AUTHOR=Dong Younsuk , Werling Benjamin , Cao Zhichao , Li Gen TITLE=Implementation of an in-field IoT system for precision irrigation management JOURNAL=Frontiers in Water VOLUME=6 YEAR=2024 URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/water/articles/10.3389/frwa.2024.1353597 DOI=10.3389/frwa.2024.1353597 ISSN=2624-9375 ABSTRACT=
Due to the impact of climate change on agriculture and the emergence of water security issues, proper irrigation management has become increasingly important to overcome the challenges. The Internet of Things (IoT) technology is being utilized in agriculture for collecting field information and sharing it through websites in real time. This study discusses the efforts taken to develop an IoT-based sensor station, a user-friendly website, and a smartphone app for irrigation management. In addition, the demonstration of the IoT-based sensor station and its effectiveness are discussed. Before deploying the sensor station, soil moisture sensor calibration was conducted using a laboratory experiment. Overall, the calibrated soil moisture sensors met the statistical criteria for both sand [root mean squared error (RMSE) = 0.01 cm3/cm3, index of agreement (IA) = 0.97, and mean bias error (MBE) = 0.01] and loamy sand (RMSE = 0.023 cm3/cm3, IA = 0.98, and MBE = −0.02). This article focuses on case studies from corn, blueberry, and tomato fields in Michigan, USA. In the corn and blueberry fields, the evaluation of irrigation practices of farmer's using an IoT-based sensor technology was considered. In the tomato field, a demonstration of automation irrigation was conducted. Overirrigation was observed using the IoT-based sensor station in some fields that have sandy soil and use a drip irrigation system. In the blueberry demonstration field, the total yield per plant (