Low-cost Soil Moisture Sensors Based on Inductive Coils Tested on Different Sorts of Soils

Abstract

The use of precision agriculture and the Internet of Things has improved the efficiency of many cultures. Nevertheless, there are a few low-cost options to monitor soil moisture. Moreover, those options depend on the specific characteristics of the soil. In this paper, we attempt to find a sensor, based on mutual inductance, that could be used for more than one sort of soil. We study three prototypes, one of them with casing. The sensors are powered with a voltage of 10 peak to peak volts. One of the soils has a high content of organic matter and sand while the other is rich in sand and silt. The best prototype for the soil with high levels of organic matter has 10 turns on the powered coil and 5 on the induced coil. The best frequency for this sensor is 1340 kHz. For the soil with a significant quantity of silt, the best prototype has 80 turns on the powered coil and 40 on the induced coil. The frequency at which this sensor works best is 229 kHz, which happens to be its peak frequency. With those characteristics regressions lines with R 2 values higher than 0.75 can be modeled.