact between the probe and the soil is not perfect. A prototype of the sensor showed a temperature variation of Δ T = 2.9 ∘ C when the porous ceramic was saturated with water. The sensor presented an almost linear behavior for small changes in the matric potential of a red latosol when tested in the 1-kPa and 35-kPa pressure range, showing a sensitivity of S = 0.015 ∘ C/kPa. The ultra-low power signal conditioning circuit can read the sensor’s temperature with a resolution of approximately 0.02 ∘ C, so the matric potential can be read in increments of at least 1.33 kPa. When powered only by a 2-F supercapacitor from the energy-harvesting system, the interrogation circuit is able to take one soil water content measurement per day, for eleven days.

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A Multiprobe Heat Pulse Sensor for Soil Moisture Measurement Based on PCB Technology

Cited by 23 publications

References 25 publications

Sensing Methodologies in Agriculture for Soil Moisture and Nutrient Monitoring

Sensing Methodologies in Agriculture for Soil Moisture and Nutrient Monitoring

A Laboratory Study on Non-Invasive Soil Water Content Estimation Using Capacitive Based Sensors

Autonomous Soil Water Content Sensors Based on Bipolar Transistors Encapsulated in Porous Ceramic Blocks

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